Search results

Title: Collections from fugitive sources only, illustrative of the antiquities, progress & c. of the city Philadelphia
Description: Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and prints, predominantly dated between 1850 and 1855, pertaining to the history and built environment, and social, cultural, and economic climate of Philadelphia. Subject matter mainly relates to improvements to the cityscape, transportation, businesses and industry; historical articles (some illustrated) about the evolution of the city, including notices of destruction of former landmarks; daily, yearly, and seasonal accounts about the weather; and reports (and prices lists) for mortality, election returns, real estate sales, city permits, taxables, debt, stock, trade, exports, and cattle, domestic, and produce markets. Articles about city improvements (some illustrated) describe new construction of churches, storefronts and factories, residences, and places of amusement, on major Center City streets and outerlying neighborhoods, including Arch Street, North Second Street, Market Street, Chestnut Street, Belmont district, Bush Hill, Germantown, Moyamensing, North Philadelphia, Penn District, the Seventh Ward, Southwark, West Philadelphia, and the “vicinity of the Navy Yard.”, Properties referenced include the American Sunday School Union (1100 block Chestnut); Bulletin Building (Third Street below Chestnut); New Presbyterian and Tabernacle Baptist churches; Major Eastwick’s estate at Bartram’s Gardens, Newlin’s Brewery (100 block N. Second), the Farquhar Building (opp. Merchant’s Exchange); Girard Buildings (Chestnut and Third); Matthew T. Miller & Co. (Third and Chestnut); New Masonic Temple (713-721 Chestnut); Stoddart & Co. (278-282 N. Second); M. Thomas & Sons (100 block S. Fourth); Cornelius, Baker & Co. (800 block Cherry Street); Caleb, Cope & Co. (429 Market); the Concert Hall; City Museum; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Philadelphia Gas Works; Farmer & Mechanics Bank; Howell Evans, printing establishment (130 S. Fourth); New Iron Building (600 Arch); Xavier Bazin, perfumer (Seventh and Chestnut); T.W. Evans & Co., mantle and silk store (214-216 Chestnut); and the New Assembly Building (Tenth and Chestnut)., Also contains columns from the series “Benevolent Institutions of Philadelphia” (1849); “Churches and their Pastors” (1849); “Philadelphia in Olden times” (1853); “Reminiscences” (Sunday Dispatch, 1853); “The Progress of Philadelphia”; local historian Thompson Westcott’s “Street Scenes: Philadelphia in 1798, 1799 and 1800” (Sunday Dispatch, 1853); and "Revolutionary Relics" (1854). Topics of historical pieces include Cathedral Cemetery; several churches, including Assumption, Swedes, Tabernacle Baptist and Associate Presbyterian; Videll’s Alley; Market and Chestnut streets; Centre Square; the Pennsylvania Hospitals, including for the Insane in West Philadelphia; Naval Asylum; Commissioner’s Hall, Spring Garden; Robert Morris Mansion; the "libraries of Philadelphia," including the Library Company; and the city police, Quakers and Odd Fellows., Other articles report about the consolidation of the city (including a satiric piece criticizing the grand consolidation ball); Girard College; Philadelphia medical schools, including the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania; auctions conducted by M. Thomas & Sons and James A. Freeman; meteorological reviews, reports and bizarre weather lore, including the 1850 freshet on the Schuylkill; the gas industry in the city; various city water works, including Fairmount and Schuylkill; the number and improvements to omnibuses and their lines and other modes of transportation, including steam boats, ferries, and railroads; improvements to Camden; islands in the Delaware, including Windmill Island. Additional subject matter includes temporary housing of the Post Office in the Jayne Building on Dock Street; “haunts of vice and misery,” including raffling , i.e., gambling, and dance houses; the cleaning of streets through ordinances and sweeping machines; daguerreotypist M. A. Root as the first bidder of the auction of Jenny Lind Tickets in 1850; critical and satirical articles about the newest style of men’s striped pants, the 1855 city directory, the implementation of police hats, and artificial stone fronts on houses; an 1853 benefit at the Parisian Hippodrome; and a black book at the mayor’s office for the reception of “complaints of citizens.”, Scrapbook also contains