Search results

Title: In defence [sic] of the Union and the Constitution. [certificate]
Description: Certificate, containing an allegorical scene, issued in recognition of the military service of Pennsylvania volunteers during the Civil War. Shows the female allegorical figure of Columbia (i.e., United States), her head covered by the American flag, holding laurel wreaths and the Constitution in her outstretched hands, as she stands over a woman huddled on the ground with her children. To the left, a soldier, holding a rifle, stands on his guard, in front of them, while at his feet lay the ruins of a cannon. In the background, Independence Hall, cityscape, and the masts of ships are visible. Also includes a gold border with ornamental details, American eagles, and a variation of the Pennsylvania state seal., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 371, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Bc 525 S 395, Muringer, a French-born lithographer, was probably the father-in-law of Christian Schussele who was married to still life artist Cecelia Muringer Schussele.
Creator: Muringer, Caspar, artist
Date: c1861
Location: Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Bc 525 S 395

Title: The Union Business College [certificate]
Description: Receipt certificate for the Philadelphia business school, later renamed Peirce Business College, containing a vignette depicting the allegorical figure of Columbia. She holds a fasces and laurel wreath. Also contains a blank space (for a stamp) framed with an ornate border and a pictorial detail designed as a medal engraving., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Leonhardt relocated his establishment to 114 South Third Street in 1868.
Date: [ca. 1868]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Specimens Album [P.9349.216b]

Title: Wagner & McGuigan's lithographic & steam power printing establishment Athenian Building, Franklin Place
Description: Directory advertisement containing an allegorical, patriotic scene. Shows the figure of Columbia, attired in a toga, American flag, and laurel wreath, with a broken shackle under her foot as she stands on a pedestal. She holds a sword in one hand beside an American eagle perched on a shield and a laurel wreath in the other in front of a sculpted bust of George Washington. The bust rests on a pedestal adorned with a fasces. A paint palette and brushes, compass, rolls of paper, and a banner reading "Encourage American Arts" rests at the feet of Columbia. Floral details frame the sides of the image. Thomas Wagner and James M'Guigan operated a lithographic studio as partners 1846-1858., Published in McElroy's Philadelphia directory, for 1856 (Philadelphia: Edward C. & John Biddle, 1856), frontispiece., Not in Wainwright., Names of artists from variant duplicate in Poulson's scrapbooks, Illustrations of Philadelphia, vol. 1., Philadelphia on Stone, POSA 114
Creator: Wagner & M'Guigan
Date: [1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Dir Phila 1856 (58) 10840.O.frontispiece

Title: E. Ketterlinus steam power letter press and lithographic printer, Arch and Fourth street, Philadelphia
Description: City directory advertisement containing gilt shading and a patriotic vignette for the studio established by Eugene Ketterlinus in 1842. Vignette depicts a female figure, Columbia, attired in a breast plate, crown, and cape leaning over a globe and standing on a block of stone. She holds a map which reads "North America," and an American flag, over the globe. In the background, locomotives travel over the landscape that also includes a railroad bridge spanning a river. Ketterlinus was one of the earliest Philadelphia lithographers to produce stock cards, and embossed and colored mercantile labels. The firm remained in business until the 1970s., Not in Wainwright., Published in Gopsill's Philadelphia city directory for 1870... (Philadelphia: Published by James Gopsill, 1870), opp. p. 854 (verso)., Philadelphia on Stone, POSA 23/24, Advertisement for "Wm. Wilson & Son Manufacturers of Solid Silverware and Importers of Plate Ware s.w. cor. 5th & Cherry Sts. Philadelphia" on verso.
Creator: Ketterlinus, Eugene, d. 1886
Date: [1870]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Dir Phila 1870 (75) 16994.0.854b

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: The three days of May 1844. Columbia mourns her citizens slain
Description: Memorial to nativist casualties of the violent clashes occurring between anti-foreigner "Native Americans" and Irish-American Catholics in Kensington, Philadelphia, May 6 through 8, 1844. The female figure of Columbia holds a large, billowing American flag near a broken column on which she places a wreath. On the column are the names of those Native Americans killed during the attacks on Catholic homes and institutions. At the top of the list, circled by Columbia's wreath, is the name of George Schiffler, the first and most famous of the nativist martyrs. Other names inscribed on the column are: Wright, Rhinedollar, Greble, Stillwell, Hammitt, Ramsey, and Cox. To the right of Columbia is an American eagle supporting a shield with the names of the wounded, including: Peale (the artist?), Whitecar, Lescher, Young, Wiseman, Willman, Schufelbaugh, Yocum, Ardis, Boggs, Ford, Bartleson, and Ort. Above the figure floats a streamer with the print's title. Below a similar banner reads "Deceased----We Revere Their Memory---Wounded---We Cherish And Reward Them---.", Not in Wainwright., Artist's signature lower left corner., LOC copy filed for copyright July 1, 1844., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 254, Library of Congress: LOT 10615-34 [item] [P&P] Columbia, Description supplied by LOC catalog record.
Creator: Peale, Washington, artist
Date: c1844
Location: Library of Congress LOC LOT 10615-34 [item] [P&P] Columbia

