Two remarkable pieces that are housed in the John Hay library’s special collections are daguerreotype portraits of the infamous romantic duo. One of Sarah Helen Whitman taken in 1856 and the other of Edgar Allan Poe titled the “Whitman” daguerreotype taken in November of 1848 as an engagement gift to Helen.

Below is a photo taken by me while viewing the daguerreotypes in person. To view the photos yourself, register through Aeon and reserve them. More information on that here: https://library.brown.edu/hay/specol.php