Walt Whitman A Register of His Papers in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection in the Library of Congress Prepared by Michael McElderry Revised and expanded by Michael McElderry with the assistance of Michael W. Giese Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2004 Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2004 2004-07-02 converted from EAD 1.0 to EAD 2002 Collection Summary Title: Papers of Walt Whitman in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection Span Dates: 1763-1985 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1841-1981) ID No.: MSS18630 Creator: Feinberg, Charles E., 1899-1988 Creator: Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 Extent: 28,000 items; 238 containers plus 13 oversize; 95.6 linear feet; 38 microfilm reels Language: Collection material in English Repository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Abstract: Collector. Correspondence, literary manuscripts, diaries, commonplace books, notes and notebooks, and other papers of Walt Whitman collected by Charles E. Feinberg. Also contains material relating to Whitman's life and writings including the papers of Richard Maurice Bucke, Charles E. Feinberg, John H. Johnston, William Douglas O'Connor, and Horace and Anne Montgomerie Traubel. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein. Names: Feinberg, Charles E., 1899- collector Bucke, Richard Maurice, 1837-1902--Correspondence Burroughs, John, 1837-1921--Correspondence Carpenter, Edward, 1844-1929--Correspondence Church, Francis Pharcellus, 1839-1906--Correspondence Church, William Conant, 1836-1917--Correspondence Conway, Moncure Daniel, 1832-1907--Correspondence Costelloe, Mary Whitall Smith--Correspondence Donaldson, Thomas, 1843-1898--Correspondence Dowden, Edward, 1843-1913--Correspondence Doyle, Peter, 1847---Correspondence Eldridge, Charles W.--Correspondence Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882--Correspondence Garland, Hamlin, 1860-1940--Correspondence Gilchrist, Anne Burrows, 1828-1885--Correspondence Gilder, Joseph Benson, 1858-1936--Correspondence Gilder, Richard Watson, 1844-1909--Correspondence Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885--Correspondence Harte, Bret, 1836-1902--Correspondence Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899--Correspondence Johnston, John fl. 1886-1892--Correspondence Johnston, John H. fl. 1876-1892--Correspondence Kennedy, William Sloane, 1850-1929--Correspondence Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865--Assassination Morse, Sidney H.--Correspondence O'Connor, Ellen M.--Correspondence O'Connor, William Douglas, 1832-1889--Correspondence Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William), 1857-1920--Correspondence Rossetti, William Michael, 1829-1919--Correspondence Smith, Bethuel--Correspondence Smith, Logan Pearsall, 1865-1946--Correspondence Papers of Walt Whitman in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection 2 Smith, Robert Pearsall, 1827-1898--Correspondence Stoddart, J. M. (Joseph Marshall), 1845-1921--Correspondence Stoker, Bram, 1847-1912--Correspondence Symonds, John Addington, 1840-1893--Correspondence Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892--Correspondence Traubel, Horace, 1858-1919--Correspondence Wallace, J. W. (James William), 1853-1926--Correspondence Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900--Correspondence Williams, Talcott, 1849-1928--Correspondence Stafford family--Correspondence Armory Square Hospital (Washington, D.C.) Charles E. Feinberg Collection of Walt Whitman (Library of Congress) Allen, Gay Wilson, 1903- The solitary singer; a critical biography of Walt Whitman (1955) Bucke, Richard Maurice, 1837-1902. Papers of Richard Maurice Bucke Feinberg, Charles E., 1899- Papers of Charles E. Feinberg Johnston, John H. fl. 1876-1892. Papers of John H. Johnston Miller, James Edwin, 1920- A critical guide to Leaves of grass(1957) O'Connor, William Douglas, 1832-1889. Papers of WilliamDouglas O'Connor Traubel, Anne Montgomerie, 1864-1954. Papers of Anne Montgomerie Traubel Traubel, Horace, 1858-1919, ed. In re Walt Whitman (1893) Traubel, Horace, 1858-1919. Papers of Horace Traubel Traubel, Horace, 1858-1919. With Walt Whitman in Camden (1906) Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Democratic Vistas (1871) Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Drum taps (1865) Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Leaves of grass (1855) Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. November Boughs (1888) Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Papers of Walt Whitman in the Charles E. Feinberg collection (1806-1981) Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Specimen Days (1882-1883) Subjects: American literature American poetry American prose literature United States--Politics and government--1861-1865 Washington (D.C.