wood engravings (several from newspaper and periodicals), engravings, cameo stamps, and lithographs. Graphics include predominantly advertisements and cameo stamps. Images show the various locations of the Charles Oakford hat manufactory, including his first shop on Lombard and the mulit-tenanted building on the 700 block of Chestnut; F.C. Kropff, chemical warehouse and laboratory (380 N. Sixth); Keen & Co., manufacturers of ranges and furnaces (Broad & Sansom); J. Smith Harris, merchant tailors (61 S. Fourth); Samuel Hart & Co., manufacturers of playing cards, mother o' pearl goods, and traveling bottles (236 S. Thirteenth); Thomas J. Dickson, brush manufacturer (66 S. Second); W.H. Maurice, blank book and stationery establishment (123 Chestnut); M. Thomas & Sons, auctioneers (67-69 S. Fourth); storefront and factory for Howell & Brothers, paper hangings; the storefront and Callowhill Street manufactory of Daniel Bohler & Co., essence of coffee; Horstmann’s Manufactory (Fifth and Cherry); James Moore’s Porter & Ale brewery (700 block S. Thirteenth); Inquirer Office Building (Third and Carter); interior view of George J. Henkels City Cabinet Warerooms (173 Chestnut); the New Hat Company’s Store (201 Chestnut); John H. Weaver & Co., grocers and tea dealers (Second and Pine); Homeopathic Medical College; J.W. McCurdy & Son, ladies boots and shoes (111 Chestnut); Pratt & Reath, watches & Jewelry (80 Market;) and "View of N.A. College of Health" (Fifth and Race)., Also includes views of benevolent and educational institutions and historical buildings; clipped vignettes showing “Parlors Stoves 1854,” "Newly invented chimney top ventilator," “Fashionable bonnet,” “Melodeons” (with descriptions and prices), spectacles, shoes dated 1832, a “Prize pianoforte,” and a “Washing Machine 1854”; and clipped images of street laborers, including a boy selling lozenges, a “pandy woman” holding a baby to her chest, a female “rag picker,” a girl selling fruit, an organ grinder, “itinerant news boy,” wood collector, and a street advertiser holding a picketed sign promoting "designer and engraver [David] "Scattergood." Latter annotated “a common method of advertising through the streets.”, Several of the clippings annotated by Poulson with dates and manuscript notes., Cut out designed as a monument-like edifice with ornamental pictorial details pasted on title page. Cut out frames title written in ink. Also includes vignette pen and ink sketch showing a beaver., Note by Poulson on verso of front free endpaper: "The dates affixed to the articles in this book, all generally, those of the newspapers from which they have been cut. CAP", Artists, engravers, and lithographers include J. H. Brightly, J. Cone, George T. Devereux, [ ] Farmelee, Alfred Hoffy, Francis Kearny, David Scattergood, R. Telfer, Wagner & McGuigan, and J. L. White., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Volume 7 includes separate index to volume. Index detached and housed with original of volume., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1828-1855, bulk 1850-1855
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 7 [(7)2526.F]

Title: Illustrations of Philadelphia. Vol. IX
Description: Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, prints, and ephemera predominately dated 1857 and pertaining to the built environment, and social, cultural, and economic climate of Philadelphia. Majority of the contents are articles about city businesses and industries; public interest stories; editorials relating to public concerns and social mores; reports, lists, and statistics; and caricatures and cartoons. Several articles concern the new house numbering system; the chartering of Fairmount and Sedgeley parks; the Academy of Music (New Opera House), including the inaugural ball and first opera season; the temporary relocation of the Post Office; progress of Camden; volunteer fire companies, including the debate over the oldest instituted, new fire houses, and parades; fires on the 300 and 600 blocks of Chestnut (i.e., Peterson/Goodyear building and Melodion); transportation, including omnibus lines and the Camden and Atlantic, and Philadelphia and Baltimore Central railroads; and the new coinage of cents issued from the mint. Also contains numerous columns about building dedications, laying of cornerstones, and improvements and new construction to the city’s infrastructure, including Drown’s Umbrella Manufactory (86 Market); the silver plated ware establishment of John O. Mead (Ninth and