© Copyright 2025 - The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. TEL (215) 546-3181 FAX (215) 546-5167
For inquiries, please contact our IT Department
- Title
- Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia. 1876
- Description
- Sample album containing half stereographic prints by the commissioned photographic company of the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. Contains images of the exhibition that celebrated the centennial of the United States through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art. Photographs depict the installation of exhibits; exhibition grounds including bird's eye views, scenes in Lansdowne Valley and along exhibition avenues, rail lines, fountains, statuary, and outdoor horticultural displays; interiors and exteriors of exhibition buildings, including Agricultural Hall, Horticultural Hall, Main Exhibition Building, Memorial Hall, the United States Government Building, states' buildings, the Women's Pavilion and the portico of the building of the Centennial Photographic Co.; views of special exhibits and dioramas, including Hunter's Camp, the first locomotive, and "The Dying Elk"; displays showing the wares, products, or cultural artifacts of specific companies and countries, including Peruvian mummies; and displays of art particularly of Italian statuary. Many of the exterior views and some of the interior include fair visitors and personnel., Exhibitors depicted include American Book Association; American Steamship Co.; American Watch Co.; Clinton Wire Cloth Company; Farmers Friend Manufacturing Co.; J. F. Tyrell & Co.; J. & P. Coats; Kingsford Starch Co.; Mason's Blacking; Midnight Yarn Co.; Mrs. Maxwell (taxidermy); Pacific Guano Co.; Shomacker Piano Mftg. Co.; and Singer Sewing Machine., Architects of the main buildings include Herman Schwartzmann, Henry Pettit, Joseph M. Wilson, and James H. Windrim. Architects of the states buildings include George A. Frederick, Carl Pfeiffer, E. L. Rice, Jr., Croff & Camp, and Heard & Sons., Brown leather and maroon cloth binding with gilt., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Album disbound and reformatted for conservation., Over 200 duplicate images held in the Raymond Holstein Stereograph Collection. See Holstein stereo - Centennial Photographic Company., Catalogue of the Centennial Photographic Company's Views of the International Exhibition, 1876. LCP Rare Books Am1876Cen (51856.D.10)., Ongoing series of articles about photographing the exhibition by John L. Gihon, a photographer employed by the Company, appeared in Philadelphia Photographer throughout 1877 under the title "Rambling Remarks Resumed.", Original photographs by the Centennial Photographic Company appeared as the frontispieces for Philadelphia Photographer in March, April, July and November 1877. P.8965.70f showing the statue "Cupid" illustrated the November 1877 issue., LCP AR [Annual Report] 1983 p.42-43., The Centennial Photographic Company was granted exclusive rights to photograph the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Company officers included President William Notman, a prominent Canadian photographer; Vice President and Proprietor Washington Irving Adams, representative of the Scovill Manufacturing Company which supplied equipment for large-scale production to the company; Superintendent & Treasurer and Proprietor Edward L. Wilson, publisher of Philadelphia Photographer; and Art Superintendent John Arthur Fraser, Notman's partner in the Toronto photographic firm of Notman & Fraser. Employing over 400 men and women, the Company produced over 3,000 views of the exhibition, and portraits of officials and exhibitors.
- Creator
- Centennial Photographic Co.
