Search results

Title: L' Amerique
Description: Allegorical print depicting the Americas as a Black woman and boy. The woman dressed in a bejeweled feather head piece, pearls, and shawl has a black parrot perched on her hand and overlooks the shoulder of a reclining boy. The boy, draped in a blue cloth and holding a bow, his cache of arrows beneath him, wears a feather armband and gold collar. He returns the glance of the woman. A palm tree stands behind them., Title from item., Date inferred from content., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Purchase 1971., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Haid was a Bavarian engraver, portraitist, and book illustrator.
Creator: Haid, Johann Jacob, 1704-1767, artist
Date: [ca. 1755]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC-Allegories [7993.F.3]

Title: Columbia trading with all the world
Description: Allegorical print depicting "Columbia" (i.e., the United States) as a white woman with brown hair, on the deck of a ship. She holds a caduceus and disperses treasures from a horn of plenty held by "Wisdom," who is portrayed as a white woman attired in a helmet, armor, a skirt, and sandals. Wisdom holds a spear in her left hand and gives the treasures to three male figures representing the country's international trade partners. Figures depicted are: Africa as a Black man attired in a headpiece shaped like an elephant's head and leaning on a tusk of ivory; Asia as a bearded man with a light-brown color skin tone attired in a turban; and South America as a man in a feathered headpiece carrying a bow., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Possibly published in London and not the United States., Revised state. Previous title and imprint faintly visible and illegible below image., Gift of Dr. Mary DeWitt Pettit, 1965., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1789-ca. 1800]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Allegories [7737.F]

Title: James K. Polk
Description: Bust-length portrait within an ornate border of the U.S. president responsible for the statehood of Texas. Polk, attired in a white collared shirt, a black cravat, waistcoat, and jacket, faces to the right and tucks his left hand into his waistcoat. Border includes the figure of Liberty, depicted as a white woman, and a vignette titled "Annexation of Texas" depicting a trio of military officers reading the declaration of annexation to a crowd of civilians, including a cheering African American man. Border also includes angelic male torsos, flourishes, scrolls, and ornaments., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Date inferred from content., Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Andrews and Babson, Boston engravers, collaborated in the 1850s.
Creator: J. Andrews & R.E. Babson, engraver
Date: [ca. 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - Polk [P.8911.790]

Title: Facsimile of the signatures to the Declaration of Independence
Description: Commemorative print containing facsimiles of the signatures of the signers of the Declaration of Independence within an ornamental border. In the top of the border are allegorical figures of Justice, depicted as a white woman carrying scales and a sword, and Liberty, depicted as a white woman attired in a liberty cap and carrying a spear and shield. An eagle stands between them next to a crest of an American flag. Along the sides of the border are the state seals of the original thirteen colonies. At the bottom is a vignette, “The Capitol, Washington,” showing the Capitol building. Vigettes also includes several white men standing with a dog and an African American woman caregiver with a white child who holds a hoop., Title from item., Date inferred from the aesthetics of the content., Contains printed statement by John Quincy Adams, Department of State, dated April 19, 1819 declaring the signatures "Exact Imitations.", McCabe, a New York engraver, was active in the mid-19th century., Purchase 2002., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Allen, J. W., engraver
Date: [ca. 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Declaration of Independence [P.9999]

