Walt Whitman's "To Those Who've Fail'd"... 1st appearance...

Item # 727196 · January 27, 1888

THE NEW YORK HERALD, January 27, 1888

* Walt Whitman's "To Those Who've Fail'd"
* 1st appearance - quite rare

Page 6 has Walt Whitman's "To Those Who've Fail'd," which was a piece written exclusively for the New York Herald. The entire text reads:

To those who've fail'd in aspirations vast,

To unnamed soldiers, fall'n in front, on the lead,

To calm, devoted engineers, to over ardent
travellers, to pilots on their ships,

To many a song and picture without parturi-
tion, I'd rear a laurel cover'd monument

High, high above the rest—to all cut off before
their time,

Possess'd by some great spirit of fire

Quenched by an early death.

It is signed in block block type: WALT WHITMAN.

In 40+ years of collecting, this is the only issue we have ever obtained for this date. Quite rare.

Other news of the day is found throughout.

Complete in 12 pages, very fragile, edge tears, a few small holes on an unrelated page, and minor imperfections are present, but the key content is in good condition. The issue must be handled with care.

Note: Due to the fragility of the newspaper we have placed the page containing the poem (pg. 6) on top. An archival storage folder is highly recommended.

Item from our most recent catalog - #367 - released for June, 2026

(Added to the June, 2026 catalog (#367) after its initial release - only available on-line.)

Category: Post-Civil War

Price

$125

100% Authentic: Original printing, never a reproduction.

Walt Whitman's "To Those Who've Fail'd"... 1st appearance...

Item from our most recent catalog - #367 - released for June, 2026

(Added to the June, 2026 catalog (#367) after its initial release - only available on-line.)

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