Search results

Title: [Wine & liquor store. Charles Egner 10 North Third Street, Philadelphia]
Description: Advertisement showing the busy four-story storefront for "Charles Enger Wine & Liquor Store." Two white gentleman converse near a row of stacked barrels within the store and two male workers, including an African American man, hoist a barrel at the second entranceway. In front of the open cellar to the building, a white man employee rolls one of several barrels lined on the sidewalk. To the left of the worker, three barrels stand upright and a white gentleman approaches. Also shows boxes in the first-floor store window; the shutters and windows of the upper floors in various states of being open; and partial views of the adjacent buildings., Poulson inscription on recto: N. Third St. Third Street. Oct. 1846., Title supplied by cataloger., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 845, Wainwright retrospective conversion project, edited., LCP copy trimmed and lacking title., Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Breton, William L., approximately 1773-1855, artist
Date: [ca. 1837]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department W460 [P.2244]

Title: Southside Chestnut St. from Carpenters Court to 4th St., 1809
Description: View showing the block of four wooden buildings, including a stable, near the back of Carpenter's Hall during the year 1809. A horse-drawn carriage travels down the street. Several men and women pedestrians, including an African American man, attired in an apron and carrying two bundles, walk the sidewalks., Title from item., Inscribed on recto: Copy., Commissioned by Philadelphia antiquarian Ferdinand Dreer., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1975, p. 6-11., Purchase 1975., 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: Evans, B. R. (Benjamin Ridgway), 1834-1891, artist
Date: 1883
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Evans watercolors [P.2298.146], http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/evans/files/plc146.html

Title: South side Chestnut St. from 3rd to Hudsons Alley, 1809
Description: View showing the block from 96 to 110 Chestnut Street during the year 1809. Depicts a row of five three-and-a-half story red brick townhouses attached to a row of three red brick storefronts. A horse-drawn carriage and wagon travel down the streets. Pedestrians, including an African American man in an apron pushing a hand cart, walk and converse on the sidewalks., Title from item., Inscribed on recto: Copy., Commissioned by Philadelphia antiquarian Ferdinand Dreer., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1975, p. 6-11., Purchase 1975., 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: Evans, B. R. (Benjamin Ridgway), 1834-1891, artist
Date: 1809, 1883
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Evans watercolors [P.2298.147], http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/evans/files/plc147.html

Title: "Raising the liberty pole" Dedicated to the American people. Commemorative of 1776. The centenary of independence
Description: Print after painting by New York historical painter and Art Union exhibitor, Frederick Augustus Chapman, commemorating the Declaration of Independence. Depicts the raising of a liberty pole in a colonial town square. Image contains a group of men, including an African American man, raising the pole as around them revelers rejoice; a tavern sign with a portrait of King George III is pulled down; the Sons of Liberty rally; volunteers for "War, Liberty, and Rights" are recruited; a white man loyalist turns away in disgust; and a white woman raises her baby in celebration as other women solemnly look on. Liberty poles, symbols and meeting places of the radical group, Sons of Liberty, first appeared in 1766 following the repeal of the Stamp Act., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyrighted 1875. By John C. McRae; New York., 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: 1875
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC-American Revolution [8384.F.13]

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: Official first day of issue. Honoring Salem Poor, Gallant Soldier, distinguished patriot of Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and White Plains
Description: ArtCraft "First Day Cover" (i.e., designed envelope with a stamp affixed and cancelled on the day the stamp was issued) from the "Contributors to the Cause "series issued for the United States Bicentennial. Contains illustration after John Trumbull’s historical painting based on his eyewitness account of the Battle of Bunker Hill while serving as a commissioned officer during the American Revolution. Depicts American Major General Joseph Warren’s death proceeding the Americans’ retreat from the hill and includes the figure of Salem Poor, who has also been identified as another Black soldier, Peter Salem, in the context of the painting., Title from item., Date supplied from content., Logo of printer printed in lower left corner: Text "ArtCraft" set on a paint palette with brushes inserted through the hole for the artist's thumb., Image caption: Salem Poor received commendation for his heroics during the Battle of Bunker Hill., Contains ink-stamp postmark: Cambridge, MA. Mar 25 1975 02139 and cancelled "First Day of Issue" color-printed U.S. 10-cent stamp "Contributors to the Cause. Salem Poor. Gallant Soldier" depicting a half-length portrait of Poor with a rifles in hand. Poor was an enslaved African-American man who purchased his freedom in 1769 and became a soldier in 1775., Contains printed address., The Washington Press ArtCraft brand was introduced in 1939 for the printing of First Day Covers. The firm stopped producing ArtCraft First Day Covers in 2016., Gift of George R. Allen, 2022.
Date: [1975]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - envelopes - Poor [P.2022.42.3]

