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Too many photographs of John Greenleaf Whittier

READER MAILBAG
May 2012

Dear SeacoastNH.com,
I was wondering if you could give me any information about the photograph of John Greenleaf Whittier which is featured on your Web site: I have purchased what looks like a fairly early photographic copy of it, and I'd like to know more about the original.
Thanks, Steve
(See response below )

SeacoastNH.com response

John_Greenleaf_Whittier_tilted I thought this one would be easy. I checked the photo you purchased that shows Whittier with a devilish grin. It appears to be from the 1860s or 70s. Whittier was a rock star of his era and was photographed often. I pulled out my handy copy of “John Greenleaf Whittier: A Profile in Portraits” (1967) that I purchased at the Whittier House in Amesbury, MA. The brochure identifies over 40 images of the Fireside Poet, but alas, your exact photo was not among them.

I checked the weighty biography of Whittier by Roland H. Woodwell (1985), but again no luck. Then I searched for pix of Whittier using Google Images. The results were staggering. Youyr picture is there, as well as engravings made from the same photo, but I had no immediate luck finding a date or location or artist for the exact photo.

The next step was a photo search for images being sold on eBay. Same picture available in an early print for about $25, but the seller had no details. Best bet is to contact the curator at both of the two Whittier museums. The nonprofit group that manages the house in Amesbury and the Whittier Homestead in nearby Haverhill may know better. Take a nice scan of your image and send it along and see if anyone there can pin down the details. I assume that, due to his popularity and the enormous number of Whittier photographic portraits published and sold, that this is not a valuable item, but just doing the research can be fun – and the two books I mentioned are a great place to start. Oh, and I believe the library at Haverhill has a major Whittier collection too. Coincidentally, my wife and I will be speaking at the Amesbury House in a couple of weeks and we’ve enjoyed touring both historic homes. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. -- JDR

Photos of John Greeleaf Whittier on Google Images / Courtesy SeacoastNH.com