Walt Whitman by V.W. Horton(?) of J. Gurney and Son, 1871
Whitman dates this picture to about 1865, but Gurney & Son were at 707 Broadway from 1857–1869. Gurney & Son moved to 5th Avenue in 1869 and remained there until the partnership was dissolved in 1874. Among his notebook entries dating between February and July 1871, Whitman notes, "V. W. Horton at Gurney's, cor 5th av. & 16th st." (Notebooks and Unpublished Prose Manuscripts, vol. 4, New York University Press, 1984, p. 823); later in the same notebook, he enters, "V. M W. Horton photo operator Gurneys" (826). Years later, Whitman unearthed the original for Horace Traubel: "He also handed me a stereoscopic card arranged with two portraits of himself—J. Gurney and Son. New York. 'That picture seems to have been liked—I don't know but I like it myself. William thought it "a trifle weak", but I don't think so. I can't always be a roaring lion!'" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Saturday, September 29th, 1888). This photograph was also issued as a stereograph by Gurney.
For more information on J. Gurney and Son, see "Notes on Whitman's Photographers."
Photographer: Horton, V.W.
Photographer: Gurney & Son, 1860–1874
Date: 1871
Technique: photograph
Place: New York (N.Y.)
Subject: Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 | New York (N.Y.)
Instance(s):
Metadata for Digital Item
Creator of master digital image: Library of Congress, Charles E. Feinberg Collection
Rights: Public Domain. This image may be reproduced without permission.
Work Type: digital image
Date: ca. 1995–ca. 2000