Walt Whitman, Allen Crawford (Illustrator)

Whitman Illuminated

Song of Myself

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Summary

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 sixy-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 artefact in its own right and a masterful tribute to one of America's greatest poets.

Reviews

This is a 21st-century version of an illuminated manuscript: portable as a Kindle, but a thousand times more lovely.
Rachel Cooke, Observer

About the authors

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. Although controversial upon publication, Whitman's great work, Leaves of Grass, is considered one of the most influential works in the American canon.

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Allen Crawford (Illustrator)

Allen Crawford is an artist, illustrator, designer, and writer. Under the pseudonym 'Lord Breaulove Swells Whimsy' Allen wrote, designed, and illustrated The Affected Provincial’s Companion, Volume One, which was optioned for film by Johnny Depp’s production company, Infinitum Nihil. Allen has appeared in The New York Times, Interview, Orion, Frieze, Vice, Tin House, and Art in America. He lives in a small Quaker town in central New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia.

http://www.allencrawford.net