[Scrapbook of ephemera]
Title
[Scrapbook of ephemera]
Description
Scrapbook containing tickets, invitations, textile and perfume labels, tokens, and trade cards, primarily issued in Philadelphia. Contents include images of buildings, genre scenes, and allegorical figures. Many of the items also include ornate borders. Materials document University of Pennsylvania medical department courses; a picnic at Mr. John F. Parke’s Grove (1853); Pennsylvania Horticultural Society events, including admittance for a "Lady to the Stated Meetings", bazaars, and Christmas Eve party; the Baltimore Assemblies; admittance to the Great Central Fair (1864) and Hillebrand & Lewis Gymnastic Institute; Mr. & Mrs. John A. McAllister Wooden Wedding (1861-1866); and a shooting match at glass balls at Union Hotel (1881). Scrapbook also contains advertising souvenirs from the Centennial Exhibition (1876); trade cards for Pennsylvania and Atlantic coast businesses; a calling card for Joseph E. Francis annotated with ink sketched figures; landscape views with a fishing scene, and a locomotive; receipts issued for pew rent to St. Paul’s Church, membership to the Athenaeum, and fines owed to the Library Company (1848); and an illustrated check for the Hibernian Society, billhead for T. Sharpless & Sons, and advertisement for [Edwin S.] Johnston’s New Self Locking Clock Spring Shade Roller., Other Philadelphia businesses represented include S.A. Hagner, saddle harness and trunk manufactory; John Dorff, silver plater and gilder; Sheble, Smith & Co., successors to R.L. Barnes, map publishers and mounters; Godey’s Lady’s Book Publishing Company; Geo. J. Burns, printer; Smith & Co. Globe Bazaar auction house; Johnson & Smith, type founders (formerly Binney & Ronaldson); and John H. Brown & Co., dry goods. Non-Philadelphia businesses include Cataract House (Niagara Falls); Globe Hotel (New York); Wilmington Boarding School for Girls (Samuel Hilles); Ash’s Patent Five Slit United States Government Pen; E. Kenny, architect (Brooklyn); Works of P. & F. Corbin (New Britain, Ct.); T. H. Pollock, organ builder and David B. Prosser, saddles and harness (Richmond); M'Neal & Siegert, jeweler; and Gray & Bail, furniture., Red cloth binding, stamped in gilt on cover: Photographs., Some tickets signed by Joseph Leidy, University of Pennsylvania., Some contents inscribed with name of recipient or holder. Recipients and holders include W. J. (John) Holmes; James J. Magee, possibly James Magee, President of Westmoreland Coal Co. who previously worked at Binney & Ronaldson; John Matthews; T. J. Nichols & lady; [H.?]J. Sharpless; and J. C. Stewart., Engravers and printers include Brown (Ledger Building), J. H. Camp, Illman & Sons, Geddes, M. & V. Harrison, J. Lea, W. Eaves, Major & Knapp, and Van Slyck & Co., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Housed in phase box.