Title: W.H. Rease. Lithographic artist. No. 17 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia Drawings & designs of every description, executed in the best style and on the most reasonable terms. Foundries, factories, stores, machinery, portraits, views, anatomical drawings &c &c
Description: Print containing two variant specimens of advertisements for the prolific Philadelphia lithographer of mid-19th century advertising prints. Top specimen contains a central vignette and three border vignettes adorned with ornamental details. Central vignette shows a semi-bare breasted Columbia with the shield of the United States and the American eagle. Border vignettes show classical-style portraits of a woman and girl, and an artist at an easel, and a lithographer drawing on stone. Lower specimen contains a central vignette and two border vignettes adorned with ornamental details. Central vignette shows a man sketching next to a tree at the bank of a river. Border vignettes show bust portraits of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Each specimen contains different style lettering., Price calculations, including figures for mounting, binding edges,and printing inscribed on verso., Philadelphia on Stone, POSA 109, Smithsonian Institution: Archives Center - Warshaw Collection - Lithography - Vertical File 2 - Rease, Rease operated a lithographic establishment from 17 South Fifth Street 1844-1854.
Creator: Rease, W. H.
Date: [ca. 1850]
Location: Smithsonian Institution | Archives Center Warshaw Collection SI NMAH Archives Center - Warshaw Collection - Lithography - Vertical File 2 - Rease

Title: Soldiers memorial. 4th Regiment. Company F. U.S. Col. Troops Mustered into the United States Service at Baltimore, Md., Aug. 4, 1863, by Col. Wm. Birney
Description: Stock commemorative certificate with some variations for the African American 4th Regiment, Company F troop and containing a montage of allegorical and battle scenes, patriotic motifs, and soldier vignettes above the printed names of 4th Regiment Privates, Lieutenants, Sergeants, Corporals, and Field and Staff Officers. The allegorical scene depicts the female figure of Columbia, resting upon an American shield and seated next to an American eagle that looks down on a snake it clutches under its claws. Columbia holds her head with her left hand and the "Constitution of the United States" down between her knees in the other. She is portrayed as a white woman with long dark hair, wearing a gold headpiece and white veil, and attired in a dress with a blue bodice, red skirt, and white sleeves and collar. Surrounding the central scene (counterclockwise) are views of white Union soldiers at battle and firing cannons near a harbor and across from Union forts displaying American flags; a departing white Union solder embracing his wife in front of his family, an older woman holding her grandchild, his crying son, and their dog, outside of their home in the countryside as troops march in the distance; white Union cavalry corps charging during battle; the previously depicted white Union soldier returning home, shown in mid stride and holding his cap in the air as his family heads toward him with their arms out; and white Union soldiers, with a cannon, and at battle near a trench. The scene and views within the montage are bordered and framed by portraits of George Washington, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson and pictorial details of American flags, flowers, and filigree., Pictorial details surrounding the names of the soldiers in the lower half of the print include outer columns composed of marble and wood trunks with one unsplit and adorned with the placard "United We Stand" and another split with stakes and adorned with the placard "Divided we fall; inner columns wrapped within the American flag; medallions depicted with red, white, and blue stripes and stars; and images of the American eagle atop an American shield that is adorned with a banner reading "E Pluribus Unum." A. Hoen & Co. printed several slightly variant copies of the Soldiers Memorial in 1866, to commemorate different regiments and with different publishers. In the upper half of the print, the montage imagery remained the same, and in the lower half of the print, the imagery for and near the columns was altered in addition to the printed names of the officers and soldiers and their placement between the columns. The 4th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry was organized in Maryland, July 15-September 1, 1863. The African American unit saw action in Virginia and North Carolina before being mustered out May 4, 1866 after the designation change to 76th U.S. Colored Troops on April 4, 1864. The Regiment lost nearly 300 officers and enlisted men while in service., Title from item., Name of publisher from publication statement: Published at Baltimore by Jos. L. Kessler., Date inferred from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1863 by Whitney & Anderson in Dist. C. of Md., Purchased with Louise Marshall Kelly Fund.
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Certificates [P.2022.28.2]

