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A Tale of Two Books (2:44 min)

Curator: Mark Dimunation
Week of: April 05, 2010

Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau met for an afternoon on a Brooklyn esplanade in 1856, presenting each other with a copy of one of their works. Whitman recorded the event on the flyleaf of Thoreau's Concord and Merrimack: "Thoreau call'd upon me in Brooklyn 1856 and upon my giving him L of G first edition–gave me this volume–We had a two hours talk + walk. I liked him well–I think he told me he was busy at a surveying job I own on Staten Island. He was full of animation-seemed in good health-looked very well.–W.W." Over 100 years later, these same copies were reunited at the Library of Congress.

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