Date
[ca. 1821-ca. 1894]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Scrapbook [8608.F]
[Scrapbook of prints]
Title
[Scrapbook of prints]
Description
Scrapbook containing primarily engraved periodical illustrations issued between circa 1820 and 1852 from American publications, including "Wellman's Literary Miscellany" and "Sartain's Magazine." Illustrations predominantly depict sentimental, religious, and genre views, many after European paintings, and often including children and animals, predominantly dogs. Titles include The Village School; Sunday Morning; Samuel & Eli; The Invasion; Early Piety; Sunday Morning; Calumet, or the Christian Indian; Christ Healing the Sick; The Child and the Mastiff; The Reaper's Friend; Hawk and Dove; The Young Tutors; The Farmer's Daughter; Rural Life (Wellman's Literary Miscellany); Innocence and Roguery; The Magic Lake, a scene from The Pilgrim of Love, The Valley of Repose, and The Exiles at Babylon from Sartain's Magazine; The First Friend; and The Sermon on the Mount. Other illustrations, some vignette on mauve-colored paper, depict Philadelphia and regional landmarks, including Schuylkill Near Flat Rock; Gilpin Mills on the Brandywine; Andalusia, the seat of Nicholas Biddle, Esq.; The Residence of the Count de Survilliers (i.e., Joseph Bonaparte) Bordentown; Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia; and Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. Also includes a tipped in miniature, embossed die cut of a vase of flowers., Patterned red paper binding., Artists and engravers include William Redmore Bigg; Thomas Birch; Hugh Bridport; J. G. Chapman; Thomas Doughty; George B. Ellis; Jean Augustin Franquelin; Hendemann; Illman & Sons; David G. Johnson; T. Kelley; J. B. Longacre; John B. Neagle; J. Holmes; F. Humphrys; W. Mason; John McArthur; Frederick Richard Pickersgill; J. W. Steel; Stuart & Fowler; W. E. Tucker; Henry Warren; Welch & Walter; Benjamin West; and Franz Winterhalter., Printers and publishers include Benjamin Rogers and Key & Biddle., Contains hand-colored title page printed "On stone by P.S. Duval's Lithy. Phila." and titled "Manchester Print Works. I. P. Wendell & Co. Philadelphia.", Some prints identified with title written in manuscript below image., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Housed in phase box., Contains several blank pages, many with glue marks.
Date
[ca. 1820-ca. 1852]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Scrapbook [P.9844.54]
Engravings by William Humphrys
Title
Engravings by William Humphrys
Description
Scrapbook of print specimens and proofs engraved by Philadelphia and London engraver William Humphrys. Contents include postage stamp proofs, book and periodical illustrations, tile pages, portrait prints, advertisements, and cut outs of banknote and certificate vignettes. Majority of graphics depict allegorical imagery or illustrations of genre, religious, sentimental, and literary scenes, some from the plays of Shakespeare. Illustrations include scenes of courtship; female friendship; children with animals; a ghoulish-looking woman with a torch; a European man smoking a hookah; Jesus Christ; Adam & Eve; and imagery from Edmund Spencer's "Faery Queen", John Milton's "Palemon's Story," and John Gay's "Thursday: or The Spell." Allegorical works depict the figures of Columbia, Minerva, Mercury, Neptune, Bounty, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Hope, and Apollo, as well as scenes with the American eagle; caducei for the "Liverpool Apothecaries Company"; citizens fighting a fire; cherubs charting a globe; Native Americans; a family; sailing ships; and symbols of farming, trade, and industry. Vignettes also show a portrait of Benjamin Franklin; Pocahontas saving John Smith; and a female warrior slaying a man of royalty captioned "Sic Semper Tyranus.", Portrait prints, some probably from the British periodical "Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country," depict Israel Putnam; George Washington; Gustavus Adolphus; Mrs. Sloman, of Covent Garden Theatre in the Character of Baltimore; Thomas Carlyle; William Dunlop; Letitia Elizabeth