A rare draft manuscript from Leaves of Grass - photo 1

A rare draft manuscript from Leaves of Grass

Lot 144
15.06.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
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$ 63 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 967652
Lot 144 | A rare draft manuscript from Leaves of Grass
Estimate value
$ 50 000 – 80 000
A rare draft manuscript from Leaves of Grass

Walt Whitman, c. 1881

WHITMAN, Walt (1819-1892). Autograph manuscript, an early draft of a section from "As consequent from store of summer rains," from the "Autumn Rivulets" cluster in Leaves of Grass, c. 1881-1882.



One page, 209 x 224mm. The original draft written in a dark ink, with later revisions, insertions, and additions in a lighter ink (marginal loss at upper right corner reinforced on verso, mounting remnants on verso).



A highly revised section of "Autumn Rivulets" in Leaves of Grass. A highly interesting draft of the first poem in the "Autumn Rivulets" section of the 1881-82 version of Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Whitman placed the "Autumn Rivulets" cluster of poems just after the sections of his Civil War poetry headed "Drum Taps" and "Memories of President Lincoln." The new verses in "Autumn Rivulets" are lyrical, peaceful, and expressive of hope and healing in the wake of war. The 20-odd lines have been heavily corrected and revised by Whitman, in ink of two different weights, so that the layers of his alterations are easily distinguished. The initial draft—in a heavy ink—shows several crossed out lines and rewritten passages; then, in several places the later, light ink revisions themselves have been subjected to further revision.



This probable first draft, before revision reads: "Out of a hundred years, Out of the fathomless ocean of Time," These drifted straws & gluten sands - this raff of weeds & shells (O little shells, so convolute—so cold and voiceless, Shall you to the tympans of temples held, Murmurs of waves still bring up—sea music faint, Strains for the soul of the prairies, wafted inland, Joyously sounded, chords for the ear of the West, Whispered reverberations—moanings & echoes old, Yet ever new & untranslatable?) ...These drifted bubbles. Salt-moist leaves, debris Out of the vast forever-rolling deep, Fragments and specimens left by the sibilant tide Washed on America's shores." Provenance: Christie's, New York, 19 June 2007, lot 103.

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15.06.2023
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