Walt Whitman's poem "America" was first published in The New York Herald on February 11, 1888. This short but significant work appeared on page four in the middle of a column-long article headlined "Personal Intelligence,” almost as "filler."

From a surviving 19th-century wax-cylinder recording, you can listen today to a remarkable reading of "America," widely believed to be spoken by Whitman himself, as captured by Edison circa 1890.

For more information about The New York Herald and other individually available American Newspaper Archives, please contact readexmarketing@readex.com.