- Date
- c1876
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.8965]
- Title
- The City Hall Philadelphia. Architecture, sculpture and history
- Description
- Limited edition volume, organized in 18 topical sections, containing photomechanical reproductions of engravings (by Faust) and photographs showing views of the interior, exterior, and architectural and sculptural details of the municipal building built 1871-1901 after the designs of John McArthur, Jr. Sections, predominately titled, include Modeling of the William Penn statue; views of court rooms, Mayor's Office, entrances; Window Spandrels Tower; Bronze Groups on Towers; Centre Pavilion Dormers; Caryatides (i.e., supporting columns sculptured in the form of a draped female figure); Medallions in Conversation Hall of Councils; Doorway Spandrels. Northern & Eastern Entrances; Keystones; Panels. Stairway; Impost Panels of Windows; Spandrels and Statuary Centre Pavilion; Panels; Tower Capitals; Spandrels Interior of Tower; Panels in Eastern Entrance; Spandrels in Northern Entrance; and Window Spandrels in Northern Entrance. Interior views often include pedestrian traffic., Architectural and ornamental details depict allegorical, historical, ethical, anthropological, and political and governmental figures and tableaux, including "Distinguished Early Philadelphians"; the continents; the four natural elements and seasons; "Indians"; Swedes; mammals, reptiles, and birds, including eagles, bears, and buffalo; the natural and social sciences, arts, and humanities; industry, mechanics, and commerce; civilization and barbarism; prayer and meditation; victory and fame; admonition and repentance; and liberty and law; and youth. Details also show the seal of Pennsylvania and stereotyped, ethnographic facial studies, and cherubic figures., Edition de luxe limited to one thousand copies. Copy no. 48., Frontispiece shows a view engraved by Faust of the exterior of City Hall. Includes street and pedestrian traffic., Front matter is misordered ([p. 4] and [p. 5] reversed) and includes an "Historical" overview of the location and construction of the building; "Description of the Buildings," including the styles of "Architecture" and dimensions; the "Comparative Heights of the Principal Buildings of the World"; and the "Inscription upon face of Corner-stone in centre of tower foundation.", Reproduced wood engravings contain artist's signature or initials: F. Faust; F.F., Original cloth bindings, brown cloth grained with gilt stamped front cover and endpapers removed and rehoused with rebound album for conservation., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Frederick Faust, born in Germany in 1849, immigrated to the United States in 1870 and worked as a wood engraver in Philadelphia by the early 1880s. He continued in the trade as an illustrator into the early 20th century and was retired by 1930.
- Creator
- Faust, Frederick
- Date
- c1897
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Faust [It 7 2779.F]
- Title
- Photographic views of New City Building
- Description
- Albums of progress photographs of the early construction of City Hall built 1871-1901 on Penn Square after the designs of John McArthur, Jr. Photographs show different stages of the construction of the foundation and lower floor of the building between 1873 and 1875. Includes images of the dirt sub basement; construction materials, equipment, and workers; aerial views of the built foundation; partially completed walls and abutments; and studio views of columns and architectural ornaments. Several of the views include scaffolding; horse-drawn carts; pulleys; piles of construction debris; Pennsylvania Railroad cars on Market Street; and workers and well-dressed men, probably the commissioners, reviewing and posed on or near constructed parts of the building and construction materials. Views also show surrounding cityscape, including the Masonic Temple (Broad and Filbert); United States Mint (1331-1337 Chestnut Street); the Seventh Presbyterian Church (Broad Street above Chestnut Street); Pennsylvania Railroad Freight Depot (13th and Market); La Salle College High School (Filbert and Juniper); Sharpless & Watts, flooring tile (1325 Market Street); the spires of Arch Street Methodist Episcopal Church (s.w. cor. Broad & Arch) and First Baptist Church (n.w. cor. Broad and Arch); and other surrounding businesses (beer hall, wall paper, and furniture) and residences., Volume 1 (Oct. 1873-Aug. 1874) contains two tipped in letters, dated December 26, 1873 and June 27, 1874, from President of the Commissioners for the Erection of the Public Buildings Samuel C. Perkins. Correspondence presents the stereographs, "authorized to be taken by the commissioners," as a means for the library to "have for preservation in [the] archives a complete photographic record of the progress of a work which under any aspect must be considered as of marked importance in our local history.", Stereographs numbered, dated, and printed with the series title "Views of Construction in Sub-Basement" or "Views of Construction" and the names of the architect, chief assistant, and board of commissioners on the verso., Calf bindings, polished and mottled., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Volume 1 image reproduced in The Print and Photograph Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia's Center City Philadelphia in the 19th century (Portsmouth, N.H.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 116., Samuel C. Perkins, a Philadelphia lawyer, served as president of the Commissioners for the Erection of the Public Buidlings 1872-1891., Housed in phase boxes.