Title: " Bixby's Royal Polish." The perfection of blacking for ladies' and children's shoes
Description: Trade card promoting S.M. Bixby & Co. and depicting a racist caricature of a Chinese woman kneeling before Columbia holding up a woman's shoe. In the center, shows Columbia, depicted as a white woman attired in a blue Phrygian cap, white dress with a blue drape, and sandals, placing her left hand on an American flag crested shield. She holds aloft a black, woman's boot in her right hand, which emanates light. At her feet, a Chinese woman, wearing her hair up with decorative sticks and attired in a red dress decorated with a blue dragon, a white shawl, and red shoes, kneels on the ground with her right hand up as she looks up at the shoe and Columbia. The western-style woman's shoe is displayed as superior to and a critique of Chinese footbinding. In the right, a group of six women look on, many attired in crowns and crests, likely meant to represent European countries. In the left background is an oversized black bottle labeled, "Bixby's Royal Polish." Samuel M. Bixby began manufacturing and selling shoe blacking in 1860 and founded S.M. Bixby & Co. in 1862. F.F. Dailey Corporation acquired the firm in 1920., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business advertised and active dates of the lithographers., Advertising text printed on verso: A new compound, producing a durable polish, elastic, waterproof and harmless to all kinds of leather, one coat of which is equal to two of any other. Bixby’s new bottle and combination stopper for sponge blacking is the most perfect package ever invented for forms of liquid blacking or shoe dressing. The wood top is of such size and shape as to form a convenient and firm handle; and the cork is inserted into the wood top, and fastened by the wire and glue, so that it is very much stronger than the old style. The bottle has a broad base and will not upset easily; the mouth has a wide projecting flange, and an air chamber below to prevent the overflow of the liquid in taking out and putting in the sponge, which perfectly insures cleanliness. “Royal Polish” is strictly a first class dressing, elegant in style, convenient for use, and is designed to retail at 15 cents per bottle, which in larger than the old square bottle. One trial will satisfy the most fastidious, that it is superior in all particulars to any dressing ever offered for ladies’ use. Patent applied for. S.M. Bixby & Co., New York., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - S.M. Bixby & Co. [P.2025.38]

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: Enterprise Congress-World's Fair
Description: Trade card issued during the Columbian Exposition of 1893 promoting the Enterprise Maufacturing Company of Pennsylvania's meat choppers and depicting Uncle Sam demonstrating a meat chopper surrounded Columbia and people representing different nationalities. In the center, Uncle Sam chops meat by turning the handle of a meat chopper mounted to a table under which two pigs stand. In the right, Columbia, depicted as a white woman attired in a white dress with gold trim and a red sash, stands holding a gold staff topped with a star and places her right hand on Uncle Sam's shoulder. At her feet is a bald eagle with an American flag crested shield on its chest. In a left, a Scotsman, attired in tartan kilt, bends at the waist and watches the chopper grind meat onto a plate. Men stand and look on surrounding the table representing different nationalities, including an Irishman, Englishman, and a Chinese man, wearing a queue hairstyle and attired in a gold conical hat, blue shirt, and purple robe. Also includes partially visible exposition buildings in the background. The exposition held in Chicago May 1-October 30, 1898 celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Enterprise Manufacturing Co. of Pa. was established in 1866., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1893 by Donaldson Brothers, Lith. N.Y., Several lines of advertising text printed on verso. Text promotes the excellence of the "Enterprise Meat Choppers" in not tearing or grinding, but chopping the meat so devoid of "strings, sinew, fibers or gristle"; foods able to be chopped, including sausage meat, peppers, corn for fritters, coconut, and "Beef Tea for invalids"; the design of the plates; and prices of different models ranging from $2.00 to $15.00, including No. 42, a "Pork only" chops 5 lb. per minute., Printed on verso: For Sale by the Hardware Trade. Send for Catalogue. The Enterprise M'f'g Co. of Pa., Third & Dauphin Sts., Philadelphia, U.S.A., Typeface on verso varies between prints., Vignette illustration on verso. Depicts an "Enterprise" meat chopper clamped to a table. Ground meat falls onto a plate., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of Michael Zinman.
Date: 1893
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Michael Zinman World's Fairs Collection - Trade cards [P.2008.36.66]