Title: [Country place of worship]
Description: Genre scene from a children's moral instruction book showing a man, children, and horses at leisure outside of a small church building within a grove of trees. In the right foreground, an African American man lies against a log, arms crossed, head down, and dozes near three, saddled horses bridled to a tree. Behind him, two white boys sit in the grass beside a dog and look over a book. In the right background, two, saddled horses are bridled to a tree near two white boys and a girl in conversation. In the left background, three, saddled horses are bridled within a cluster of trees. Scene also includes a small turtle passing the horses in the foreground. One appears to watch it. A white man stands near the church in the center background. Pastureland is visible in the distant, right background. All the male figures are attired in hats, jackets, and pants. The girl wears a bonnet and dress., Title from manuscript note on recto., Date from date of publication in which print is included., Published in Common sights on land and water (Philadelphia: American Sunday-School Union, 1852)., Gift of David Doret., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Kollner, Augustus, 1813-1906
Date: [1852]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Doret and Mitchell Collection - Prints [P.2018.63.4]

Title: View of the Capitol of the United States after the conflagration in 1814
Description: Abolitionist allegorical book illustration juxtaposing a coffle of enslaved Black men and boys standing before the ruins of "a monument to liberty," the United States Capitol, following the British occupation of the city during the War of 1812. Author suggests that the destruction of the Capitol was a sign of divine displeasure to promote the abolition of slavery. In the foreground, two white men enslavers lead shackled men and boys pass the ruin. Two allegorical white female figures, one of Liberty, hover in the clouds above. Enslaved people were traded in Washington, D.C. and used in the reconstruction of the Capitol., Title from item., Frontispiece from Jessey Torrey, Jr.'s, A Portraiture of domestic slavery in the United States (1817)., Torrey was a Philadelphia physician, abolitionist, and author of tracts on morals and the diffusion of knowledge., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of views of the District of Columbia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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: Lawson, Alexander, 1773-1846, engraver
Date: 1817
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Government Buildings - Washington, D.C. [5740.F.9b], http://www.lcpimages.org/afro-americana/F181.htm

Title: In commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of American independence
Description: Elaborate Centennial Exhibition commemorative print depicting an arched monument containing a central full-length portrait of George Washington surrounded by vignettes; allegorical figures; and religious quotes by the first president. Washington is depicted mounted on his horse. Arch is adorned with the names of the 38 states and is flanked by columns containing views representing the industries of the North, East, South, and West. Views show a white man laborer of the North chopping a tree at a waterfront, white women loom workers of the East, an overseer on horseback watching an enslaved African American man picking cotton in the South, and a white man farmer reaping his harvest with a horse-drawn plow in the West. Columns also contain allegorical figures to represent the years 1776 and 1876. Justice and Independence (depicted as white women and holding the Declaration), and a prostrate British soldier represent the year 1776 and Peace and Liberty (depicted as white woman and holding a "Ballot"), and a seated enslaved African American man free from his shackles represent the year 1876. Monument also contains views of Independence Hall and Memorial Hall (Centennial Exhibition), the scene showing the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and allegorical figures and emblems symbolizing the classical and industrial arts. Other pictorial elements depict the all-seeing eye; American eagle, shield, and flag; vignettes showing Washington praying, and accepting the sword of surrender from Lord Cornwallis during the American Revolution; and vignette views with dimensions of Centennial Exhibition buildings. Buildings include the Art Gallery, Main Building, Agricultural Hall, Machinery Hall, and Horticultural Hall. The centennial of the United States was celebrated through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia., Not in Wainwright., Improvement copyrighted 1877 The Presbyterian Philadelphia, Pa., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 370, Gift of David Doret, 2007., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: 1876, 1877
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **BW - Centennial [P.2007.28.7]

Title: [View of the Centennial Machinery Hall with people from all nations]
Description: Block-printed wallpaper depicting an exterior view of Machinery Hall designed by Henry Pettit and Joseph M. Wilson for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which celebrated the centennial of the United States through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Horse-drawn carriages bring visitors to and from the Hall. A large crowd of spectators walk on the grounds. In the foreground, people from various nationalities and ethnicities are represented including Native Americans attired in feather headdresses; two men, including a Black man, attired in fez hats; two Chinese men, one carrying a fan, attired in conical hats and robes; two Arab men in white headdresses and robes; and a Scottish man attired in a kilt. Other spectators include a man attired in a sailor’s uniform, men and women couples, and young boys., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Gift of David Doret., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1876]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***Doret and Mitchell Collection – Prints [P.2022.62.3.49]

