LEAVES OF GRASS Illustrated by Rockwell Kent Review

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(More customer reviews)One of the greatest pieces of work from the Heritage Press and, arguably, one of the more important reprints of the 20th century.
Whitman's verse and Kent's images proved to be a perfect pairing -- both artists' humanism, dynamism, quirkyness, and iconoclasm are showcased with brio. And yet there's a tightness and a deco classicism to Rockwell Kent's images here which deserves praise as well.
Kent became famous in 1930 with his Lakeside Press illustrations for Moby Dick. (For some reason Rockwell Kent's imagination appears to have been most stimulated by wise and wild 19th century American authors -- Melville and Whitman.) Personally, I prefer his Leaves of Grass over the Moby Dick because, with the Whitman, Kent is freed from narrative.
The pairing of Rockwell Kent illustrations with Walt Whitman's poetry was first released by Heritage in 1937. Long regarded as a publishing success, this book was reprinted several times.
Cloth binding over hardback boards with a sewn binding in green slipcase. Heritage followed the design preferences of Kent who chose a grass-green linen binding stamped with gold. (The grass emblem also serves as the initials WW.) Typography was executed by William A. Kittredge who collaborated with the illustrator on all aspects of the book's design.
The lore surrounding the book states that Kent was so excited about the prospect of illustrating Whitman that he produced 120 pen-and-ink drawings in black and white, 50 more than his contract required. Kent designed the elegant and trippy frontispiece illustration as well as the title page of the book - which includes a monogrammatic device containing four great dates in American history.
With the 1855 Preface and an Alphabetical Title Index.

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