Leaves of Grass. Camden, NJ: [for Walt Whitman], 1876

The 1876 Author’s edition, sometimes called the Centennial edition, features two portraits of the poet, young and old, and the author’s signature on the title of some copies. The increasingly cash-strapped Whitman published these himself, binding and printing them in different forms to meet demand.

Please Inquire

Autograph letter signed to F. P. Church.. Washington, 1871

In this fine, boldly penned letter, Walt Whitman sends the manuscript of his poem “The Mystic Trumpeter” for possible publication in the January 1872 number of The Galaxy. Whitman would include the poem in the final edition of Leaves of Grass (1891).

$8,500

Autograph manuscript signed “Walt Whitman on the Poets.”. No place, [1885]

In this fascinating manuscript Whitman provides a newspaper with an article defending himself against attacks that he did not respect the great American poets of the day.

$7,500

Leaves of Grass: the original printed paper wrappers. [Brooklyn], [1855]

Although the green cloth bindings for the 1855 first edition of Leaves of Grass are familiar, the rare paper wrappers are little known. This set survived only because Whitman preserved them until his death in 1892.

$6,500

Autograph note signed to John H. Johnston. Camden, March 7, 1887

Whitman writes to his good friend and benefactor John H. Johnston, the New York jeweler, evidently congratulating him on the birth of his child: “Bless the dear baby, & all babies – Love to you & wife, Walt Whitman.”

$6,500

An enormous run of Goodspeed’s rare book and manuscript catalogues. Vols. 1-370 and 381-575. Boston: Goodspeed's Book Shop, 1899-1973

Founded in 1898, Goodspeed’s published its first catalogue in 1899. For decades to come the firm would be a dominant force in American bookselling. These catalogues are a witness to that golden age.

$6,500

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. London: A. Millar , 1749

FIRST EDITION of the greatest English novel of the eighteenth century and one of the most influential works of fiction ever published.

Please Inquire

Original drawing of Walt Whitman. no date, no place, 19th century

This original pen and ink drawing of Walt Whitman is mounted at the front of an 1888 edition of Leaves of Grass. The likeness of a jaunty, casual, Whitman wearing his trademark slouch hat takes its cue from the famous 1855 Hollyer engraving, but here we see an older Whitman with a full beard.

$4,800

The Adventures of Oliver Twist. London: Bentley, 1838

FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, FIRST ISSUE. Oliver Twist was Dickens’s first book to be published in the three-decker format.

$3,500

Works. Chapman and Hall, [1870s]

A very handsome set of the famous “Illustrated Library Edition,” here in an early printing. The dedication at the front of the first volume (Pickwick Papers) states, “This the best edition of my books is, of right, inscribed to my dear friend John Forster, biographer of Oliver Goldsmith, in affectionate acknowledgment of his counsel, sympathy, and faithful friendship during my whole literary life.” “The Library Edition came about largely because of the suggestion of Forster that while Dickens’s works were available in volumes in the Cheap Edition and in reprints of the serial parts, there was no high-quality edition that would appeal to the wealthy. Dickens eventually came round to the idea that an elegant edition could raise the stature of his writings.

$3,500