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- Title
- [Biblical animal collecting cards]
- Description
- Series of six titled collecting cards depicting views of animals cited in the Old Testament of the Bible. Includes "The Bear"; "The Lion"; "The Wild Roe"; "The Wild Ass"; "The Blackbird"; and "The Wild Goat". Views contain landscape settings, including ledges, mountains, and trees. Blackbird view includes a bird's nest and lion view includes cubs. Majority of the cards also contain the Biblical passage referencing the animal depicted., Title supplied by cataloger., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
- Date
- [ca. 1870]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Specimens Album [P.9349.58a-f]
- Title
- [Print with ornate border containing vignettes representing the seasons]
- Description
- Border frames unprinted area and includes allegorical figures representing summer, fall, winter, and spring. Shows summer as young peasant girl lying on a pile of hay and holding a sickle; fall as a peasant lad holding a bottle of wine and a goblet; winter as an older woman, attired in kerchief, overcoat, and hand muff seated in front of a tree; and spring as a partially-draped, nudewoman placing flowers in her hair. Also contains pictorial details depicting flower bushes, grape vines, shrubbery, and clusters of fall fruits and winter and summer landscape views. Unprinted area contains glue residue., Inscribed upper left corner: 56., Title supplied by cataloger., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
- Date
- [ca. 1855]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Specimens Album [P.9349.38b]
- Title
- [Print with ornate border containing vignettes representing the seasons]
- Description
- Border frames unprinted area and includes allegorical figures representing summer, fall, winter, and spring. Shows summer as young peasant girl lying on a pile of hay and holding a sickle; fall as a peasant lad holding a bottle of wine and a goblet; winter as an older woman, attired in kerchief, overcoat, and hand muff seated in front of a tree; and spring as a partially-draped, nudewoman placing flowers in her hair. Also contains pictorial details depicting flower bushes, grape vines, shrubbery, and clusters of fall fruits and winter and summer landscape views. Unprinted area contains glue residue., Inscribed upper left corner: 56., Title supplied by cataloger., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
- Date
- [ca. 1855]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Specimens Album [P.9349.38b]
- Title
- [William Y. McAllister trade cards]
- Description
- Series of illustrated trade cards for optician William Y. McAllister's shop at 728 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict idyllic landscape views of a forest, a stream, a cottage and ruins by a lake and anthropomorphic frogs, a stork, and an owl looking through telescopes and binoculars, reading and fishing., Title supplied by cataloger., Calendar for 1881 printed on verso of one print [1975.F.614]., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - McAllister [1975.F.610-614]
- Title
- [Eiichi Hirose collection of bookplates]
- Description
- Collection of seventeen Japanese bookplates owned by Eiichi Hirose. Sixteen bookplates were designed and created by Yumimaro Ohmori, and one was created by Koson Nakayama. The bookplates depict scenes of Japanese landscapes, flowers, insects and animals, and people, including a person on a bridge over water and looking at a mountain; a man leading a horse; two people at a camp fire; a Japanese woman attired in a kimono; a young man farmer riding backwards on an ox; a potted plant; cherry blossoms; dragonflies; and a bird flying over bamboo. Two type-written letters are included describing some of the bookplate designs and gifting the bookplates to the Library Company of Philadelphia., Title supplied by cataloger., Date from letter of gift., Partial transcript of letter accompanying the gift: I enclosed my ex-libris in use, designed and engraved by Yumimaro Ohmori, a graduate of the Tokyo College of Fine Arts, and would be glad to make an exchange of ex-libris with you. Because of my great interest in which I have been collecting ex-libris for three years, I shall appreciate very much if you can favor me with some of your specimens. I desire to extend this collection all over the world, and any information in this connection will be deeply appreciated. With best wishes, I am yours very truly, Eiichi Hirose. Oct. 8th, 1935., Text of accompanying letter: The design of this ex-libris represents a tombstone characteristic of 12th century Japan. This plate is designed and used by Koson Nakayama of Tokyo. The design of this plate is symbolical of dramatic art, the three colors, perhaps of curtains, representing the three largest theatres that existed in Yedo (present Tokyo). This plate is used by Shuzan E. Hirose. The design show a youthful farmer rising an ox. From this one may infer that the owner (Hirose) is a collector of books on agriculture and rural problems.