Title: Siebentes allgemeines Saengerfest in Philadelphia vom 13-16 Juni 1857. = Seventh General Singer Festival in Philad. Pa. 13 to the 16 of June 1857
Description: Print showing seven vignettes depicting the seventh general Singer Festival in Philadelphia from June 13 to 16, 1857. In the top are two vignettes of Lemon Hill mansion built 1799-1800 for businessman Henry Pratt in East Fairmount Park. In the left, shows an exterior view of the south side of the mansion with men and women sitting and standing on the lawn and the porch. In the right, shows an exterior view of the north side with a stage in the left. A woman stands in the doorway, and people stand on the porch. In the top center, Columbia, depicted as a white woman lifting a sword in the air, holds hands with Germania, depicted as a white woman with her left hand on the hilt of her sword. In front of them is a American crested shield that reads, “Liberti.” In the center, shows a procession of soldiers, some on horseback, a marching band, and men who hold flags that read, “Sangerbund Philadelphia.” Spectators look on including a group of two African American men and an African American boy. In the bottom left is a triumphal arch decorated with an American and a German flag that leads to a path towards a building with large flags flying on top. In the center is an interior view of the Academy of Music with one thousand singers on the stage and a packed audience watching. In the right, a crowd stands around the “standard tree" decorated with flags. In 1844, several years after Pratt’s death, Lemon Hill became the first mansion acquired by the city of Philadelphia to establish a public park, i.e., Fairmount Park. The residence was used as a lager beer garden following the establishment of the park in 1855., Title from the item., Date inferred from content., In German with English., Contents: Lemonhill south side -- Eintracht macht stark. Unity is strength -- Lemonhill north side -- Festzug der Saenger nach Lemonhill. March of the singers to the excursion at Lemonhill -- Triumhbogen. Triumphal Arch -- Concert given in the Academy of Music by 1000 singers -- Fahnenbaum. Standard tree., Gift of David Doret.
Creator: Fuchs, F, engraver
Date: [ca. 1857]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Ph Pr - Events - Singer [P.2007.28.27]

Title: No more Chinese cheap labor. Celluloid cuffs, collars & bosoms
Description: Trade card containing an illustration depicting a racist scene with the figures of Uncle Sam and America, and a Chinese man laundry worker. In the left, the laundry worker, wearing his hair in a queue and attired in a long-sleeved, orange tunic; long, wide-legged, white pants; and orange slip-on, cloth shoes; sits on an over-turned wooden wash tub. His eyes are closed, and he holds his head down in his left hand. His left leg is crossed over his right, and his right hand is on his left ankle. To his left, the white woman figure of Columbia/America, looks down at the laundry worker and points up with her right hand. In her left hand, she holds up a shield with the pattern of the American flag and marked "Invention." She wears her dark hair pulled back to the nape of her neck and is attired in a gown with the pattern of the American flag, a red and blue cap adorned with a white star, and sandals. An open box of spilled starch lies between her feet and those of the laundry worker. Behind the laundry worker, is a laundry iron on a shelf, Chinese characters written on a wall, and Uncle Sam resting his arms on the ledge of an opening in the wall. Uncle Sam has red hair and a beard and is attired in a top hat, a blue jacket with a white star pattern, a red neck tie, and white shirt with the collar turned up. He looks at America. Above his head is the sign "Gon Up Chinese Laundry." Patented during the 1860s and 70s, separable celluloid collars, unlike separable paper collars, were waterproof and longer lasting, as well as fashionable and affordable. Following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the celluloid collar industry leveraged the racist legislation to promote the use of celluloid collars as patriotic and as a means to make Chinese launderers obsolete and to facilitate the end of Chinese immigration., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Includes advertising text printed on verso: A New Improvement-Patented. Waterproof Linen. Waterproof-Elastic-Durable. Ladies' & Gents' Cuffs Collars, [Bossa]ms, Made From Celluloid. In Introducing this new invention [italicized], we beg to call the attention of the public to some of the remarkable features of this "new departure," [italicized], which will commend the use of these goods to all who study economy, neatness, and beauty [italicized]. 1st. The Interior is Fine Linen. 2d. The Exterior is Celluloid. 3d. The Union of Above, Combines the Strength of Linen With The Waterproof Qualities of Celluloid. 4th. The Expense of Washing Is Saved. If The Goods Are Soiled Simply Wipe Them Off With Soap And Water. 5th. The Goods Never Wilt Or Fray On Edges. 6th. They Are Perspiration Proof. For Sale by All Gents' Furnishing & Fancy Goods Houses throughout the Country., Image caption: "Othello's occupation gone." The Hand Writing on the Wall., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Celluloid [P.2021.20.1]

Main menu