Chestnut); the Butler house lot (800 block Chestnut); the hall of the "Colored Masons"; the Spring Garden district and Northwestern section of the city (Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fifteenth wards); the Pennsylvania Bank building; First Welsh Presbyterian Church (1500 Lombard); the Penn Widow’s Asylum; Washington building (000 block S. Third); and the restaurant of John Campbell (500 block Chestnut)., Other articles describe the Library Company’s receipt of the ca. 1720 Peter Cooper painting of Philadelphia; culture, politics, and economy of the year 1856; local medical schools and hospitals, including Penn Medical University, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia small-pox hospital, and Eclectic Medical College; local industries and trades, including Wood & Perot's ornamental iron work establishment, Newell & Knight barrel making machinery and the oyster trade; and Moyamensing Prison. Anecdotal columns and editorials provide commentaries about Philadelphia Insurance companies; Aprils Fools Day; servants; tramps; the city’s “noisy spot” of Third and Chestnut; the lore of stage coaches; popular catch phrases, including those from the theater; the Molly Maquires; the public expense of public lamps and paupers; the importance of newspapers, including as a more perfect venue for advertising than storefront signage; the poor use of the language in classified advertisements; storefront and tavern signages (p.41-42); and the cricket mania. Also contains historical pieces about the University of Pennsylvania; Independence Square; Chew’s Mansion; Zion Lutheran Church; and the Chinese Museum; reports, lists and statistics detailing the crime and mortality rate, sales of stocks and real estate; the retail, cattle and produce markets, meteorology and weather, telegraph use for the year, the comparative health of manufacturing cities, and architectural improvements in progress; a column about how the 1785 city directories represented the population of the city from the series "Philadelphia As It Was"; and an illustrated article about shawls., Graphics, predominately caricatures and cartoons, include lithographs, engravings, and wood engravings. Majority of cartoons satirize the hoop skirt, including the Clara and Charles series. Other cartoons satirize German beer culture, patent medicine, P.T. Barnum, and the social mores of the upper classes. Caricatures, often racist, depict African Americans while at work, including a sweeper, cook, and painter. Prints also include advertisements, vignettes, and views. Advertisements depict the Union hotel (300 block Arch); Thornley & Chism, importers, jobbers and retailers of fancy & staple dry goods (N.E. cor. Spring Garden and Eighth); Lincoln, Wood & Nichols, manufacturers and importers of straw goods; and Fairbank’s patent platform scales. Vignettes depict a knife cleaning apparatus, Olmstead stove, and a piano. Views show a genre scene titled by Poulson "An ‘omnibus’ sleigh and a 'rung' "; the Academy of Music; Jefferson Medical college, Presbyterian Church; Central Presbyterian Church; and "The Performing Elephants" at the National Circus accompanied by the classified for the performance. Scrapbook also contains ephemera, including the "Deaf and Dumb Alphabet" chart inscribed "In use at Phila Institution 1857 as per report Jany 1858" ; a "Premium medal, Franklin Institute"; and two elaborately illustrated tickets to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society., Majority of contents annotated by Poulson with dates and explicative manuscript notes., Title page trimmed and illustrated with a ca. 1856 lithographer's advertisement issued by Wagner & McGuigan after the work of lithographer Maurice Traubel and artist William Croome. Depicts an allegorical, patriotic scene with the figure of Columbia, attired in a toga, American flag, and laurel wreath, and with a broken shackle under her foot as she stands on a pedestal., Chart "Length of Squares East and West" pasted on verso of title page., Label inscribed "The "Articles" in the book are taken from fugitive sources only; and the dates affixed to each are those of the newspapers &c from which they were procured CAP" pasted on verso of front free end paper., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Insert: “Report of the President of the Girard College to the committee on Instruction September 3, 1850, Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1857-1858
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 9 [(9)2526.F]

