Episode 1 of 1

Self-Publication

When: July 4, 1855
Where: Brooklyn
Part of: Walt Whitman publishes the first edition of Leaves of Grass

Whitman financed and printed the first edition himself, surprising his brothers with the completed book in late June 1855.

Whitman paid for the publication himself and had it printed at a local print shop during employees' breaks. He registered the title for copyright in May 1855. The first edition was self-published on July 4, 1855, surprising his brothers with the already-printed book.

Sources

Walt Whitman Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-02
Leaves of Grass Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-15

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.