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Occupation: Collectors Administrative Information Provenance: The papers of Walt Whitman, poet, in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection were acquired through deposits later purchased in installments by the Library of Congress from 1969 to 1979. Supplemental gifts, transfers, purchases, and deposits converted to gifts and purchases were added to the collection by Feinberg and others, including the Feinberg Foundation, 1953-1987. Processing History: The Walt Whitman Papers in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection were arranged and described in 1981. Subsequent material was incorporated into the collection in 1982, 1986, and 1997. The finding aid was revised in 2004. A descriptive catalog of a selection of the manuscripts, books, and associated items from the Feinberg Collection was published by the Detroit Public Library in 1955 as a guide to its exhibition commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the publication of Leaves of Grass. John C. Broderick's article, “The Greatest Whitman Collector and the Greatest Whitman Collection” (The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, vol. 27, April 1970, pp. 109-128) discusses Feinberg and his collection. Walt Whitman: Papers of Walt Whitman in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection 3 A Catalog Based upon the Collections of the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1955) lists Whitman materials elsewhere in the Library's collections. Transfers: Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some printed volumes have been transferred to the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Some manuscripts bound or tipped into these volumes are included on the last reel of the microfilm edition. Prints, photographs, paintings, drawings, and printing plates have been transferred to the Prints & Photographs Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Walt Whitman Papers in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection. Copyright Status: The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Walt Whitman in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). Microfilm: A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on thirty-four reels. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. Preferred Citation: Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Walt Whitman Papers, Charles E. Feinberg Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Biographical Note Date Event 1819, May 31 Born, West Hills, N.Y. 1830-1846 Held various jobs as office boy, schoolteacher, typesetter, and journalist chiefly in Long Island and Brooklyn, N.Y. 1839-1840 Writer and typesetter, Long Island Democrat 1841-1848 Associated with numerous newspapers and magazines, including the New York Aurora and the New York Evening Tattler 1846-1848 Editor, Brooklyn Eagle 1848 Writer, New Orleans Crescent Editor, Brooklyn Freeman 1855 Published Leaves of Grass (Brooklyn, N.Y.: n.p. 95 pp.). Enlarged and revised in succeeding editions of 1856, 1860-1861, 1867, 1871, 1876, 1881-1882, 1888-1889, and 1891-1892 1857-1859 Editor, Brooklyn Times 1862-1864 Served as hospital nurse, Washington, D.C. 1865 Published Drum Taps (New York: n.p. 72 pp.) Clerk, Department of Interior, Washington, D.C. 1865-1873 Clerk, Office of the Attorney General, Washington, D.C. Papers of Walt Whitman in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection 4 1871 Published Democratic Vistas (Washington, D.C.: n.p. [Printed by J. S. Redfield, New York]. 84 pp.) Published Passage to India (Washington, D.C.: n.p. [Printed by J. S. Redfield, New York]. 120 pp.) Published After All, Not to Create Only (Boston: Roberts Brothers. 24 pp.) 1872 Published As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free (Washington, D.C.: n.p. [Printed by S. W. Green, New York]. 14 pp.) 1873 Suffered paralytic stroke 1875-1876 Published Memoranda During the War (Camden, N.J.: n.p. 68 pp.) 1876 Published Two Rivulets (Camden, N.J.: n.p. 32 pp.) 1882-1883 Published Specimen Days and Collect (Philadelphia: David McKay. 376 pp.) 1888 Published November Boughs (Philadelphia: David McKay. 140 pp.) 1891 Published Good-Bye My Fancy (Philadelphia: David McKay. 66 pp.) 1892, Mar. 26 Died, Camden, N.J. Scope and Content Note The papers of Walt Whitman (1819-1892) in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection span the years 1763 to 1985, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period after 1841. The collection of correspondence, literary manuscripts, books, proofs, and associated items assembled by Feinberg during a period of six decades contains letters, notes, postcards,