Shows the expanded building of the library, formerly the Free Quaker Meetinghouse, built 1783 after the designs of Timothy Matlack and Samuel Price Wetherill at 500 Arch Street. Also shows partial views of the adjacent buildings, including a liquor store and a business adorned with an iron-wrought balcony. The library, the oldest free circulating library in the United States, was established in 1820 to aid in the knowledge of apprentices. Building housed the library 1841-1897 and was expanded in 1868 after the designs of Stephen Decatur Button., Photographer's imprint and title printed on mount., Lavender paper mount with rounded corners., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of views of Philadelphia., 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. 11., Arcadia caption text: The Apprentices’ Library was founded in 1820 to provide young people free access to books. No idle reading of sensational fiction was done here. The board of managers reviewed every book before placing it on the shelf, with the goal of promoting “orderly and virtuous habits,” the diffusion of knowledge, and betterment of scientific skill. The library rented this building (designed in 1783 by Timothy Matlack and Samuel Price Wetherill) at 500 Arch Street from the Society of Free Quakers from 1841 until 1897, and provided separate reading rooms for girls and boys. This view dates to c. 1870.
Creator
Simons, M. P. (Montgomery P.), photographer
Date
ca. 1870
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Simons - Libraries [(8)1322.F.5e-2]