Landon; D. M. Moir; and Henry Purcell. Scrapbook also contains an 1844 banknote specimen of "La Provincia de Buenos Aires" illustrated with vignettes of ostriches; ca. 1845 postage stamp proof depicting Queen Victoria after the Chalon portrait; a full-length portait of an unidentified man, possibly Humphrys; and an advertisement for the Philadelphia artist Joshua Shaw showing a man leading his horse down a bucolic path, as well as engravings after his work of a landscape and an advertisement for Cohen's Lottery Exchange Office, Baltimore., Title from stamp on spine., Morocco binding., Various American and British artists, including W. Chatfield, John Opie, Joshua Shaw, Robert Smirke, C. R. Leslie, Charles L. Eastlake, W. E. West, George Smithard, Carlo Dola, A.E. Chalon, J. Wood, J. Stephanoff, Pastorini, Alfred Croquis (i.e., Daniel Maclise), A. F. Tireggi, John James Barralet, J. Banks, J. M. Wright, Thomas Stothard, P. Williams, Camille Roqueplan, and R. Westall., Various American and British printers and publishers, including H. S. Singleton, J. P. Davis, and James Fraser., Manuscript letter by Humphry completed January 10, 1865 to Anna Holloway pasted on opening page to scrapbook. Letter details his ill health, which in spite of, he still appreciates "the brightness of the sun, the greeness of the earth, and the beauty of extreme nature.", Some scrapbook pages contain manuscript notes identifying the genre of the specimen., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1967, p. 55., William Humphrys (1795-1865), born in Dublin, immigrated to the United States early in his life and studied engraving under George Murray in Philadelphia. He worked as an engraver in the city circa 1815-1823 producing book illustrations, advertisements, and banknote and certificate vignettes. He also served as secretary for the Association of American Artists. Relocating to England, he produced similar work before returning to the United States in 1843. In 1845, he moved to Dublin to engrave "The Reading Magdalene" for the Royal Irish Art Union before returning to England where he worked as an engraver for the firm Perkin, Bacon, and Co. During this employ, he was noted for his re-engraving of the head of Queen Victoria for the 1 d postage stamp. Humphrys retired from engraving in his later years and worked as an accountant for the printing firm Novello & Co. He died at the Novellos' Genoa villa on January 21, 1865.
Creator
Humphrys, William, 1795-1865
Date
[ca. 1817-ca. 1845]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Humphrys [7607.F]
Portraits
Title
Portraits
Description
Bound volume of portrait plates issued between circa 1804 and 1831 from various publications, including "Mechanics Magazine"; "New British Lady's Magazine"; and the compilation "Boxiana or Sketches of Antient [sic] and Modern Pugilism" (London: George Virtue, 1829). Portraits depict prominent and celebrity European figures, predominantly from Great Britain, including clergymen, legislators, entertainers, scientists and inventors, royalty and pugilists. Plates include full-length, half-length, and bust-length portraiture, with some containing backgrounds, props, or ornate borders. Portraits of religious figures predominantly published by London publishers F. Westley and Westley & Davis and arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Portraits of legislators, celebrity and other prominent figures predominantly published by London publishers Fisher Son & Co. and J. Robins & Co. and arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Portraits of pugilists predominantly published by G. Smeeten and Sherwood, Jones & Co. and most arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Volume also includes a title page and views titled "The John Bull Fighters Splendid Silver Cup" and "A Sparring Match at the Fives Court" from the Pierce Egan's "Boxiana" series originally published in parts in 1813 and later as volumes between 1818 and 1828., Sitters include reverends George Burder (Senior Secretary of the London Missionary Society), William Milne (Late Missionary to the Chinese), David Stuart (Theological Tutor of the Irish Evangelical), and