may 12, 1855 - Whitman publishes the first edition of Leaves of Grass, a collection of twelve poems written in a bold new style.
Description:
Readers are shocked and awed by the poems' raw subject material and striking style. Ralph Waldo Emerson sends Whitman a letter praising the book and congratulating him on "the beginning of a great career."Added to timeline:
Date:
may 12, 1855
Now
~ 171 years ago