Daguerreotype reproduction from proof copy of Leaves of Grass. Walt Whitman Papers, Volume 209 c.1.
This iconic image of a youthful Walt Whitman appears as the frontispiece for the first edition of Leaves of Grass. Note Whitman’s handwritten note circled in blue pencil: “I own this plate.”
This copy of Leaves of Grass is open to the “Leaf of Faces,” which catalogs the many faces of America. The poem may be evidence of how Whitman's obsession with physiognomy (the pseudoscientific study of faces for evidence of character traits) entered into his poetic work.
Author and poet. This image is taken from Whitman's Memoranda During the War, a memoir about his time as a nurse in Washington, D.C., published in 1876.
This photograph shows Whitman supposedly holding a butterfly, which may have in fact been made of cardboard. He chose to include it in Specimen Days to illustrate his affinity towards nature. Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke explained that to Whitman the butterfly “represented Psyche (the Greek goddess of the soul), or the poet’s own soul.”
This large poster was printed to get out the vote for the suffrage referenda held in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania on 2 November 1915. The posters were printed by the Empire State Campaign Committee and hung in New York City’s theaters.
