Easter greeting card, 1850.  Printed on a die-cut cardboard form in the shape of a butterfly, with
lyrics of a John Mason Neale hymn on one side, this Easter card was owned by Walt Whitman
and utilized in his marketing of his public image in the 1870s.  He posed with it perched on his
finger in a studio portrait taken in Philadelphia in 1877.  Thomas Biggs Harned collection of
Walt Whitman materials, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.THE FIRST BEGOTTEN
OF THE DEAD
FOR US HE ROSE, OUR
GLORIOUS HEAD,
IMMORTAL LIFE
TO BRING
WHAT THOUGH THE SAINTS
LIKE HIM SHALL DIE,
THEY SHARE THEIR
LEADER'S VICTORY,
AND TRIUMPH WITH
THEIR KING.
JOHN MASON NEALEPhillips & Taylor, Philadelphia
1873Easter
The first begotten
of the dead
For us He rose, our
Glorious head,
Immortal life
to bring.
What though the saint
like Him shall die,
They share their
Leader's victory,
And triumph with
their King.
John Mason Neale