Walt Whitman by Napoleon Sarony, July 1878
In July 1878, Whitman was invited by Sarony to sit for a group of portraits; this and eight other photographs are the result. Whitman wrote Harry Stafford on the afternoon after the sitting at "the great photographic establishment" that he "had a real pleasant time" (nyp.00407).
Of this photo, Whitman said, "It is one of my good-humored pictures. . . . This is strong enough to be right and gentle enough to be right, too: I like to be both: I wouldn't like people to say 'he is a giant' and then forget I know how to love" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Monday, October 1st, 1888). On some later copies of this photograph, Whitman's name is printed on the card.
For more information on Napoleon Sarony, see "Notes on Whitman's Photographers."
Photographer: Sarony, Napoleon, 1821–1896
Date: July 1878
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: Ohio Wesleyan University, Bayley Collection
Rights: Public Domain. This image may be reproduced without permission.
Work Type: digital image
Date: ca. 1995–ca. 2000