Title: Illustrations of Philadelphia, from fugitive sources only
Description: Scrapbook containing clippings, prints, and ephemera dated between 1778 and 1864 pertaining to the built environment, and social and cultural climate of Philadelphia. Illustrated newspaper and periodical clippings (several from The Casket) describing prominent city landmarks during the 1820s to 1840s forms the majority of the content. Subjects include St. Stephens Church (Poulson's annotation states image includes the rear of President’s House on Ninth Street in background); Pagoda near Philadelphia; Gray's Ferry; the Philadelphia Library (i.e., Library Company of Philadelphia); "Statue of Wm. Penn, at the South Front of the Pennsylvania Hospital"; "New Street Cleaning Machine"; and "Rail Shooting on the Delaware.", Scrapbook also contains newspaper articles, advertisements, and prices lists. Subjects include historical anecdotes about Market Street in 1729, the Library Company of Philadelphia, Walnut Street Theatre, Letitia Court, Dock Street, Superstitions of ‘Ye Olden Times,’ and American “firsts”; improvements and alterations to city architecture, including Walnut Street Theatre and the State House; Infant Schools; the April 25, 1846 Eclipse of the Sun; an 1828 transparency illustrated with a caricature of Andrew Jackson; the dissolution of the circulation of “small notes” (1828); the Labyrinth Garden of Thomas Smith at Arch above Broad; Pennsylvania Museum and Menagerie (Market Street); commemoration of the Landing of William Penn; steamboat and stage coach schedules (1828); shift in social classes in Philadelphia society (1842); the 1837 court case against Commodore Perry sloop Capt. Blankman; and the Mauch Chunk Railway. Ephemera includes a facsimile of the original circular "Proposal for the Printing of a large Bible, by William Bradford" held by Nathan Kite. Many of the articles are accompanied by commentaries or are partially transcribed by Poulson. Scrapbook also includes detailed manuscript notes about Hamilton Mansion and the Old Court House., Graphic materials, predominately advertisements and views of prominent landmarks, include wood engravings, engravings, lithographs, and an albumen print. Views include images of "T.W. Dyott’s Apoth’y and Patent Medicine Store N.E. cor. Vine and Second Street"; "Gray’s Ferry on the Schuylkill (a Relic of the Olden Time)"; "Green Hill, The Seat of Samuel Meredith Esq. near Philadelphia"; Birmingham Meeting House "from a Daguerreotype by Mess. Langenheim"; and Cornelius & Baker manufactories on Cherry Street and Columbia Avenue. Advertisements depict N. Lloyd & Son (Seventh and Cherry) elegant coal grates; John Duross Black Horse Alley Old and Extensive Printing Establishment (showing a printing press); M.B. Dyott, manufacturer of Gas Fixtures and Lamps; Bennett’s Tower Hall Clothing Bazaar; Moore, Henzey & Co., hardware; and Wright, Smith & Co., china, glass, queensware. Graphics also include an 1828 vignette showing a carriage and captioned "High Fashion"; "The Stage Coach in 1816"; an 1857 caricature of a Quaker couple; and material added in the 20th century, including a 1905 photo-engraving of the "House and Counting House of Stephen Girard.", Majority of contents annotated with a date and explicative manuscript notes by Poulson., Title page illustrated with a ca. 1856 lithographer's advertisement issued for Wagner & McGuigan. Depicts an allegorical, patriotic scene with the figure of Columbia, attired in a toga, American flag, and laurel wreath, and with a broken shackle under her foot as she stands on a pedestal., Verso of front free end paper contains Poulson inscription: “The Dates of the articles herein, are those of the newspapers &c from which they were cut. Cut out designed with floral details frames the inscription., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Artists, engravers, and printers include John Boyd; William Breton; Jacob Hoffman; George Gilbert; John Hill; Kennedy & Lucas; E. Rogers; Frederick Pilliner, Samuel Sartain; M. Schmitz; James W. Steel; and George Worley., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Several pages have been removed., Small number of original photographs by McClees removed to the Print Department.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1798-1864, bulk 1829-1845
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 11 [(11)2526.F]

Title: Scraps illustrative of the history of Phil[adelphia]. Vol. 5