Title: Soldiers Home in the city of Philadelphia. This certifies that [Charles Macalester] having contributed the sum of [fifty] dollars is constituted a [life] member of the Soldiers Home. Philada
Description: Certificate containing an allegorical scene depicting a central, winged female figure, seated, and surrounded by wounded soldiers and other female figures. The central figure has long, dark hair, adorned with a headband, and is attired in a toga with a drape-like shawl. Her arms are outstretched to her sides. Celestial light frames her head. In her left hand, she holds an olive branch. Broken shackles adorn her right wrist. In her lap, a loose scales of justice rests atop a sword. At her feet, a pair of white and African American soldiers and sailors sits and lies. In the left, the white soldier, a bandage on his arm, sits on a bound volume, near a canteen, and in front of the seated African American soldier. The latter wears a bandage on his head and rests the right side of his head on his right hand. The white soldier holds up a sheet of paper inscribed "Honorable Discharge" to the winged figure. The white sailor sits across from the white soldier. His head and left arm are bandaged and crutches rest by his side. He extends his right hand and holds his cap out to the winged figure. The African American sailor, prone, and partially visible behind him, does the same. American flags, on their sides and their upper poles adorned with wreaths of garland, rest among the soldiers and sailors. Four allegorical female figures, two and two, flank the central figure. To her left, one holds a basket of bounty as the other (behind her) tosses wreathes of garland. To her right, one holds a pocket watch as the other (behind her) shoots lightning from her hand. In the left background, wreathes rain upon soldiers, some in bandages, who march and carry American flags. In the right background, lightning bolts strike an ironclad ship on open waters., The soldiers home chartered in 1862, opened in December 1863, and incorporated in 1864 was an outgrowth of the relief organization, the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon. The founding relief organization provided hospital care, washing, sleeping, and writing facilities to military personnel, sailors, refugees, and free people during the war. The Soldiers Home was chartered with the mission of "the providing of a temporary or permanent Home for all persons who, while in the military service of the United States of America, either upon land or sea, shall become disable from wounds, or from sickness, so that they are unable to perform the ordinary avocations of life." The Soldiers Home operated until 1889 when the Board of Managers dissolved itself and turned the home over to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States., Title from item, Date inferred from year organization was chartered., Completed in manuscript on January 1, 1866 and signed by E. S. Hall, Secretary; Ellerslie Wallace, President; and Wm. Struthers, Treasurer., Charles Macalester was a Philadelphia financier and philanthropist. Macalester College is named for him., Gift of David Doret, 2002., For a history of the Home, including the process to transfer administration of the home to the Loyal Legion, see Ferdinand Sermiento, ed., Historical Sketch of the Soldiers' Home ... (1886) [Am 1886 Phi Sol Hom 24755.O]., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Sartain, John, 1808-1897, engraver
Date: [ca. 1862]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Philadelphia certificates - Organizations - Soldiers [P.2002.40.1]

Title: The International Exposition 1876 at Philadelphia, PA. U.S.A View from George's Hill
Description: Allegorical commemorative print celebrating the internationalism and historic significance of the Centennial Exhibition. Depicts a bird's-eye view of the active exhibition grounds including the Agricultural Building, Horticultural Building, Main Building, and Machinery Hall. In the foreground, figures representing various races, ethnicities, and cultures convene and interact with one another. An African American woman and man sit on a bench. An African American man, attired in a black suit, tips his top hat and greets a white woman sitting on a bench. Groups of people stand in clusters to converse and walk including Native Americans, attired in feather headdresses, and Chinese women and men. Middle Eastern and Russian men ride on horseback. Contains ghost-like imagery visible in the sky depicting significant historic American moments, figures, and buildings, including William Penn's Treaty with the Indians, George Washington, and the White House. Contains the names of the prominent exhibition halls below the image., Copyrighted by George H. Ellsbury & J. Hayward., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 390, Accessioned 1983., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Ellsbury, George H., lithographer
Date: 1876
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **BW - Centennial [P.8966]

