Leaves of Grass (1855 first edition)

US true first, self-published 1855, sheets printed at the Rome brothers' (Andrew & James Rome) Brooklyn shop and distributed by the phrenological firm Fowler & Wells. All three binding states (A gilt cloth, B blindstamped cloth, C wrappers) and both frontispiece states are genuine 1855 copies; the elaborately gilt Binding A is the earliest and most sought binding, but a plainer Binding B or a wrappered Binding C copy is not a facsimile or a later edition. The distinct later editions — 1856; 1860 Thayer & Eldridge; 1867; 1871–72; 1881–82; and the 1891–92 'Deathbed' edition — are collected separately and must not be conflated with the 1855.