The Good Gray Poet

W.H. Trimble (compiler). Whitman Scraps. [1902-1919]

Trimble meticulously compiled (and later had bound) several scrapbooks bulging with Whitman ephemera - chronologically arranged journal articles, newspaper clippings, postcards, letters, photographs and typescripts, either gathered locally or sent to him by correspondents. In his foreword to Volume 4 of his Walt Whitman Scrap-Book he states his intention that “the Scrap-Books are to be read and used for reference”.

This scrapbook is open at a page containing a 1911 memo to Trimble from Goodspeed’s of Boston, offering for purchase several important early Whitman editions. Trimble was proactive in establishing connections with significant booksellers, both locally and overseas. Of the seven books offered, six are listed in Trimble’s 1912 Catalogue. The exception is the most expensive item, an 1871 fifth edition, which may have been beyond Trimble’s means.

W.H. Trimble (compiler). Whitman Scraps. [1902-1919]
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