Title: [Glorification of the American Union]
Description: Allegorical print glorifying life and liberty in post-Civil War America depicting the figure Columbia, depicted as a white woman, atop a tall pyramid-shaped pedestal. Flanked by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the latter holding the "Proclamation of Emancipation," she raises her hand toward emancipated enslaved men and women to her right who acknowledge her with raised shackled hands, a knelt position, and a tipped hat. Newly arrived European immigrants are gathered to her left. Abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher stands among the enslaved men, women, and children who have been emancipated, and revolutionary and diplomat Carl Schurz stands before the immigrants. The freed persons embrace each other, break free from shackles, and brandish instruments of free labor as behind them the Capitol, a large American flag, and apparitions of colonial soldiers stand vigil. The immigrants, depicted in their native attire, look to Schurz as they carry their belongings ashore. More ships continue to arrive in the background., Title from copy print at the Calvert Gallery, Washington, D.C., Printer's proof., Manuscript note on recto: Aun myn goeden arrend J. Bollens; J. B. Michiels., After a painting by Belgian historical painter Ferdinand Willem Pauwels, exhibited in 1867 at the Kunstschule in Weimar and possibly at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia under the title, "The New Republic.", See Hugh Honour's The Image of the Black in western art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989) Part 2, Vol. IV, p.248-249., Purchase 1999., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Michiels, Jean-Baptiste P., 1821-1890, engraver
Date: [ca. 1873]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC-Emancipation [P.9672]

Title: Africa. America
Description: Abolition print juxtaposing two female allegorical figures in chariots representing Africa and America. In front of a backdrop of tropical trees and huts, "Africa," depicted as a Black woman, is attired in a feathered headpiece, an orange shawl covering one breast, and a pink sarong. She holds a flag inscribed "Slave Trade abolish'd in England 1806" and the reins of two lions pulling her chariot. In front of a waterfall, probably Niagara Falls, "America," depicted as a white woman, is dressed in Native American attire, including a feathered headpiece, a breast plate, an orange cape, a pink and blue sari, and an axe strapped to her back. She holds the American flag, decorated with a portrait of George Washington, and the reins of two tigers pulling her chariot. Near the wheels of her chariot, a rattlesnake is coiled., Title from item., Date inferred by content and medium., Name of publisher illegible., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1969, p. 56., Purchase 1969., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1808]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC-Allegories [7812.F]

Title: In commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of American independence
Description: Elaborate Centennial Exhibition commemorative print depicting an arched monument containing a central full-length portrait of George Washington surrounded by vignettes; allegorical figures; and religious quotes by the first president. Washington is depicted mounted on his horse. Arch is adorned with the names of the 38 states and is flanked by columns containing views representing the industries of the North, East, South, and West. Views show a white man laborer of the North chopping a tree at a waterfront, white women loom workers of the East, an overseer on horseback watching an enslaved African American man picking cotton in the South, and a white man farmer reaping his harvest with a horse-drawn plow in the West. Columns also contain allegorical figures to represent the years 1776 and 1876. Justice and Independence (depicted as white women and holding the Declaration), and a prostrate British soldier represent the year 1776 and Peace and Liberty (depicted as white woman and holding a "Ballot"), and a seated enslaved African American man free from his shackles represent the year 1876. Monument also contains views of Independence Hall and Memorial Hall (Centennial Exhibition), the scene showing the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and allegorical figures and emblems symbolizing the classical and industrial arts. Other pictorial elements depict the all-seeing eye; American eagle, shield, and flag; vignettes showing Washington praying, and accepting the sword of surrender from Lord Cornwallis during the American Revolution; and vignette views with dimensions of Centennial Exhibition buildings. Buildings include the Art Gallery, Main Building, Agricultural Hall, Machinery Hall, and Horticultural Hall. The centennial of the United States was celebrated through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia., Not in Wainwright., Improvement copyrighted 1877 The Presbyterian Philadelphia, Pa., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 370, Gift of David Doret, 2007., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: 1876, 1877
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **BW - Centennial [P.2007.28.7]

