A Deep Dive into Walt Whitman

This week, I have chosen to reverse engineer the Walt Whitman archive, which discusses the work and life of Walt Whitman. The archive is found at: http://whitmanarchive.org/. Whitman, one of America’s most influential poets and writers, helped shaped American thought through his detailed prose and inviting poems. Whitman was my grandfather’s favorite poet! The archive is directed by Kenneth M. Price (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and Ed Folsom (University of Iowa). 

SOURCES 

The bulk amount of sources for the archive come from Whitman’s writings, poems, pictures, and biography. It also contains sources to Whitman’s correspondence with others and thoughts of Whitman’s work by critics and scholars.

The creators of the archive have worked to collect Whitman’s writings from a multitude of locations. They have used publishers, public and private libraries, and other institutions to source all of Whitman’s work. The archive includes a searchable bibliography with 14,000 entries in the database, allowing users to quickly find the source they need or desire.

PROCESSING

All of the materials related to Whitman are organized by the providers of the material and the curators of the archive into sections that best fit Whitman and his work. Never before have all of Whitman’s works been in one easy resource, especially with the multiple editions and minor writings that are only found in some places off-line.

The archive curators are currently working on digitalizing Whitman’s poetry manuscripts for use by the community. Digital editorial work on these manuscripts and other writings by Whitman are cementing the relevancy and style of Whitman’s work for generations to come. The curators are looking to highlight Whitman’s transformation from “a good journalist and a middling writer of fiction into an extraordinary poet”(Walt Whitman Archive).

PRESENTATION 

The website itself is built for utility, not aesthetics. The catalog of items are lumped into detailed categories and made easily accessible for users. The archive is a simple HTML application with few fancy design or visualizations. In a way this is helpful, as it allows users to focus on the real value of the site: Whitman. The site provides images of Whitman from an early age to later in life, allowing users to see the face behind the prose.

The archive is easy to navigate and fun to explore! Users can take a tour of the website, which walks through the major features of the website. These features include all of the editions of Leaves of Grass, visuals of Whitman’s distinct handwriting, and critical works that take a deeper look into the mind of Whitman.

Overall, the site is a wonderful example of scholarship and helps continue Whitman’s worth as a major part of American Literature history.

Work Cited

“The Walt Whitman Archive.” An Overview of the Archive – The Walt Whitman Archive, whitmanarchive.org/about/over.html.