A Tale of Two Books

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.