PORTRAIT OF WALT WHITMAN

1891. First Edition. Framed Etching. Some age discoloration on the mat not extending to the print. A Fine example of this superb and now uncommon image. Fine Drypoint Proof Etching by Thomas Johnson, SIGNED by Johnson in pencil, after a photograph by George Cox of Walt Whitman head and shoulders wearing his wide-brimmed hat, seated, with a flowing beard, turned towards the artist. Matted and framed to an overall size of 15-1/2" x 18" with the actual image size 7-3/8" x 9-7/8" and the visual etching size not covered by the mat 10-1/4" x 12-1/2." Said to have been Whitman's favorite and sometimes called "The Laughing Philosopher," it has become one of (truncated) the best-known images of Whitman.

English-born artist Thomas Johnson lived and worked in the United States, producing a number of engravings and etchings of famous Americans such as Whitman, Lincoln, Bryant, Francis Scott Key, and George and Martha Washington. (Inventory #: 019347)