Description: Scrapbook containing predominantly clipped illustrations, prints and ephemera dated 1855-1856 and pertaining to the built environment, and social and cultural climate of Philadelphia. Contents include several wood engravings, engravings, cameo stamps, and lithographs depicting prominent city landmarks, businesses, cityscapes, and caricatures and cartoons. Many of the graphics are advertisements and vignettes, or illustrate published articles. Advertisements depict F. Roussel Perfumery (114 Chestnut); W. J. Horstmann, trimmings (223 Chestnut); E. Mathieu, clarified cider and vinegar (14 Lombard); Stoddart’s Dry Good Store (278 N. Second); a Segars and tobacco store (93 S. Sixth, i.e., 300 block); Bennett’s Tower Hall (184 Market, i.e., 600 block); C. B. Rogers & Co. Agricultural Works and Bone Mill; P.F. Cunningham Catholic Book Store (104 S. Third); "Palmer’s Patent Leg, as exhibited at the World’s Exhibition, London, 1851"; J. H. Rohrman, Japan Ware Manufactory (96 Cherry); Carpenter’s Schuylkill & Eastern Ice Depot (Franklin & Willow); Mills B. Espy, preserved fruits (109 S. Third); J. Thornley’s India-Rubber Emporium and Magnetic Telegraph Offices (101 Chestnut, i.e., 300 block); Thomas & Sons auction house and E. H. Butler & Co., publishers (67 S. Fourth, i.e., 200 block); The State Savings Fund (83 Dock); Leary’s Cheap Book Store (158 N. Second, i.e., 200 block); John Baird Marble Mason (Ridge Avenue); Farmers & Mechanics Fire Marine & Life insurance Co. (200 block Walnut) Frederick Brown Building (Chestnut and Fifth); Fritz, Williams, & Hendry, leather (29 N. Third); Henry Tilge & Co., importers & dealers in hatters goods (140 N. Third); F.A. Hoyt & Brother, boys clothiers (1000 block Chestnut); Masonic Hall and adjacent properties, including Horstmann and Washington House (700 block Chestnut); Thornley & Chism, dry goods (700 block Spring Garden); and North, Chase & North, iron founders (Second and Mifflin)., Other graphics show "Chapel and Principal Entrance. To the Monument Cemetry [sic] Phila."; Institution for the Blind; First Presbyterian Church; a building at "Pine & William St. West Phila."; an 1837 view of the American Sunday School Union annotated "Chestnut Street next E. of Jones Hotel; and the houses eastward to S.E. cor. of Sixth & Chestnut Street – Durand’s apothecary shop"; Stand Pipe for the West Philadelphia Water Works; "City Ferry Boat"; and a view of the entrance to Mount Moriah Cemetery, and map, including the cemetery; and genre engravings "The Farm-House Pets" and The Roadside Inn " by J.H. Byram annotated "specimen of the art of engraving on wood in Philadelphia 1855." Vignettes depict "A Merchant of Philadelphia in the year 1745"; housewares, including a sieve, bath tub, ranges and furnaces, and drapery; a "“Know Thyself” phrenological head annotated “Fowler, Wells & Co."; a "J.B. Smith, New Street File Works" file; and an annotated 1832 view of C. & N. Jones Stockings (200 block Chestnut) [p. 28 and 31]. Caricatures and cartoons satirize an African American women peddler "Hot Corn Biddy"; spiritualism; fashion; the medical profession; and street musicians., Scrapbook also contains several lithographs from the 1830 edition of "Watson's Annals," ephemera, and newspaper clippings. Watson plates include Stone Prison at Philadelphia 1728, Carpenter’s Mansion, London Coffee House, and High Street & Market Shambles. Most are accompanied by detailed manuscript notes by Poulson. Ephemera includes a chart of "Length of Squares East and West"; hand-colored, illustrated lithographed invitation for the "Hand in Hand Fire Company, First Grand Citizens Dress Ball" (1847); illustrated invitation to Islington Park showing Islington Park (1848); seals of the Agricultural Society of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Railroad Company, All Saints Church, Moyamensing; a “Ship news” cut from "Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser" (1822) annotated “designed at my request by my friend John Lewis Krimmel, the now celebrated painter; and engraved on brass by Mason, So. Fourth St."; "The Old State House Bell" souvenir poem; architectural drawing "N.W. Corner 2d & Chestnut St. extending W on Chest. St. torn down abt. 1832" (includes R. Jones, engraver; I. Davis confectionary; [C. & N. Jones] Stocking Store); and a partial circular advertising De Grath’s “Electric Oil” Depot, No. 39 South Eighth Street (1859)., Newspaper clippings include illustrated advertisements and articles; editorials; anecdotal and current event