- Creator
- Ohmori, Yumimaro, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1935]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare LCP Records MSS 00270 Series 4B Bookplates Box 23, Folder 10 [12126.Q.10]
- Title
- William Russell Birch Collection
- Description
- Collection containing primarily engravings, watercolors, and drawings executed by English-born artist and engraver William Birch and his descendants between the 18th and later 19th century. Several of the graphic materials are by William Birch and represent engraved work he completed in Britain before 1794 and following his immigration to the United States that same year. His British work includes plates from his unpublished satiric volume “The Busy World, or London Dissected ...” (ca. 1792-ca. 1793) showing a charlatan at work, a fight between Richard Humphreys and Daniel Mendoza, a May Day procession, and rag dealers (P.2016.50.28-33); loose plates from his book of British landscapes “Les Delices de la Grande Bretagne” (1791) (P.2016.50.34, 36, 42); the rural and scenic “The Porcupine Inn Yard Rushmore Hill” (p.2016.50.38); the disaster print “The Great Fire of London in the Year 1666” (P.2016.50.55); and portraits of the poetical character Secander (P.2016.50.40) and his mentor “Sir Joshua Reynolds” (P.2016.50.22). His American work includes variant editions of plates from his “Views of Philadelphia” originally published as a series 1798-1800 (P.2016.62.21-37); variant editions of plates from his “Country Seats” originally published in 1808 (P.2016.62.38-45a); and the 1800 commemorative portrait “George Washington. Late President of the United States of America” (hand-colored and black and white [P.2016.50.59 & P.2016.62.55])., British and American work of Birch is also included in the collection in the form of watercolors, drawings, paintings, a sketchbook, and as photographic reproductions. These graphics depict portraits of family members (some photographed ca. 1910s by Charles W. Parker), including his children Priscilla, Thomas, George, and Albina while young as well as his purportedly his mother Anne (P.2016.50); ca. 1800s plan and views of his Bucks County country seat Springland (purchased in 1798) (P.2016.50.48-50); views of the Philadelphia country seat China Retreat, Gunpowder Falls near Hampton, MD, and the George Read estate in New Castle, DE (P.2016.50.43, 45-46); an annotated sketch of Westminster Bridge from the Adelphi Terrace (P.2016.50.51); a drawing of a group of boys (P.2016.62.2); and pencil sketches of male and female figures within an undated sketchbook (P.2016.62.59). Additionally, Birch’s work is represented by a preparatory sketch of an A. Sheffer portrait of Lafayette (P.2016.50.21); portrait drawings of unidentified sitters (P.2015.25 & 26); a ca. 1795 miniature enamel painting of his daughter Deborah (P.2016.50.67); a palette of his paint colors (P.2016.50.66); and an 1830s oil painting of an older Thomas Birch (1779-1851) attributed to William (P.2016.62.1)., Other original and reproduced material is attributed to William Birch or by Birch family members or by other artists and engravers. This includes a 1742 Thomas Worlidge pencil portrait of William’s father Thomas (P.2016.50.14), a Birch portrait of William King (father-in-law of son Thomas), and portraits and a "Museum" (i.e., Peale Museum) blind-stamped silhouette of Birch (P.2016.50.16); ca. 1785 Robert Freebairn watercolor of Hampstead Heath (Birch’s British county of residence); engravings by M. Marigot of “Mount Vernon ...” and “View of the City and Port of Philadelphia ...” from Janson's "Stranger in America" (London, 1807); Franklin Birch 1860s pencil sketches of a printing press and plows (P.2016.62.5-6)); Louise S. Birch's oil renderings of flowers (P.2016.62.12-13); sketches of a title page to the 1852 edition of Thomas Day’s “The History of Sanford and Merton” and of rural and landscape scenes and animal studies (Thomas Birch?; P.2016.62.3, 8-11); John McAllister, Jr. 1860 restrikes (some signed by Agnes McAllister) of Philadelphia views by Charles Willson Peale, Thomas Birch and William Strickland and the 1798 “Congressional Pugilists cartoon (P.2016.62.46-52; and engraved portraits of Major Genl. Brown (P.2016.62.53) and Edward Shippen (P.2016.62.54)., Collection also contains a unique ca. 1810 mockup by Birch for a revised and enlarged edition of his “Country Seats” (P.2016.62.59).The album includes plates from the first edition as well as a proof plate of the Devon view, three watercolors showing “Analostun, or Masons Island with one wing of the house at Georgetown and two of Mr. Custus’s in the distance”; “Point Breeze. The Residence of Joseph Bonapart – at Burdentown on the Delaware”;“The Mill & House of Mr. E. Esirel late sheriff of Phila., Near Christeen,” and a pencil sketch “Mr. Bells Buildings at Richmond.” Other unique items in the Birch Collection include his two variant volumes of manuscript copies of “The Life and Anecdotes of William Russell Birch ...”