James Russell Lowell

In 1895 the New York-based Grolier Club, devoted to the art of the book and related graphic arts, commissioned Calverley to execute this medallion of the American writer, editor, and teacher Lowell (1819–1891). The club intended it as a companion to the medallion commemorating Nathaniel Hawthorne that it had issued in 1892. Calverley based his likeness on a photographic portrait provided by Lowell’s family, depicting his sitter frontally, a more challenging format than profile or three-quarter views. The inscriptions include a verse from the Book of Ecclesiastes, while laurel branches are woven through Lowell’s name and around the Grolier Club seal. Of the edition of 372 bronze casts produced by the New York founder John Williams, the club reserved ten medallions for presentation to various institutions including The Met.