Robert Vaughan; physician Carl Linnaeus; inventor Sir Richard Arkwright; Queen Caroline; statesman John Wilson Croker; authors Madame De Genlis, Madame De Stael, and Hannah More; (Victoria Mary Louisa) Duchess of Kent; George I, II, III, and IV; performers Josephine Girardelli and Anna Maria Tree; architect Peter Nicholson; Whig politician Thomas Spring Rice; and chemist William Hyde Wollaston. Sitters also include pugilists Peter Crawley; Dick Curtis; Josh Hudson; Tom Owen; Ned Painter; Dutch Sam (i.e., Samuel Elias); Ned Turner; and expatriate, African American pugilists Bill Richmond and Tom Molyneux (portraits on the same page)., Portraits of Bill Richmond and Tom Molyneux show the men in bust-length. Richmond looks slight to the right. He has curly hair and is attired in a patterned shirt with a ruffled collar and a jacket. Molyneux is shown in right profile. He has curly hair and is attired in a shirt with a ruffled collar and a jacket., Title from stamp on spine., Inscribed on front free end paper: R. B. bind as arranged., Pages numbered in ink in upper left corner., Inscribed on verso of portrait of ‘His Most Gracious Majesty, George Augustus-Frederick The Fourth” (p. 110): On Celebrated Englishmen, Various artists and engravers, including George Cruikshank; Isaac Robert Cruikshank; Fenner, Sears & Co.; W. T. Fry; W. Hollins; Thomas Lawrence; R. Page; W. T. Page; George Parker; Sherwood, Jones & Co.; J. R. Wildman; and J. W. Wright., Publishers include Knight & Lacey; George Smeeton; F. Westley; Westley & Davis; T. Williams; and Williams & Smith., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Accessioned 1882., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date
[ca. 1804-ca. 1831]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [Uz 3 51278.O]
[Scrapbook of European views]
Title
[Scrapbook of European views]
Description
Scrapbook containing photographic and printed views of European cities, landmarks, and historical sites. Images depict the city and landscapes; castles, palaces, and estates; cathedrals and chuches; and hotels and resorts of Germany, Russia, Spain, Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Great Britain. Images also show bridges, sailing vessels, pedestrians and street traffic, persons on promenades, horse-drawn vehicles, waterways, mountains, and squares and parks. Views (interiors and exteriors) of prominent sites include Vienna Arsenal (as a museum - 1874); Crucis and Netley Abbeys; Chester Cathedral; Staffordshire-in-Arms; the resting place and residence of Wordsworth; tomb of the Lafayette family; the house and bedroom where Msr. Le Duc D'Orleans died; Ripon Cathedral; Haddon Hall; the Crescent (Buxton); Shangana Castle (includes notes by Smith about her "happy days" spent there and the death of Augustus William Heyman); and Peveril Castle. Also includes several Laurie & Whittle vues d'optique published by "act of parliament May 12, 1794" depicting views of European cities, including Venice, Rome, Madrid, Paris and Versailles, as well as a number of plates from F. Sinnett's "La France de nos jours" (ca. 1860). Views of the Wilhelm monuments at Charlottenberg; Derwentwater; Lausanne; and the Druid Stones are also included in the scrapbook., Title supplied by cataloger., Some items contain manuscript notes by Smith inscribed on mount or verso. Notes often detail personal memories., Various artists and photographers, including Alfred Lorens, G. Zocchi, Anth. Canale (Canaletto), M. Marieschi, J. Rigaud, J. Philippe, Asselineau, Chapuy, Wegelin, E. Dardoize, L. L. Raze, E. H. Buckler, T. Bailey, G. Hawkins, J. Croston, T. Allom, H. Gastineau, J. Brandard, W. Coles; L. Aspland, and W. Westall., Various engravers, including T. Bowles, Parr, J. Robert, J. Tinney, Johann Baptist Marie Chamouin, T. Speorli, S. Lacey, W. Le Petit, H. Adlard, W. Floyd, and W. Banks., Various printers and publishers, including Cuvillier, Lemercier, Laurie & Whittle, A. Hauser (Veith et Hauser), Destouches, Deroy, Bulla Freres et Jouy, Tirpenne, Jacottet, Spengler, Becquet frères, William Judson, A. LaRiviere, Day & Son, J. Gow, J. C. Bates, Newman & Co., James Gratton, and M & N. Hanhart., Forms part of M. Rebecca Darby Smith Scrapbooks Collection., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator
