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- Title
- Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African
- Description
- Bust portrait of the British, Black free man and abolitionist, Olaudah Equiano, who authored one of the earliest and most influential autobiographies by a formerly enslaved person. He is attired in a dark-colored jacket with a collar and buttons and a white collared shirt, cravat, and waistcoat. He holds the Bible in his right hand, which is open to “Acts Chap. IV. V. 12.”, Title from item., Publication information and date inferred from source in which the portrait was originally included., Published as the frontispiece in Olaudah Equiano's The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano...(New York: W. Durrell, 1791). (LCP Am 1791 Equ, Log 3936.D)., Accessioned after 1870 and before 1900., 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
- Tiebout, Cornelius, 1777-1832, engraver
- Date
- [1791]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait Prints - E [1885.F.145]
- Title
- Molineaux
- Description
- Full-length portrait of the frank, champion African American boxer, standing, bare-chested, fists raised, a crowd of spectators in the background. Portrait published following Molineaux's second unsuccessful bid to defeat the popular Champion of England Tom Cribb. Molineaux, a man emancipated from enslavement because of his boxing abilities, emigrated to England in the early 19th century, where he earned a living and a controversial reputation as a champion boxer., LCP exhibition catalogue: An African American miscellany p. 34., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1976 p. 65., 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.
- Date
- Jan. 1812
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - M [P.8911.653]
- Title
- Thomas Clarkson
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of the British deacon, abolitionist, and author. Clarkson, attired in a white collared shirt, a black waistcoat, jacket, and pants, sits holding a pair of spectacles in his left hand and a quill in his right hand. He leans his right elbow on a table adorned with a "Map of Africa." Clarkson, author of "The History of the rise, progress, and accomplishment of the African slave-trade," was a founder of the British Anti-Slavery Society., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Manuscript note on mount: The Philanthropist. Wrote in opposition to the slave trade., Gift of David Doret, 2004., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Creator
- Dean, T. A., engraver
- Date
- May 1839
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - C [P.2004.46.3]
- Title
- Thomas Clarkson, A.M
- Description
- Bust-length portrait of the white British deacon, abolitionist and author as a younger man, facing right. He is attired in a powdered wig, a shirt with a ruffled collar, and a jacket. Clarkson, a founder of the British Anti-Slavery Society, influential in the passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, wrote "The History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the African Slave-Trade" (London, 1808) to promote further anti-slavery legislation., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of portraits., 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., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886.
- Creator
- Maverick, Peter, 1780-1831, engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1820]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait prints - C [(1)5750.F.90b]
- Title
- To the friends of negro emancipation, this print is inscribed
- Description
- Print commemorating Great Britain's passage of legislation, given royal assent in 1834, granting emancipation to the enslaved throughout Great Britain and the British colonies. Depicts near a coast, a joyous free Black man, attired in a sarong, arms held up in celebration. He stands upon a whip surrounded by smiling Black men who bury his shackles; a Black girl who kneels before him; and a Black mother, seated on a bench beside a book, smiles and holds her baby up in the air. Next to them an "Emancipation Notice" has been tacked to a palm tree. In the background, Black people celebrate on the shore as a ship sails away., Title from item., Text printed below title: A glorious and happy era on the first of August, bursts upon the Western World; England strikes the manacle from the slave, and bids the bond go free., Purchase 1969., 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
- Lucas, David, 1802-1881, engraver
- Date
- August 1, 1834
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC-Emancipation [7808.F]
- Title
- Die Americaner wiedersetzen sich der Stemple Acte, und verbrennen das aus England nach america Gesandte Stemple Papier zu Boston im August 1764
- Description
- Scene depicting a riot in the town square of Boston protesting the enactment of the Stamp Act in 1765. Cheering spectators and participants, including a woman and an African American man, surround a bonfire, and brandish farm tools, and throw stamped paper onto the flames. Others watch from building windows overlooking the square., Inscribed upper left corner: S. 61., Plate 1 from Matthias Sprengel. Historisch-genalogischer Calendar oder Jahrbuch... (Leipzig: bey Haude und Spener Von Berlin, 1783). (LCP Am 1783 Spre, Log 5059.D)., 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., Chodowiecki was a prominent German engraver and painter who specialized in prints of historical subjects.
- Creator
- Chodowiecki, Daniel, 1726-1801, etcher
- Date
- [1783]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - American Revolution [P.8935.1]
- Title
- Chil dren of all nations. A series of 50
- Description
- Series of pop out cigarette cards depicting waist-length portraits of children (boys and girls) of different nationalities attired in their "native" costume. Includes Arabia (boy); Australia (boy); Belgian Congo (boy); Belgium (girl); Bulgaria (boy); Burma (girl); Denmark (girl); Egypt (girl); England (boy); Greece (girl); Holland (girl); Hungary (boy); Italy (girl); Ireland (girl); Mexico (boy); Natal (girl); New Zealand (girl); Norway (girl); Palestine (girl); Patagonia (girl); Poland (girl); Portugal (boy); Rumania (girl); Russia (girl); Scotland (boy); Siam (boy); Spain (girl); Sweden (girl); Tahiti (girl); Tibet (girl); Tunis (girl); Turkey (girl); United States (girl); and Wales (girl). The Ogden Branch was originally founded by Thomas Ogden as the Ogdens Tobacco Company in 1860. In 1901, American Tobacco Company bought Ogden's Tobacco Company and it in turn was bought by Imperial Tobacco Co. in 1902. Ogden started to include cigarette cards in its packaging in 1894., Date inferred from pop out format. Series issued in 1924 as pop outs., Printed above images: Ogden's Cigarettes., Title from series title on items., Versos contain explicative statements describing the depicted children's appearance, social life, and customs., Gift of George Allen., RVCDC, Description reviewed 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [ca. 1924]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - Cards [P.2016.56.1-34]
- 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
- Pulling down the statue of George III "By the Sons of Freedom." At the Bowling Green City of New York, July 1776
- Description
- Print commemorating American independence after the painting by religious and historical artist, Johannes A. Oertelat, at the New York Historical Society. Depicts white men attempting to topple the equestrian statue of King George following the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the foot of Broadway. At the base, men pull on ropes wrapped around the sculpture while men from behind use rods to knock it over. In front of the pedestal, an African American man has fallen over on the ground. An excited crowd of spectators, including well-to-do and working class men, women, and children cheer, point, hold torches and mallets, and trample upon the broken fence once surrounding the statue. In the left is a Native American man attired in a feather headdress and carrying a spear. Several dogs run in the foreground. In the background, ships in New York harbor are visible., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1978., 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
- McRae, John C., engraver
- Date
- c1859
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC-American Revolution [8384.F.11]

