Walt Whitman by C. D. Fredricks, ca. early 1870s

In 1890, Horace Traubel found this photograph in Whitman’s notoriously messy Camden, New Jersey, bedroom, with its heaps of papers that served as the poet’s archive: “Under the stove—an edge suspicioning itself out—was one of the Fredricks (N.Y.) portraits of which—W. seeing it in my hand—he said, ‘You had better take it along with you if you want it . . . if you had not found it, it probably would have been lost anyhow.’” Whitman went on to guess that the photograph “must be 12 or 15 years old—yes, taken after my sickness, on one of my trips to New York.” The photo led Whitman and Traubel to talk about the poet’s weight: Traubel thought he looked heavier in the photo, but Whitman disagreed (With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, August 13, 1890). If Whitman’s guess is correct, the photo would have been taken between 1875 and 1878, but this seems unlikely, since he suffered his first stroke in 1873 and another in early 1875; he had moved to Camden, New Jersey, and what traveling he did was mainly confined to trips to friends’ homes in Philadelphia or to nearby Timber Creek in New Jersey. Not until July of 1878 was Whitman in New York for an extended stay, when he sat for a session of photographs at Napoleon Sarony’s studio, photos that show him much more aged than in this photo. Traubel seems more accurate in seeing the Whitman in this photograph as hearty and healthy; it is more likely the photo was taken in 1872, when the poet visited New York several times on extended stays. It was taken at the opulent studio of C. D. Fredricks on Broadway (“Fredricks Photographic Temple of Art”). It is the only known surviving photograph taken by Fredricks, though Traubel’s comments suggest there were others. The printed inscription on the back of the photo lists Fredricks’ address as 587 Broadway, an address he maintained only until 1876 (when he moved elsewhere on Broadway), so that is the latest date the photo could have been taken. The image appears courtesy of the owner, Jeffrey Kraus, and is part of the Jeffrey Kraus Collection.

For more information on C. D. Fredricks, see "Notes on Whitman's Photographers."