From a Library to Walt Whitman to Ancient Egypt to Today — a Full Circle.

As noted by many, 2019 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Walt Whitman. His words are alive and well as evidenced in the many works on view in the exhibition entitled Walt Whitman’s Words: Inspiring Artists Today held at the Center for Book Arts in New York. The exhibition shines a light on how Whitman continues to influence artists through his writings on many topics that resonate today from democracy to immigration.

The exhibition expands on another exhibit entitled Walt Whitman & The Art of the Book: Contemporary Visions for Poet’s House that I organized back in 2015. I also have written on Whitman in a more historical sense  including a blog and an online essay entitled Walt Whitman and the Arts in Brooklyn. Soon I will be adding blogs about the works on view in the Center for Book Arts exhibition to this website.

Here is a little background on where my interests in Whitman come from. One of the research topics I took on when I was working at the Brooklyn Museum was its early history in order to compile historical chronologies for its publications and related documentary projects. That research took me back to the early years of the Apprentices’ Library that is the predecessor of the Museum and what Brooklyn was like in the 1820’s. Reading through the Minute books revealed a city engaged in educational activities. A passage in the first Minute Book of the Library revealed an entry dated January 31, 1835: “Walter Whitman acting Librarian presented a Report this evening, in which it is stated that there are now about 1200 volumes in the Library in a proper state for being drawn out; and that the number of Readers is 172.” Well this entry certainly piqued my curiosity as to whether this could be THE Walt Whitman. I spoke with many people about this possibility including the then Library Associate Jeffrey Croteau who took on the task of researching the Library and its early days. The result of his research can be found here in his article entitled Walter Whitman, Acting Librarian by Jeffrey Croteau. A great read for its view into the world of libraries that were active in Brooklyn and New York, then two separate cities.  An update on the Whitman story is that the very same Minute book has been recently displayed in an exhibition held at the Grolier Club entitled Poet of the Body: New York’s Walt Whitman. Inclusion of the Minute Book in this fine exhibition documenting Walt Whitman’s New York years confirms my belief that indeed it is the one and only.

Whitman’s ties to the Apprentices’ Library and its successor institutions is further called out by his writings about exhibitions and collections held by the Brooklyn Institute. His writings about American art were visionary in terms of understanding the importance of the work of those emerging artists. Later his repeated visits to the Stuyvesant Institute to view the collection of Egyptian antiquities assembled by Dr. Henry Abbott triggered his lifelong fascination with Ancient Egypt. His ramblings around New York City in the 1850’s and his interest in Dr. Abbott and his objects is well documented in Roberta Munoz’s essay entitled Whitman on Broadway – The Poet of the Present Contemplates the Past written for this website. These essays contributed by guest scholars provides deeper insight about Whitman’s activities in New York and his lasting impact on the art scene in America.