(bulk written after War of 1812 and into the 1820s), including accounts of his work and travels (P.2016.50.61 & 62); “Birch’s American Cottage. Volm. 2nd” of personal anecdotes, including discussion of Springland (P.2016.50.63); Birch’s “Book of Profitts” with entries dated 1813-1830 (P.2016.50.64); and probably his personal copy of “Les Delices de la Grande Bretagne” (P.2016.50.65). An imperfect copy of “Les Delices” formerly owned by original subscriber Francis Longe (and including his book plate) and a copy of “Transactions of the Society Instituted at London” (1785) referencing a Birch award (p.183) are also included with the materials (P.2016.50.65 & 60)., A small number of manuscripts written by William Birch comprise the collection as well. These materials include a ca. 1800-ca.1805 calligraphic and manuscript title page to "Views of and from The Country References of William Birch. Drawn by Himself wih a sett of Drawings of Springland"; a ca. 1818 letter to an unidentified granddaughter (P.2015.50.1); an undated letter addressed to the Duke of Grafton and Duke of Richmond about “forgetting their subscriptions” (possibly about subscription to Delices... [1791]) (P.2015.50.2); scraps with names of subscribers to “Busy World” (P.2015.50.3) as well as titles completed and to be completed (P.2015.50.4&5); ca. 1805 list of views of “Beautys of Springland not Pictured” (P.2015.50.6); and an 1811 receipt for 5 dollars issued to Ben Wilson for “Views.” (P.2015.50.7). Ephemera also forms the Birch Collection and includes Birch’s certificate of United States citizenship issued in 1808 (P.2016.50.52); a broadside advertising the 1789 titles to be issued by “J. Bell of the British Library” and addressed to Wm. Birch, Hampstead Heath (P.2016.50.53); the bookplate of historian and writer Thomas Birch (1705-1766) (P.2016.50.35 &P.2016.62.15); completed tags for William Birch miniatures on display at the 1911 The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and The Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters Tenth Annual Exhibition (P.2016.62.17-20); early twentieth-century receipts and labels for works by Thomas and William Birch (P.2016.62.62-66); and an unused enamel plate (P.2016.50.27)., Various artists, engravers, printers, and photographers including William Russell Birch, Thomas Birch, Franklin Birch, Louise Birch, J. N. Gimbrede, Jan Griffier, Augustus Kollner, M. Marigot, Charles W. Parker, Charles Willson Peale, P. Roberts, J. Rogers, Julius F. Sacshe, Ary Sheffer, Samuel Shelley, Thomas T. Stiles, Gilbert Stuart, Benedictus Antonio Van Assen, E. Wellmore, J. Wood, and Thomas Worlidge., Various publishers and distributors including J. Bell, William Birch, R. Campbell & Co., James Cundee, E. Jeffrey, Edward J. Parker, R. Pollard, C. Taylor, and T. Thornton., Research files, genealogical reference files, and modern photographic reproductions of the artists' work that accompanied the collection when acquired are available at the repository., See Emily T. Cooperman and Lea Carson Sherk, Picturing the American Scene (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011)., See Emily T. Cooperman, ed., The Country Seats of the United States. William Russell Birch (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009)., See S. Robert Teitelman, Birch's Views of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982, rev. 2000)., See Martin P. Snyder, "William Birch: His Philadelphia Views," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 73 (July 1949), 271-315., See Martin Snyder, "Birch's Philadelphia Views: New Discoveries," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 88 (April 1964), 164-173., See Martin P. Snyder, "William Birch: his ’Country seats of the United States,’" Pennsylvania magazine of History and Biography 81 (1957), 225-254., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2017, p. 49 - 51., P.2018.55 photographic reproduction of Mrs. Robinson engraved by William Birch after Sir Joshua Reynolds housed with collection., William Russell Birch (1755-1834), trained in England under Sir Joshua Reynolds, was a respected Philadelphia engraver, miniaturist, and enamel painter. Birch was also one of the most important landscape artists in America’s Federal period. He engraved and published the first viewbook of an American city, "The City of Philadelphia in the Year… 1800" and the respected "The Country Seats of the United States of North America" in 1804. His son Thomas Birch (1779-1851) assisted him in the drawing and engraving of his viewbooks. He became a respected artist in his own right and specialized in marine paintings.