Smith, Mary Rebecca Darby
Date
[ca. 1794-ca. 1874]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare 4-Alcove 2 [Is 6 1518.Q, vol. 3]
[Scrapbook of prints and clippings]
Title
[Scrapbook of prints and clippings]
Description
Scrapbook containing primarily clipped book and periodical illustrations, as well as newspaper clippings from the 1820s to circa 1840. Illustrations predominantly depict portraits of prominent figures, including Capt. Nicholas Biddle and Gen. Anthony Wayne; landscapes, including Fairmount Water Works, Paris, and Italy; European dwellings; and genre, sentimental, and allegorical scenes, including depictions of children with animals, scenes of courtship, amusement, and solemnity; literary allusions; and a "Hen Humming Bird with her Nest of Eggs." Clippings, a number from the National Gazette, contain poems, parables, obituaries, biographical sketches, and literary references. Other topics include advice to save costs from the hardship of winter in Philadelphia, including lessening wages for servants and purchasing less butter at market; the importance of medical testimony; and a positive review of the recitation of a George A. Boker poem of war by Smith. Scrapbook also contains a silhouette of a soldier on horseback and tipped-in printed works, including the program for the wedding of Queen Victoria in 1840; ca. 1887 trade cards for the Au Bon Marche Paris department store; the 1857 illustrated songsheet "Come Whoam To thi Childer An Me"; and an 1845 newspaper clipping of an excerpt of "The Diary of a Young Mother" by Lady Willoughby, Title supplied by cataloger., Pasted on first page: Illustrated title page of edition of "Ladies Album. Published by R. De Silver, No. 110 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. Illustration shows a young man playing a trumpet near a young woman reading, with her dog, along a riverbank., Manuscript notes in blue ink on first page: Rebecca D. Smith; The Injured and Persecuted One., Few pages contain paste marks from removed items., Various artists, including T. Birch, John Trumbull, F. Nash, C. Fielding, W. Brockedon, Strickland, J. C., T. Doughty; B. K. Fox, W. G. Wall, W. D. Fellows, and Richd. R. Smith., Various engravers, including P. Kearny, J. Warr, Jr., Edwin, C. G. Childs, Leney, Fairman & Childs, Tiebout, Porlier, G.B. Ellis, W. Woodruff, J. Lybrand, Peter Maverick, J. Hill, and Langton., Various printers and publishers, including Edwd. Parker, William Allen, F. Kearny, and Testu & Massin., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Binding in poor condition.
Creator
Smith, Mary Rebecca Darby
Date
[ca. 1784-ca. 1887]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare 4-Alcove 2 [Is 6 1536.Q, vol. 2]
[Scrapbook of original and printed art works]
Title
[Scrapbook of original and printed art works]
Description
Scrapbook containing predominantly original amateur art work, including watercolors, pencil works, and crayon drawings. Also contains engraved illustrations, photographic reproductions of paintings and sculptures, and lithographs. Subjects of the imagery include landscapes and marinescapes; scenes of rural life; portraiture of animals (birds, elephant, pig) and people; figure studies; allegorical figures; the work of Horatio Stone and Hortense Hazard; costume plates from "La France de nos jours" (1860); and religious and sentimental (courtship) scenes. Printed and inscribed titles include The Lion in Love; Masque d'Omphale; Polixene; Pâtre De Se. Saveur; Costumes Des Maconnaises; Costumes Des Bressannes; Une Bacchante; The Risen Redeemer; The Holy Family; The Trusty Servant; The Widow (painted by Smith's cousin J. L. Fisher); Blackbird and Thrush in Covert; Ceres; "The Highland soldier bidding adieu to his love"; "Pig-Pig-Pig"; La Maitress du Titian; and Japan Rose. Scrapbook also includes a crayon rubbing of the monumental brass on the tomb of Sir John Ratcliffe and Dame Alice at Crathwaite Church (Keswick, Cumberland); a series of French etchings satirizing the military; a photograph of the "Arsenal at Vienna"; and a trade card for the Interlaken Grand Hotel Victoria., Title supplied by cataloger., Few items removed., Many items contain corresponding inscriptions (often illegible) by the artist or inscriptions on verso by Smith explicating provenance., Various artists and engravers including P. Planat, H. Richter, W. Froden, Maurice, H. Moses, Hanlon, and G. Fairman., Various printers and publishers including George Baxter, Ducarme, Langlume, Auguste Bry, LeBlond & Co., Leighton Bros., Destouches, and Smith, Elder, & Co., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator
