# Is "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman is identified by: 1855 first edition, self-published, printed by the Rome Brothers, Brooklyn; a tall (quarto-format) volume, about 11½ inches. The 1855 self-published first is the true first; about 795 copies were printed and fewer than half were bound in the gilt green cloth, so many copies survive in the plainer B binding or in wrappers.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 1855 first edition, self-published, printed by the Rome Brothers, Brooklyn; a tall (quarto-format) volume, about 11½ inches
- No author name on the title page (Whitman appears only in the copyright notice and within the poems)
- Frontispiece: steel engraving by Samuel Hollyer (c
- 1854) after a lost daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison, showing Whitman in workman's dress, hat cocked, hand on hip (Myerson records two frontispiece states differing in paper/mounting)
- 95 pages of poems, preceded by the double-column prose preface
- Binding (Myerson): Binding A — green cloth, the title 'Leaves of Grass' in gilt 'rustic' lettering (letters sprouting roots) within a gilt triple-rule border, blind-stamped floral ornaments, marbled endpapers and all edges gilt (the primary/deluxe state)
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Walt Whitman |
| Publisher | — |
| Year | 1855 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | 1855 first edition, self-published, printed by the Rome Brothers, Brooklyn; a tall (quarto-format) volume, about 11½ inches |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
1855 first edition, self-published, printed by the Rome Brothers, Brooklyn; a tall (quarto-format) volume, about 11½ inches. No author name on the title page (Whitman appears only in the copyright notice and within the poems). Frontispiece: steel engraving by Samuel Hollyer (c. 1854) after a lost daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison, showing Whitman in workman's dress, hat cocked, hand on hip (Myerson records two frontispiece states differing in paper/mounting). 95 pages of poems, preceded by the double-column prose preface. Binding (Myerson): Binding A — green cloth, the title 'Leaves of Grass' in gilt 'rustic' lettering (letters sprouting roots) within a gilt triple-rule border, blind-stamped floral ornaments, marbled endpapers and all edges gilt (the primary/deluxe state); Binding B — as A but only the title gilt, border and ornaments blind, plainer edges; Binding C — plain salmon-pink paper wrappers, title printed in black.

## Is this the true first?
The 1855 self-published first is the true first; about 795 copies were printed and fewer than half were bound in the gilt green cloth, so many copies survive in the plainer B binding or in wrappers. The fully-gilt Binding A (marbled endpapers, all edges gilt) is the primary state. Whitman-inscribed copies are the association apex.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The 1856 second and later enlarged editions have a different collation (the 1856 famously adds Emerson's 'I Greet You at the Beginning of a Great Career' gilt on the spine) and are not the 1855 first. Facsimiles and reprints lack the original cloth, the gilt rustic lettering, the marbled endpapers and gilt edges of Binding A, and the quality of the Hollyer frontispiece plate.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Leaves of Grass* by Walt Whitman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/leaves-of-grass
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.