- Date
- [ca. 1742 - ca. 1913]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch Collection [P.2016.50 & 62 and P.2017.54 and P.2018.55]
- Title
- [Scrapbook with periodical illustrations, comic valentines, and patent medicine advertisements]
- Description
- Eccentrically-arranged scrapbook predominantly containing newspaper clippings, patent medicine almanac advertisements, and comic valentines. Also contains scraps, trade cards, and labels. Clippings, many published in the sensational periodicals “National Police Gazette” and “Days’ Doings” primarily depict illustrations of murders and violence, crimes and punishments, human curiosities, animal attacks, human peril, women in distress, gender non-conforming people, evocative theatrical performances, acts of daring, and comic scenes in silhouette. Illustrations include H. P. Peer's 1879 jump from the Niagara Falls bridge and a fight between the elephant "Bolivar" and a camel in Van Amburgh's menagerie. Patent medicine advertisements primarily promote the products of Barker’s Horse, Cattle, and Poultry Powder; C. I. Hood’s Sarsaparilla; Dr. Morse’s Indian Root Pill; and E. S. Well's Rough on Rats. Valentines satirize various professions and gender and ethnic stereotypes, including a cook, music teacher, machinist, hatter, seamstress, “French nurse –(from Ireland),” “novel reader,” “prudish young woman,” and “an old bore.”, Also contains some sentimental and genre imagery, including mothers and children, children playing, and pets; landscape and cityscape illustrations; racist caricatures of African Americans; Tobin trade cards depicting comical views of baseball players (p. 21); an advertisement for The Electric Era/ German Electric Belt Agency (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Dalziel Brother illustrations of scenes from popular Charles Dickens novels like “Nicholas Nickleby”; chromoxylograph illustration from Aunt Matilda series “The Little Deserter” (McLoughlin Bros., ca. 1869); illustrated children's book covers; and a finely-designed chromolithographic advertisement depicting allegorical figures, flowers, and produce to promote gardens (Lowell, Mass.)., Title supplied by cataloger., Small number of pages contain hand-coloring., Also originally included tucked-in partial editions of N.Y. newspapers issued in 1890. Issues housed in mylar and with scrapbook., Scrap depicting two racing horses and their jockeys pasted on back cover., Housed in phase box., Purchase 2012., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- [ca. 1869-ca. 1890, bulk 1880-1890]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.2012.42]
- Title
- [Scrapbook with linen pages]
- Description
- Scrapbook containing scraps, cutouts, periodical illustrations, and trade cards. Contents depict sentimental, genre, and religious scenes; images of children, animals, mothers and mothering; fancy heads; patriotic, historical, and allegorical figures, including George and Martha Washington; advertisements for Philadelphia, Hartford (Conn.), and New York businesses, including promotions for druggists, patent medicines, and soap; imagery documenting the Centennial Exhibition 1876, including portraits of prominent figures; figures in European costumes; scenes of rural life and European scenery; and landscape views. Also includes a small number of views of factories and industrial buildings; a patent medicine advertisement including an African American man servant character opening a door (p. 76); a print depicting a stanza from Robert Burn’s “The Cotter’s Saturday Night” (p. 22); illustrations of Little Red Riding Hood; the periodical cartoon “A Parent’s Vengeance” (p. 53); "La Belle Chocolatiere from the original painting by Leotard now in the Dresden Gallery" (p. 57); a cutout from a women’s fashion plate (p. 77); H.M.S. Pinafore theatrical character illustrations printed by Ledger Job Printing Office (p. 64); and a calling card for Mary S. Bassett (back inside cover)., Businesses represented include B. T. Babbit (soap); Clark’s O.N.T. (thread); C. F. Rump (leather goods); Corning & Tappan (perfumes); Marburg Bros. (tobacco); Devlin & Co. (clothiers); Dundas, Dirk & Co. (pharmacists); [Hiram] Duryea’s Starch Works; Fairbanks scales (E. & T. Fairbanks & Co.); J. Milton Brewer (druggist); C. L. Hauthaway & Sons (shoe polish); Charles S. Higgins (German laundry soap); The New York Bazar (fancy goods, Phillip Isaacs, proprietor); Demorest’s Monthly Magazine (W. J. Demorest, publisher); Edwin C. Burt (shoes); E. P. & Wm. Kellogg; Samuel Gerry & Cos. (patent medicine); Alex. Boost (analytical chemist); Chas. F. Hurd & Co. (chinaware); E. P. & Wm. Kellogg (photographers & art dealers); and Willcox & Gibbs (sewing machines)., Title supplied by cataloger., Front cover stamped: Scrap Book, Various artists, engravers, and printers including F. Beard; Illman Bros.; Ledger Job Print; L. Prang & Co.; Major & Knapp; Thomas Moran; and Shober & Carqueville., Cutouts and calling card pasted to inside front and back covers., Edges of scrapbook leaves contains stitching in different colors, including yellow, green, blue, red, lilac, and purple., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., Housed in phase box., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- [ca. 1876-ca. 1879]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Linen [P.2013.69.1]