# Is "Leaves of Grass (1860–61, 'third edition')" by Walt Whitman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Leaves of Grass (1860–61, 'third edition') by Walt Whitman (Thayer & Eldridge, 1860) is identified by: Third edition, greatly enlarged (456 pages), Thayer & Eldridge, Boston, 1860-61. The Thayer & Eldridge printing is the true 1860 third edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Third edition, greatly enlarged (456 pages), Thayer & Eldridge, Boston, 1860-61
- Issued in a variety of decorated cloth bindings (orange, green, brown) with gilt and blind stamping
- Engraved frontispiece portrait of Whitman by Stephen Alonzo Schoff after a painting by Charles Hine, with calligraphic title and ornamental motifs
- The genuine issue carries the Thayer & Eldridge imprint; the firm failed in 1861
- Publisher imprint reads Thayer & Eldridge
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Walt Whitman |
| Publisher | Thayer & Eldridge |
| Year | 1860 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Third edition, greatly enlarged (456 pages), Thayer & Eldridge, Boston, 1860-61 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Third edition, greatly enlarged (456 pages), Thayer & Eldridge, Boston, 1860-61. Issued in a variety of decorated cloth bindings (orange, green, brown) with gilt and blind stamping. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Whitman by Stephen Alonzo Schoff after a painting by Charles Hine, with calligraphic title and ornamental motifs. The genuine issue carries the Thayer & Eldridge imprint; the firm failed in 1861.

## Is this the true first?
The Thayer & Eldridge printing is the true 1860 third edition. The electrotype plates were later acquired by Richard Worthington, who from 1879 printed unauthorized 'Boston' reprints that Whitman repudiated. Confirm the Thayer & Eldridge imprint and the publisher's decorated binding; the unauthorized Worthington plate-reprints lack the printers' imprint on the copyright page.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Worthington and other plate-reprints postdate the original and were disowned by Whitman; they lack the original Thayer & Eldridge imprint and binding and may omit the copyright-page printers' imprint.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Leaves of Grass (1860–61, 'third edition')* by Walt Whitman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/leaves-of-grass-1860-61-third-edition
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.