- Creator
- Cremer, James, 1821-1893
- Date
- 1873-1875
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Cremer [(1) 23455.D & (2) 23455.D]
- Title
- Photograph album
- Description
- Photograph album belonging to Philadelphia amateur photographer John C. Browne. Contains landscape and architectural views of the Delaware Valley and Central Pennsylvania, informal portraits of family and friends, and canal boat excursions of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia, including over the Pennsylvania Canal to Harrisburg (1879) and Morris Canal (1880). Images depict "Bartram's house, Gray's Ferry"; Cobbs Creek, including the Old Powder House; Wissahickon; Jay Cooke's Ogontz estate; Mill Creek (Lower Merion Township); the Philadelphia Zoo monkey house; Chelten Hills; Laurel Hill; Delaware Water Gap, including G. W. Childs arbor, Kittany House, Promontory, Lovers Leap, Young's Peak, and Mt. Minsi; falls, creeks, and Dingman's Ferry in Pike County, Pa.; sites along the Juniata Division of Pennsylvania Canal, including mill races, iron furnaces, Pennsylvania Rail Road bridges, and canal locks at or near Bridgeport, Dauphin, and Rockville; and sites along the Morris Canal, including canal boat planes and hoisting tower, Hopatcong Lake, Little Falls, and Passaic Falls., Other images show the English Cottage on the Centennial grounds (1877); strung hunted game and fish; landscape views of Sea Bright and Belvidere, N.J. and the Delaware near Torresdale; a posed "sweethearts" scene "On the Pennypack" (1878); and a group portrait of the Photographic Society (Samuel F. Corlies, Charles Pancoast, Charles Barrington, Samuel Sartain, Joseph William Bates, W. S. Vaux, Dr. Carl Seiler, Thomas H. McCollin, Thomas B. Craig) with cameras and fishing equipment during the Morris Canal excursion. Other portrait views include Mr. and Mrs. S. Fisher Corlies, Mamie Lloyd, Sallie Bacon, Jesse S. Graves, Alice E. Browne, Susie Hacker, Samuel Fox, and Charles Palmer. Some photographs show a photographer using his camera and several of the canal excursion views include the canal boats "Zuleika" (Pennsylvania Canal) and "Katie Kellogg" and her mule team "Tom & Baby" (Morris Canal)., Front free end paper signed John C. Browne., Photographs identified by inscriptions below images. Majority are date and some annotated "Washed Emulsion.", Red cloth binding, with gilt, and stamped on cover: Album., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., An article by Browne, "The Waterfalls of Pike County, Pa.," describing a trip to photograph natural scenery in Pike County appears in Philadelphia Photographer, Vol. XIII, no. 151 (July 1876), pages 208-211., LCP AR [Annual Reports] 1989 p. 33-34., Browne was a founder of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia.
- Creator
- Browne, John C. (John Coates), 1838-1918, photographer
- Date
- 1877-1880
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [P.9317]
- Title
- Photograph album
- Description
- Photograph album belonging to Philadelphia amateur photographer John C. Browne. Contains informal portraits of family friends and views of excursions and landmarks in Bethlehem and Nazareth, Pa.; Wilmington, De.; Belividere and Burlington, N.J.; and the Philadelphia area. Images depict the Pennock-Miller family Delaware County mansion Forest Hill, including the library, "Mrs. Pennock's [ceramic] Collection," greenhouse, and Sarah Pennock Miller with her son Caspar on a mule; Old Moravian Boarding School, Moravian Sisters House, Protestant Episcopal Church, and "Old Oil Mill" (Bethlehem); Old Swedes Church (Wilmington); and an old Moravian brewery, buildings, and Whitfield House (Nazareth). Other photographs depict Haines Spring house; "Andersons" at Belvidere; a family picnic at Pierson's Ravine (Belvidere); the Wissahickon; [Fairmount?] "Park guard house"; portraits of a family dog and posed portraits of Mary (Mame) Steele, including one showing the extreme length of her tresses, and Ettie Lewis, Anna, May, Katie and Bessie Shippen attired in costume. Some views include fellow amateur photographer architect George W. Hewitt. One Bethlehem view also shows D. & A. Luckenbach mill., Front free end paper signed John C. Browne., Photographs identified by inscriptions below images. Some annotated "Dry (albumen)" or "Dry.", Green cloth binding, with gilt, and stamped on cover: Album., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Two photographs of "Pennocks House" removed prior to acquisition by repository., Eight inserted loose prints in envelopes removed and housed separately in John C. Browne Collection., LCP AR [Annual Reports] 1989 p. 33-34., Inventory available at repository.
- Creator
- Browne, John C. (John Coates), 1838-1918, photographer
- Date
- ca. 1873-ca. 1877
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [P.9316]