Title: The United States Centennial International Exhibition
Description: Share certificate issued by the Centennial Board of Finance containing a series of historical and allegorical vignettes, scenes, and figures. Vignettes depict a view on a coastline showing a white man, attired in colonial dress, reaping with a sickle beside a white man driving a plow in front of a steer-drawn conestoga wagon, a moving train, and sailing ships; the signing of the Declaration of Independence; and a scene depicting a Native American man, attired in pants and moccasins with a feather in his hair and a quiver of arrows on his back, covering his face from the sight of a dilapidated windmill near rows of industrial buildings spewing smoke. Along the sides figures include: tradesmen; laborers; soldiers; frontiersmen; inventors, including Benjamin Franklin; Native Americans; and an African American man reading. In the top center, allegorical figures of Liberty, Art, and Peace, portrayed as white women, accept offerings from representations of people from across the world, including African women; a woman attired in a turban, a person with a parrot on their shoulder, and an Asian man with a queue. Also contains: busts of George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant; an eagle holding an American flag; views of the State House and Capitol; and the printed seal of the Centennial Board of Finance. The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 celebrated the centennial of the United States through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art., Title from item., P.2002.67.77 issued to Margaret R. Bringhurst for one share on October 20, 1875. Signed by Fred. Fraley, Treasurer; and John Welsh, President., 5788.F.10 issued to Mary Norris Logan for one share on November 10, 1876. Signed by Fred. Fraley, Treasurer; and John Welsh, President., Printed on recto: Shares $10. Each. Capital $10,000,000., P.2002.67.66 poor condition., Gift of Helen Beitler, 2002 [P.2002.67.66]., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Centennial and Columbian Exposition views [5758.F.10. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: United States, Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Date: [ca. 1872]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Philadelphia certificates - Centennial [P.2002.67.77], Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **Philadelphia certificates - Centennial [5758.F.10]

Title: The British surrendering their arms to Gen. Washington after their defeat at York Town in Virginia October 1781 To the defenders of American independence, this print is most respectfully inscribed by their fellow citizen, J[oh]n. F[ran]cis. Renault, Assistant Secretary to the Count de Grass, and Engineer to the French Army at the Siege of York
Description: Reproduction of commemorative print purchased by subscription after the painting exhibited in America by French-born painter, John Francis Renault. Depicts an historically inaccurate, allegorical scene of the decisive surrender at the close of the American Revolution. Shows Lord Cornwallis offering his sword to the Duke de Lauzun who defers the weapon to General Washington. Image includes: the American, French, and British military officers convening on a knoll near a neoclassical two-column monument with an inscribed urn guarded by female muses and a child holding the U.S. Constitution; Washington's African American valet and horse; and an allegorical scene of a goddess, portrayed as a white woman, firing lightning bolts upon an overturned Roman chariot. Identified officers depicted are: Lauzun, General Knox, General Nelson, General Lafayette, Washington, Major General Lincoln, Count Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, Colonel Hamilton, Cornwallis, Lt. Colonel Abercrombie, Naval Captain Symmonds, Lt. Colonel Dundas, and Lord Chewton., Title from item., Copyrighted by the National Bureau of Engraving and Manufacturing Co., Printed on recto: Entered according to Act of Congress the 28th day of January, 1818., Original print advertised with an accompanying "Plan" in the February 10, 1824 edition of "The New England Palladium & Commercial Advertiser.", National Bureau of Engraving and Manufacturing operated from 1877 until the early 1900s under variant names., LCP holds original edition of accompanying plan. See "Plan of Yorktown and Virginia and Adjacent Country..." (Philadelphia, 1824), drawn by Renault and engraved by Benjamin Tanner. (LCP 308 M 23)., See Library of Congress' An Album of American battle art, 1755-1918. (Washington, D.C.: The U.S Government Printing Office, 1947), #29. (LCP Print Room Uy 14, 8413.Q)., Accessioned 2000., Description of revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Tanner, Vallance, Kearny, & Co. was a short-lived partnership between Philadelphia engravers Benjamin Tanner, John Vallance, and Francis Kearny from 1818-1819. William Allen worked as an engraver in Philadelphia in 1818.
Date: [ca. 1895], January 28, 1818
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - American Revolution [P.9845]

Main menu