Whitman Illuminated

Whitman's most beloved poem, "Song of Myself," illustrated, illuminated, and presented like never before.

Walt Whitman s iconic collection of poems, Leaves of Grass, has earned a reputation as a sacred American text. Whitman himself made such comparisons, going so far as to use biblical verse as a model for his own. So it s only appropriate that artist and illustrator Allen Crawford has chosen to illuminate like medieval monks with their own holy scriptures Whitman s masterpiece and the core of his poetic vision, Song of Myself. Crawford has turned the original sixty-page poem from Whitman s 1855 edition into a sprawling 234-page work of art. The handwritten text and illustrations intermingle in a way that s both surprising and wholly in tune with the spirit of the poem they re exuberant, rough, and wild. Whitman Illuminated: Song of Myself is a sensational reading experience, an artifact in its own right, and a masterful tribute to the Good Gray Poet.