pieces; and columns reporting about city improvements and public interest stories. Illustrated pieces detail Lafayette Vauxhall Garden; a "Bird’s Eye View of the City of Philadelphia"; Central High School; the Society of the Cincinnati; the major 1856 fire at Sixth and Market streets; "The Trained Elephants ‘Victoria’ and ‘Albert’ " at the National Circus; "Gentlemen’s Short Boots"; and the new hall of the Athenaeum. Anecdotal and current event articles include commentaries about the closing of Blood’s Despatch Post in flavor of the Post Office (1861); the new traveling coach built by W. D. Rogers for entertainer Dan Rice; the influx of envelopes due to the change in the Post Office law (1841); a new cooling apparatus installed in Walnut Street Theatre (1855); the 1855 State Poultry Exhibition; and the planting of oysters in Back Creek below the city. Editorials discuss the Philadelphia Book Trade (1855); Academy of Natural Sciences; deterrents for pedestrians on Chestnut Street, including extension of shopfronts into the sidewalk and side show hawkers; ladies fancy work fads, including scrap furniture and poticho mania (1856); and the mansions of George Washington and George Willing., Other columns report about West Philadelphia; the 1856 fires at Bingham Mansion and the Artisan’s Building (100 block Chestnut); government buildings, including the Custom House, Commissioners Hall and United States Mint; city trades, including lager beer; city improvements, including the modification of street names, removal of the market sheds on Market Street, the laying of the cornerstone of the Church of Evangelists, the forthcoming erection of the new hospital for Christ Church; and new establishments, including Granville Stokes “picton stone” store (209 Chestnut). Clippings also include lists, reports, and tables about the cattle market; real estate sales; taxables (1841); crime statistics; the fire department companies; and building improvements. Scrapbook also contains explicative manuscript notes by Poulson (some tipped in or inscribed on lettersheets). Topics include Carpenter’s Mansion, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the State House. Some notes explicate accompanying graphics., Majority of contents annotated with a date. Several annotated with a detailed manuscript note by Poulson., Chromolithograph “Philadelphia” containing vignettes of portrait of Benjamin Franklin and the seal of the city and annotated by Poulson pasted on p. 4. Print inscribed: "Vincit qui se vincit. Vol. V. Collected from fugitive sources only, By C. A. Poulson.", "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Several photographs by F. De. B. Richards and James McClees, including views of Independence Hall, La Pierre House, and Central High School, removed to the Print Department., Original watercolors by Poulson, including view of Walnut Grove removed to Print Department., Various artists, engravers, and printers include William Avery; C. G. Childs; Edward Clarkson; S. H. Gimber; Alexander Lawson; C. A. Lesueur; J. H. Byram; King & Baird; R. Major; W. Mason; Charles F. Noble; Frederick Pilliner; John Sartain; Charles Spiegle; J. W. Steele; William Stott; William Strickland; R. Telfer; Cornelius Tiebout; and Charles Cushing Wright., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1822-1862, bulk 1855-1856
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 5 [(5)2526.F]

Title: Scraps illustrative of the History of Philadelphia. Vol. VI
Description: Scrapbook containing predominantly newspaper clippings dated 1845-1849 that pertain to the built environment, history, and political, social, and cultural climate of Philadelphia. Contents include editorials; anecdotal, current event, and sensational news articles; and columns reporting about local interest stories, government and politics, and city development and entertainments. Several pages of the scrapbook are dedicated to newspaper coverage of the 1848 court cases of the "Trial of Pratt, Pence, and McGowan for conspiracy to pass Stolen Money" and the Pierce Butler and Fanny Kemble divorce. Daily, monthly, and yearly weather reports for the months and years 1840, 1845, 1847, 1848, 1849 also form several pages of content. Several articles also describe local disasters, including the destruction of the Schuylkill Water Works reservoir (1848); the ice accident on the Schuylkill (January 1849); and major fires near Water Street Wharf (1839), at the Presbyterian Board of Education on the 800 block of