A new collectible series from Penguin Classics: stunning, cloth-bound editions of ten beloved poets, showcasing each poet's most famous book of poems as originally published. Designed by the acclaimed Coralie Bickford-Smith and beautifully crafted, these slim, A-format volumes are the ultimate gift for poetry lovers. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poems, Leaves of Grass.
The volume received high praise from the leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouraged a lifelong endeavor, with Whitman expanding and rewriting the volume until his death in 1892. Whitman's innovative use of free verse and everyday language aimed to engage the everyday American.
This edition, based on the earliest published version from 1855, includes Whitman's most famous poem, 'Song of Myself,' an American epic inspired by his personal experiences.
