Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman | Easton Press 1977

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, illustrated by Rockwell Kent, published by Easton Press, 1977. Condition is extremely good with only a slight scratch on the outside page edges. Otherwise presenting beautifully throughout.

Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855 and revised and expanded throughout the rest of his life, is one of the most celebrated and influential collections of poetry ever written in the English language, a cornerstone of American literature that broke every existing convention of form and subject matter and fundamentally changed what poetry could be.

Rockwell Kent was probably the most important American book illustrator of the 1920s and 30s, an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager best known for his illustrations of adventure stories such as Melville’s Moby Dick and his landscapes of remote places including Alaska, Tierra del Fuego, and Greenland. His works are today collected by every major American museum including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art, and his illustrated edition of Leaves of Grass is counted among his most celebrated illustration projects alongside Moby Dick, Candide, Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, and the complete works of Shakespeare.

The pairing of America’s most visionary poet with one of America’s most celebrated illustrators, presented in the Easton Press fine leather binding from the publisher’s earliest and most collectible period, makes this a genuinely outstanding find.

A wonderful addition for collectors of American poetry, Rockwell Kent illustration, Easton Press editions, or simply one of the most important works in the history of American literature.