In the following advertisement for Walt Whitman's 1855 Leaves of Grass, which Whitman published himself, his "New-York, Publishers" ask, "Who then is WALT WHITMAN? Who is this man, indifferent to old landmarks, and passing with such nonchalance through the midst of standard reputations, and challenging the best of them ancient and new?"
Reprinted from the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Walt Whitman Papers in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection.