The Whitman Gallery


1871? George C. Potter. Engraver: William J. Linton. Saunders #44a. Courtesy Gay Wilson Allen. Included here because of its familiarity as a portrait of Whitman; Whitman used it in the 1876 Leaves and wrote a poem, "Out from Behind This Mask," inspired by the engraving: "This common curtain of the face contain'd in me for me . . ./ These burin'd eyes, flashing to you to pass to future time. . . ." When choosing to print this image in the 1889 Leaves , Whitman told Traubel, "I always have liked it."
044.jpg Return to 1870s