Abraham Lincoln read it with approval, but Emily Dickinson described its bold language and themes as ''disgraceful.'' Ralph Waldo Emerson found it ''the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet produced.'' Published at the author's expense on July 4, 1855, Leaves of Grass inaugurated a new voice and style into American letters and gave expression to an optimistic, bombastic vision that took the nation as its subject. Unlike many other editions of Leaves of Grass, which reproduce various short, early versions, this Modern Library Paperback Classics ''Death-bed'' edition presents everything Whitman wrote in its final form, and includes newly commissioned notes.