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Twelve Poems, Then Almost 400

Walt Whitman published the first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855. It was a slim book of 12 poems, printed without the author’s name on the title page. By the end of his life the book held almost 400 poems. The ninth and last edition, called the “deathbed” edition, appeared in 1891–1892.

The Library of Congress describes how he worked. Whitman “continuously altered the contents.” He “added new poems, named or renamed old ones,” “reworded lines, and changed punctuation, making each edition unique.” He regarded each version “as its own distinct book.”

Thirty-Nine Endings

In a 1958 interview with The Paris Review, Ernest Hemingway said that he rewrote the last page of A Farewell to Arms “thirty-nine times before I was satisfied.” He was asked what had stumped him. He answered: “Getting the words right.” In 2012 his publisher, Scribner, printed an edition with 47 alternate endings found in his papers.

The line “The first draft of anything is shit” is often credited to Hemingway. It comes from Arnold Samuelson, who spent ten months with him in 1934. Samuelson’s memoir appeared in 1984, three years after Samuelson’s death. Quote Investigator finds the account plausible, but says the long delay “does not inspire a high degree of confidence.”

A Recall by Download

In January 2014 Tesla recalled 29,222 Model S cars after a charger plug was suspected in a garage fire. The main fix came as a wireless software update. The car now detected charging problems and lowered the charging rate. Tesla also mailed owners new plugs with a thermal fuse. Elon Musk wrote on Twitter: “The word ‘recall’ needs to be recalled.”

Tesla had sent such updates since the car’s launch. The first one, in October 2012, added a “creep mode.” Version 7.0, in October 2015, improved Autopilot, including Autosteer and Autopark. MIT Technology Review wrote in 2014 that “it has become common for Tesla to send out updates that address problems and enhance performance.”

The First iPhone Had No Apps

The first iPhone went on sale on June 29, 2007. It had no App Store. Users could not copy and paste text. In October 2007 Steve Jobs wrote: “Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone.”

The App Store opened in July 2008. In its first weekend, users downloaded more than 10 million applications. Copy and paste arrived with iPhone OS 3.0 on June 17, 2009. When Apple announced it in March, the TechCrunch headline read: “iPhone to finally get cut and paste.”

Rough Drafts in the Standards

The Common Core State Standards include this anchor standard for writing: “Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.” California’s version for fifth grade begins: “With guidance and support from peers and adults.”

The standards were released in June 2010. By August 2010, 34 states and the District of Columbia had adopted them. The Encyclopedia of Education notes that process approaches “have become common.” In them, teachers give students opportunities to “brainstorm ideas, complete initial rough drafts, receive peer and teacher feedback, and revise and proofread.”

Some have worried that teachers may be paying “insufficient attention to the quality of students’ written products.”

Notice and Comment

Before a federal agency adopts most new regulations, it must first publish a proposal. The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 requires a “general notice of proposed rule making” in the Federal Register. The agency must then give “interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making through submission of written data, views, or arguments.”

A citizen, a company or an association can read the proposal. They can tell the agency what is wrong with it before it becomes binding. The agency must consider the comments. It must explain the final rule’s “basis and purpose.” Agencies “respond to comments by categories in the preambles of final rules.” A new substantive rule normally takes effect at least 30 days after it is published.

Twenty-Seven Amendments

Article V of the Constitution sets out how the Constitution itself can be changed. It begins: “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments.” The states then decide whether to ratify them.

The first changes came quickly. Some states had ratified the Constitution “with the understanding that the amendments would be offered.” On September 25, 1789, the First Congress proposed 12 amendments. Three-fourths of the states ratified ten of them by December 15, 1791. These ten are the Bill of Rights.

Since the founding, Congress has proposed 33 amendments in all. The states have ratified 27 of them. At least 11,000 other proposals never passed Congress.

With All Its Faults

On September 17, 1787, the last day of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin brought a written speech. James Wilson read it for him. Franklin began with an admission: “I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve.” Then he said: “I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such.”

He explained why. “I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution.” He asked each delegate who still had objections to “doubt a little of his own infallibility” and sign.

Of his own doubts he said: “The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good.”

Original Rough Draught

Late in life, Thomas Jefferson labeled his draft of the Declaration of Independence “original Rough draught.” The Library of Congress holds it. The draft shows changes by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and later by Congress.

Smithsonian Magazine counts 86 edits. The final version is several hundred words shorter. The phrase “self-evident” was one of the edits. Jefferson had written “sacred and undeniable.”

Jefferson was not sure the edits had improved it. He wrote to Richard Henry Lee: “You will judge whether it is the better or worse for the Critics.”