Part of being a writer is being a reader, and Ret is a voracious reader. In addition, he also collects and sells rare books, manuscripts and artwork through an online store called The Americanist. The Americanist focuses primarily on 19th century United States literature and art, but Ret's current projects often influence the scope of the collection. Below are a few of the items that are currently for sale at the Americanist. Also, you may purchase some of Ret's favorite texts and various recommendations through The Americanist Online Store at Amazon by clicking on the preview link at the bottom of this page.

Featured Items from The Americanist

• .Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, 1860 edition (third edition) -- $4,500

This is, in Ret's opinion, one of the most important editions of Leaves of Grass. It is the first edition to be structured thematically (in "clusters"), it is the largest edition, and it was generally well-received by a much larger audience than the previous two editions. In many ways, this is the first "real" edition of Leaves of Grass in that it is at once intensely personal yet also deeply political and public . Finally, due to unforeseen business troubles with the publisher, there were as few as 2,000 copies printed (beware of pirated copied of the 1860 edition--there are many) making this an extremely important edition for any collector to own.

After the publication of the second edition of Leaves of Grass in 1856, Walt Whitman started thinking about a third edition. Although he wrote prolifically, he had difficulty securing a publisher. Early in 1860, the Boston publisher Thayer and Eldridge offered to publish the third edition of Leaves of Grass, and it appeared in print in May. The third edition is 456 pages in length and has a cloth binding with an embossed design. There are several illustration throughout. Notably, the frontplate is a Stephen Alonzo Schoff engraving (from a portrait of Whitman painted by Charles Hine) of Whitman NOT as the working-class rough of the second edition but rather as the "well-coiffured and genteel romantic poet." Thayer and Eldridge went bankrupt in 1861 after releasing two printings (1,000 copies each). Richard Worthington purchased the electrotype plates in 1879 and printed an unknown number of unauthorized copies.

The third edition:

• has 146 new poems
• is the single largest edition of Leaves of Grass (it was published many times between 1855 and 1892)
• is the first edition to have poems organized in thematic "clusters"
• has Whitman's named blindstamped on the spine
• is the first edition to have Whitman's name appear on cover

The seven clusters of the 1860 edition:

• "Chants Democratic and Native American" (a group of 21 numbered poems prefaced by an introductory poem titled "Apostroph")
• "Leaves of Grass" (which contains 21 numbered poems)
• "Enfans d’Adam" (15 numbered poems which became "Children of Adam" in later editions )
• "Calamus" (45 numbered poems which became one of only two clusters retained in later editions)
• "Messenger Leaves" (15 short titled poems)
• "Thoughts" (seven short numbered poems)
• "Says" (eight short numbered poems),
• "Debris" (17 short unnumbered and untitled poetic fragments). "

In edition to the clusters, there are 26 individual poems including "Walt Whitman" (from the 1855 edition, later called "Song of Myself") and "A Word Out of The Sea" (new to Leaves of Grass in 1860, later titled "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking").

The Americanist Store at Amazon

For a link to The Americanist online store at Amazon, click on any of the texts below. The Americanist online store at Amazon offers many of Ret's favorite texts in a variety of categories ranging from syllabi he created to "favorite novels" and "books every writer should own." Purchase with the security of Amazon!