One of the scarcest Walt Whitman items
 
The Good Gray Poet: A Vindication. 
William Douglas O’Connor
New York, 1866
 
First edition, first printing of the first separately published work on Walt Whitman - an extreme rarity.
 
Publisher's wrappers. Covers lightly stained mostly along the margins, 1.5 inch split at upper joint, half-inch split along spine foot. Interior quite clean. Overall, a nice Very Good copy housed in a custom quarter morocco slipcase and chemise.
 
In 1865, O’Connor - daguerreotypist, writer, journalist, and editor - helped Whitman procure a clerkship in the Department of the Interior’s Indian Affairs Bureau. A few months later, Secretary of the Interior James Harlan fired Whitman because of his disgust with Leaves of Grass. O’Connor acted promptly to aid his close friend - pulling strings to secure Whitman another government job and publishing this pamphlet refuting Secretary Harlan and other critics. The work also praises Whitman’s character and genius. “Good Gray Poet” would remain a popular moniker, and Whitman’s readership and reputation was permanently bolstered.
 
An important piece in the American icon’s canon.
 
$4950
 
Epilogue:
 
Significant differences over Reconstruction policy dissolved the two men’s long, close friendship - most notably, O’Connor supported the 15th Amendment(extending the vote to black men) and Whitman didn’t. O’Connor’s marriage also fractured, as his wife sided with Whitman.
 
Ref:
 
The Walt Whitman Archive