Editorial comment for this plate:

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.

OUR picture this week is an excellent portrait of another eminent American. James Russell Lowell is known to fame in more than one capacity. As a diplomat and statesman he ranks with the foremost of his countrymen, while as a poet and an author he stands in the very first rank of living English writers. As the author of the inimitable “Bigelow Papers,” the noble “Commemoration Ode,” or the United States minister to the most important court of Europe, Lowell will be long and equally remembered with pride by his countrymen. He is a type of the best American, and as such has brought honor on his country in two hemispheres. We are glad to present our readers with so excellent a likeness of this distinguished American. It is one of the series by Mr. Gutekunst, which we have frequently referred to in these columns, and of which we have already given our readers two or three examples. They are all models of excellence for the study of our portrait makers. The signature is a facsimile, by a photographic process, of Mr. Lowell’s own autograph.

James Russell Lowell: 1819-1891

James Russell Lowell  was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets to rival the popularity of British poets. These writers usually used conventional forms and meters in their poetry, making them suitable for families entertaining at their fireside.—Wikipedia (2026)