American Literature / Unit 10 AML 0913 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Emerson's Letter and Whitman's Use of It
Captions available
The idea
Emerson read the first Leaves of Grass and wrote to greet Whitman at the beginning of a great career. Whitman printed the sentence on the spine of the next edition without asking, which annoyed Emerson and shows how deliberately Whitman managed his own reception.
In practice
A private compliment, printed on a spine.
Where people slip
The self-promotion was part of the project.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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