Smith, Mary Rebecca Darby
Date
[ca. 1830-ca. 1874]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare 4-Alcove 2 [Is 6 1518.Q, vol. 2]
[Scrapbook of prints]
Title
[Scrapbook of prints]
Description
Scrapbook containing predominantly clipped book and periodical illustrations, including a number of vignettes engraved by W. E. Tucker after the work of Thomas Birch, showing European and American landscapes and landmarks, animal portraiture, and genre and Biblical scenes. Landscape and landmark views mainly depict the Eastern United States and Great Britain. Titles include Passaic Falls; Bandit's Home; The Woodlands, near Philadelphia-Seat of J. Lisle Esq.; Philadelphia from the Elm Tree, Kensington; The Prison at Venice; Abbey Gate of St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk; The Little Irish Girl; The City of Pompeii; The Deluge; The Three Maries at the Tomb of Christ; The Residence of Samuel Breck Esq. on the Schuylkill; Barlborough Hall, Derbyshire; Church Street, St Paul's Church & the Cemetery Gate of St. Augustine's Monastery, Canterbury; The Happy Family; and Plate XV from a 1782 edition of Don Quixote. Several of the views contain persons on foot, images of estates or rural life, farm animals, and modes of transportation on land or sea. Animal portraitures depict birds, sheep, goats, cows, and a wolf. Scrapbook also contains early European landscape lithographs designed by J. Rothmuller and G. Englemann; a lithograph signed with the monogram JPL; illustrated title pages from Oliver Goldsmith's "The Traveler" and William Shenstone's "The School Mistress"; a portrait of Elizabeth Fry; cutouts depicting a tiger and a Moses-like figure; watercolor and gouache drawings of flowers, a butterfly and a ruins; a pressed feather; and three newspaper clippings referring to poets M. LaMartine, Lady Flora Hastings, and Felicia Hemans., Title supplied by cataloger., Label pasted on inside front cover: A. R. Poole, Fancy Stationer, 66 Chestnut St., Philada., Some pages contain paste marks from removed items., Various artists, including T. Doughty, T. Birch, J. V. Barber, P. Dewint, B. K. Fox, L. T. Lee, J. Martin, J. Rothmuller, Charles Barber, Joseph Fussell, R. Westall, G. S. Newton, A. Mosses, B. West, Geo. Shepherd, John Boaden, and Stothard., Various engravers, including W. E. Tucker, W. Miller, C. G. Childs, J. Lybrand, Hall, Charles Pye, Robert Brandard, Mottram, J. W. Steel, J. B. Longacre, E. Smith, J. Neagle, H. Adlard, Hamilton, and William Blake., Various printers and publishers, including Engelmann, Whittaker & Co., Joyce Gold, Pendleton, and Harrison & Co., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Binding in poor condition., Mary Rebecca Darby Smith (1814-1886) was the daughter of Philadelphia Quakers Hannah Logan Fisher (1777-1846) and James Smith (d. 1826) and great great granddaughter of scholar and William Penn's secretary James Logan. Smith, known as an eccentric, never married and traveled widely from the mid to late 19th century. Between 1859 and 1886, she resided in Washington, D.C (1859-1861) and traveled to Europe (1860-1870; 1874-1876; 1880-1886), including the British Isles, Rome, Venice, Paris and St. Petersburg. She was also an autograph collector, author, poet, and socialite. Smith died and was buried in London in November 1886. Her estate was valued at over $30,000 and she left several bequests, including to the Library Company, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and friends throughout the East coast of the United States, Europe, and Russia.
