With Walt Whitman in Camden (March 28 - July 14, 1888) [with:] (July 16, 1888 - October 31, 1888) [with:] (November 1, 1888 - January 20, 1889).

Scarce first editions of the earliest three volumes of Traubel’s Whitman memoirs

---

First editions of the initial three volumes of Horace Traubel’s With Walt Whitman in Camden, issued between 1906 and 1914. Thick octavos in original publisher’s dark green cloth with gilt spine lettering and ornaments, top edges gilt, all volumes uniform and now protected in mylar. Illustrated with numerous plates and facsimiles, all present as called for. Rear board of the third volume shows a faint horizontal ripple in the cloth, likely a binding strain, else a very good or better set.

Traubel (1858–1919) was Whitman’s close friend, biographer, and literary executor. These volumes record his daily conversations with the poet during the last years of Whitman’s life, beginning March 28, 1888 and continuing through January 20, 1889. The work captures Whitman’s reflections on literature, democracy, health, and mortality, and preserves the cadences of his speech in intimate detail. Ultimately issued in nine volumes (1906–1996), Traubel’s record stands as an indispensable source for Whitman studies and for understanding the personal philosophy of one of America’s greatest poets. Early volumes in matching bindings, as here, are increasingly uncommon.

Price: $475.00