Chestnut (1849), at the public school on Catherine Street (1849), and at the City Gas Works (1848)., Several articles report about city improvements, including the enlargement of Fairmount; the growth of the city as a whole and development of neighborhoods (Bridesburg, Spring Garden district, and Germantown, including the residence of artist C.G. Childs); new establishments on Chestnut and Market streets, including confectioner J. W. Parkinson (900 block Chestnut) as well as shops on the 700 block and 400 blocks, respectively; and the dedication and completion of new churches (Church of the Assumption, Logan Square Presbyterian, and St. Mark’s Church)., Anecdotal and local affairs pieces report about the city's municipal services and policies, social mores, and entertainments. Subjects include the city's purchase of Penn’s Treaty Ground for public use; the extension of gas lines to Moyamensing; the 1846 Triennial Parade of Firemen in commemoration of the First Volunteer Company of the City; a relief mission to famine-stricken Scotland (1846); omnibus etiquette, the demographics of Third and Chestnut streets; the gang Moyamensing "Killers"; the men’s fashion trend of winter shawls (1853); the Christmas holiday season; the Chinese collection at the Chinese Museum; performances at Walnut Street Theater; and the Tom Hyer and Yankee Sullivan Prize Fight of 1849., Other articles discuss politics and government, particularly the activities of the local Whig party, including elections and party meetings; the Mexican American War, including casualties and the "Illumination of April 16, 1847" in honor of General Taylor and Scott’s achievements; education, including Girard College and the semi-annual examination of Central High School; and local trades, including iron, lithography (P.S Duval, p. 34), dry goods; bankers and the 1846 and 1848 reports of the Philadelphia Board of Trade; and the management of the city's dog population in 1848 (p.52-3). Editorials discuss the 1848 cholera epidemic, including brandy as "cholera medicine"; a sociological "View of Chestnut Street" (1845); Philadelphia architecture; and the city's commercial superiority over New York, including the book trade. Scrapbook also contains price lists; "'poetry' cut from obituary notices in the 'Public Ledger' "; columns from the series “Philadelphia Sights from a Steeple. Written for the North American”; “Benevolent Institutions” (1849); and “Letters from Philadelphia. From the Boston Atlas (1838) and a small number of graphics. Series topics include Philadelphia Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, the Orphan’s Asylum the public squares and schools, Chestnut Street Stores, the book trade, and museums and galleries. Graphics include the illustrated article "Philadelphia As It Is" depicting a caricature of an omnibus driver and vignettes showing the Fairmount Water Works, the Farquhar Building, Blue Anchor Tavern, and "Kriss Kingle's [sic] Head Quarters" (advertisement for Parksinson's confectionary)., Several of the contents annotated with a date., Wood engraved periodical illustration "The Hall of Independence, as Arranged for the Reception of the Remains of the Late Hon. John Quincy Adams." pasted on front free end paper. Print includes amateur hand-colored details. Cut out printed “Philadelphia” pasted below the print., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Photographic reproduction of Faden’s "Plan of the City and Environs" (1747) removed., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1822-1862, bulk 1855-1856
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 6 [(6)2526.F]

Title: Interior view of Rogers Smith Shop. Corner of Sixth & Master streets
Description: Vignette view clipped from an advertisement showing the interior of the coach and carriage factory on the 800 block of North Sixth Street. Shows several smiths at work stations divided by brick partitions with forges lining the wall. The workers use anvils, hammers, and bellows. Also shows a foreman and well-dressed gentleman conversing in the corner, wagon wheels mounted on a wall, and carriage frames in different stages of completion on the floor., Date from Poulson inscription on companion print showing the exterior of the smith shop titled, partially in manuscript,"Wm. D. Rogers Coach and light Carriage Factory.", Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Byram, Joseph H., engraver
Date: Oct. 1856
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 8 [(8)2526.F.12]

Main menu