Creator
Smith, Mary Rebecca Darby
Date
ca. 1782-ca. 1835
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare 4-Alcove 2 [Is 6 1536.Q, vol. 1]
[Nature prints of leaves]
Title
[Nature prints of leaves]
Description
Albums of predominantly nature prints of leaves produced by inking both sides of the specimen, placing it between a folded sheet of paper, and pulling the sheet through a printing press. Sheets contain one to several specimens (a few numbered) and several are annotated with the date of printing, inscriptions, and identifications of specimens. Some sheets contain manuscript notes about the provenance of and how the specimens were dried or inked, the condition of the leaves, their medicinal uses, and descriptions of the plants from which they came. Inscriptions of note include "Engraven by the Greatest and Best engraver in the Universe"(v. 1, p. 2); "... leaves dried and press'd in my Heap of News-Papers for 7 or 8 years" (v. 1, p. 43); "Done July 18th 1742, when I impress'd 6 or 8 sheets more for my Frd's Kent, Bard, Pratt, Browne, Shoemaker, &" (v. 1, p. 74); "These were done in my new Press which Joseph Watkins made & now brought Home 2nd of May 1734" (v. 1, p. 94); "Done July 1st 1744 with L' & Vel't B'll"(v. 1, p. 95); Nov. 23rd 1738 A Leaf of Rhubarb and withered. Somewhat hurt by the Frost (v. 1, p.128) and "From Jno. Bartram 18th Augst. 1734. The most excellent remedy for the bite of a Rattlesnake - Sysimachia Quadrafolia - 1st 7br 1734 - "An Indian specific for fevers and aguas [sic] and a substitute for tea [I think Green]" - "From Peter Sonmans (who brought it from Albany). Done 31st Augst. 1734. A famous Snake weed" - "Mem the other Side I sent to Peter Collinson, June 1735" (v.2, p. 58)., Botanical specimens represented in album include wormwood, hollyhock, althea, marsh mallow, lavender, moss, creeper, quince, plantain, service, sage, tansey, mulberry, a sarabacca, rattlesnake weed, gooseberries, hemp, laurel, pawpaw, mustard, bind weed, wild grape, water plantain, wild betony, teasel, pineapple, Indian Fluxwort, "parsimon," arrowhead, oak of Cappadocia, squash, cattail grass, Goat's-Rue, sanicle, yam, maidenhair, tobacco, cat mint, saffron, caterpillar, marygold, horse radish, sun flower, gelder rose, may heart, St. John's-Wort, wild Angelica, marjoram, silk cotton, buck wheat, potato, burdock, rattle snake golden rod, mulleins, and Carolina Bean. Album also contains printed images of feathers, pieces of fabric, and a twenty-four line poem written in pencil and signed by "A Botanist" and dated 1855 (v. 1, p. 106). Provenances of the specimens include John Bartam, Stephen Benezet, "Spring Garden," John Holland, E. Woolley, G. Gray, "R.R.'s Ginseng Hill," Peter Sonmans, and Esther Banks., Title supplied by cataloger., Some sheets contain watermark: Pro Patria., Gift of Mrs. Joseph Breintnall in 1746., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Volume 1 (P.2011.7.1) reformatted and arranged in two cases of folders numbered (1-10) and (21-34)., Index to inscriptions held at repository., Described in Edwin Wolf and Marie Elena Korey, eds., Quarter of a Millennium (Philadelphia: The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1981), entry 11., Described in Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976) #29., Joseph Breintnall (d. 1746), scrivener, public servant, author, poet, and colleague of Benjamin Franklin, was also an amateur scientist who experimented with solar heat and botany. A founder and secretary of the Library Company of Philadelphia, he engaged in the study of botany through Peter Collinson, the library's London book agent. Between circa 1731 and circa 1744, he created hundreds of leaf prints as records of botanical specimens he gathered himself and from networks. Breintnall also most likely used his experience with leaf printing to assist Franklin in the creation of a metal cast of a leaf impression used to print currency incapable to be counterfeited.
Creator
Breintnall, Joseph, d. 1746
Date
[ca. 1731-ca. 1744]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.2011.7.1 & 2]

Pages