James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He was involved in the movement to abolish slavery and used his poetry to express his anti-slavery views. He was the first editor of what was to become The Atlantic and taught at Harvard University for twenty years. In 1877, he was appointed minister (ambassador) to the court of Spain and, three years later, accepted a similar role as minister to England.
This picture is an engraved portrait of Lowell, produced in 1894 by John Angel James Wilcox, from an original drawing made in 1855 by Samuel Worcester Rowse. The engraving is held by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.Engraving credit: John A. J. Wilcox, after Samuel W. Rowse; restored by Adam Cuerden