still image Portrait photographs 1870-1880. gmgpc Albumen prints 1870-1880. gmgpc [1873] eng Photograph by Phillips & Taylor, Philadelphia. Saunders, Caption from Library exhibition, Revising Himself: Walt Whitman and the Leaves of Grass (2005): "This photograph, taken in 1877, was one of Whitman's favorites. He used the butterfly-on-hand as a recurring motif in his books and intended for this photo to be reproduced as the frontispiece in a sample proof of Leaves from 1891. To foster the image of himself as one with nature, he claimed that insect was real and one of his "good friends." But a band visible around Whitman's finger matches the wire under the butterfly artifact. This colorful cardboard prop was tucked into one of the first Whitman notebooks donated to the Library in 1918. The word "Easter" is printed down its spine. Dr. Bucke, one of his literary heirs, said the butterfly was Psyche, the poet's soul." Forms part of: Feinberg-Whitman Collection (Library of Congress). Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Butterflies--1870-1880. Studio props--1870-1880. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b24247 No known restrictions on publication.