Abstract
Since Walt Whitman’s death, his secret publications have come to light with surprising regularity; this chapter details the discovery of ten such publications, each of which Whitman covertly saw into print and seemingly reminded no one of afterward. Commonalities among these rediscovered works include their publication primarily in newsprint; their appearance anonymously or under pen names; their engagement with “un-Whitmanian” genres; and their discovery by way of manuscript and bibliographic evidence. Since new digital methodologies have begun enhancing researchers’ efficacy and extending their reach into vast new digital archives, this chapter concludes by enumerating the strengths and weaknesses of some of the newest methods aiding the recovery of secret Whitman publications. These include byline searches, computational stylometry, and idiolectic analysis. Such methods promise to help turn up any number of still-missing Whitman texts, including not one but two novels, The Sleeptalker (c.1850–51) and Proud Antoinette (c.1858–60).