SONG OF MYSELF

Student Discovers Walt Whitman Novel

That poet published anonymously in 1850s.

A University of Houston doctoral student is being credited with the discovery of a previously unknown novel by poet Walt Whitman. The student, Zachry Turpin, noticed an ad in a newspaper from 1852 that teased a six-part “Life and Adventures of Jack Engle.” Turpin eventually discovered the novel, which was published anonymously and reveals information about Whitman’s early life. The novel will soon be published by the University of Iowa Press. An English professor at the university, Ed Folson, said Turpin’s discovery “is going to change everything we thought we knew about Whitman’s writing career.” Turpin said it would “probably please” Whitman, whose work was often published uner a pseudonym, to know that his work was discovered.