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Whitman Bicentennial
Designing Leaves
As a boy, Walt Whitman (1819-1892) apprenticed as a printer. He went on to work in the world of publishing as a journalist, freelance author, newspaper editor and compositor. He had expertise in printing and marketing, and a deep interest in book and graphic design. When possible, Whitman helped craft both his authorial image and the look of Leaves of Grass, including the 1860 and 1892 editions. He copy-edited proofs, gave printers instructions, planned for clustering and line breaks of poems, and designed symbolic iconography for use on spines, covers, and pages. |