[Literature] Whitman, Walt Group of 7 Titles

1. Memoranda During The War
Camden, New Jersey: Author's Publication, 1875-'76. First edition, second issue, but without "Remembrance Leaf" and two engraved portraits, as in some copies. 8vo. Publisher's dark purple-red cloth-covered boards, stamped in blind and in gilt, corners and spine ends worn, spine and board edges faded, circular stain on front board; all edges trimmed; stiff light green embossed endpapers; old gift inscription on front free endpaper, "To my friend / Emily / From Walt" (probably not Whitman); binding shaken; creasing in top corner of some leaves. Myerson A8.1.a2; BAL 21409; Wells and Goldsmith, pp. 19-20

One of Whitman's rarest books. Although more commonly found with the "Remembrance leaf" and two portraits, Myerson and Blanck both note that some copies, like ours, were issued without them. As most of the 1,000 sets of sheets of Memoranda were bound into the 1876 "Centennial Edition" of Two Rivulets, "it is improbable that more than a hundred copies were issued. The book is exceedingly rare." (Wells and Goldsmith).

2. Specimen Days in America
London: Walter Scott, 1887. 12mo. Publisher's green-olive cloth-covered boards, stamped in gilt, spine faded and dampstained; top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed; scattered soiling; contemporary ownership signature on front free endpaper. Myerson A11.2.a1

3. In Re Walt Whitman...
Philadelphia: David McKay, 1893. First edition (one of 1,000 copies printed). 8vo. Edited by Horace L. Traubel, Richard Maurice Bucke, and Thomas B. Harned. Presentation copy, inscribed by Traubel on front free endpaper, and dated January 1899. Publisher blue-green cloth-covered boards, stamped in gilt, scattered wear and soiling to boards; top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed; patterned endpapers; text partially unopened. Myerson D24

4. Calamus...
Boston: Laurens Maynard, 1897. First edition. 12mo. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Whitman. Publisher's light green cloth-covered boards, stamped in blind and in gilt; all edges trimmed; illustrated book-plate of Fletcher & Maude Battershall on front paste-down; in quarter green morocco slip case and chemise. Myerson A14.1.b1

5. The Wound Dresser...
Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1898. First edition. 8vo. Edited by Richard Maurice Bucke. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Whitman. Publisher's red cloth-covered boards, stamped in blind and in gilt, spine slightly faded; top edge gilt, other edges trimmed; red morocco book-plate of Estelle Doheny on front paste-down; bookseller's ticket at bottom of rear paste-down. Myerson A15.1.b1

6. The Mystic Trumpeter…
New York: G. Schirmer/Leipzig: F. Hofmeister, (1907). Folio. Illustrated with printed sheet music, by composer F.S. Converse. Publisher's three-quarter black cloth over drab paper-covered boards, printed in green and in black, scattered wear and soiling; all edges trimmed.

7. Letters Written by Walt Whitman to His Mother 1866-1872
New York: Alfred F. Goldsmith, 1936. First and limited edition, #124/325 numbered copies. 8vo. Publisher's blue paper-covered boards, paper labels to spine and front board, spine faded, soiling to boards; all edges trimmed. Myerson A18.1.b