Title: Historical monument of our country
Description: Allegorical print after the 1858 painting by German-born painter Johann Michael Enzing-Müller documenting the history of the United States from ca. 1000 to the 1850s. In the right foreground, Norsemen, some seated and some standing on ground marked "1000" are portrayed discovering North America, which they called Vinland. A few of the men hold bunches of grapes, a shield, or a spear. In the left foreground, Columbus stands on a shore, between a rowboat holding white men, one writing in a ledger and with his back to an enslaved Black man in shackles, and a group of Indigenous people wearing headdresses. Columbus holds a flag into the ground marked "1492" and a sword up into the air. Behind the scene Plymouth Rock with the date "1620" inscribed on it is visible. In the center of the image, white men in different era attire use tools, convene, or celebrate near a trunk, cargo, and a stone wall. Beside them, in the right, a Pilgrim family (man, woman, child) rests near a frontiersman completing a blanket tent near cattle. In the upper right, the image contains scenes representing the American Revolution, including soldiers at battle and wounded men being attended to. In the upper left, ships and trains depicted near cityscape strewn with people and from which an American flag flies represents American progress. In the upper center, the American eagle mauls the British lion and unicorn on a stone mound. At top center, on a pyramid-like structure adorned with the shields of the states of the Union, George Washington stands with his hand on the Constitution which rests on an ornate stand. To his left are the fourteen presidents who followed him standing in a line. Above them, are allegorical women figures of Liberty and Justice. An allegorical female figure holding the Declaration of Independence sits to Washington's right. Behind the Presidents and pyramid is the new U.S. Capitol building with a dome., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1893, by Myers, Bryn & Cranford., RVCDC
Creator: Enzing-Müller, Johann Michael, 1804-1808
Date: c1893
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***GC-Allegories [P.2023.42.1]

Title: [Frederick A. Rex & Co. trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards promoting coffee manufacturer Frederick A. Rex & Co. and depicting a fox leaping to grab grapes in its mouth from a vine running along the top of a tall stone wall. Racist trade card titled "An absorbing subject" and depicting a caricature an African American man lying on top of a barrel and drinking from it with a straw. Shows the barefooted man, portrayed with exaggerated features, and attired in a straw hat, a striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and patched and torn pants. He lies straddling on top of a wooden barrel and rests his head in his hands. He closes his eyes as he drinks from a straw through a hole in the barrel. The barrel has a label pasted on it and is marked “XXX.” In the foreground, a painter’s palette leans against the front of the barrel. Frederick A. Rex (1850-1916) founded the Frederick A. Rex Company in the 1880s which manufactured coffee and tea. The firm had an office in Philadelphia and a mill in Camden, N.J., Title supplied by cataloger., One print [P.9651.20] copyrighted 1881 by Geo. M. Hayes., One print [P.9651.20] contains advertising text printed on verso promoting "Peerless Coffee," the finest coffee sold, roasted and packed by Fred'k A. Rex & Co., 39 North Front St., Philadelphia, with mills in Camden, New Jersey., Purchase 1999, 2001., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1881]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Rex [P.9651.20 & P.9984.2]

Title: H. Jahke, wholesale & retail dealer in all descriptions of fresh & salt pork, hams, lard, tongues, &c. 130, 131, 132 & 133 Nineteenth St. market, residence, cor. Baring & Sloan Sts., West Phila
Description: Racist, trade card promoting butcher John Henry Jahke and depicting a caricature of an African American man on mule-drawn plow. Shows the African American man, attired in a hat and a blue, plaid jacket and pants, sitting on top of a plow. He holds the lever to the plow in his right hand and the reins to the mule pulling the plow in his left hand. The mule is kicking its back legs into the air because three pigs are running around it. Trees are visible in the background. John Henry Jahke (1835-1919) was a prominent butcher who owned a slaughtering and packing plant in West Philadelphia on Baring and Sloan Streets., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., Digitized., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Jahke [P.9766]

Title: The eureka poisoned fly-plate will kill every fly in the house
Description: Trade card promoting Eureka Fly Plate Co. and depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, observing the fly plate kill a swarm of flies. The man, attired in a white collared shirt, a red jacket, and blue pants, stands holding a broom, which he uses to sweep dead flies from the table in the left. On the table is the fly plate that fills with flies. Above the table is a window., Title from item., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Eureka [1975.F.294]

Title: Scene of camp life
Description: Busy scene showing numerous activities occurring simultaneously at a military camp. In the center, Union Generals look at a map while sitting and standing under a canopy made from an American flag. In the background, soldiers drill on horseback, with cannons, and in lines near rows of tents. In the left, two barefooted African American men and a child approach a Zouave. A white man soldier stands with a rifle and looks on while another white man soldier leans upon a cannon., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Create postfreeze., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Civil War Views, Places & Events. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Trimmed., 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.
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Civil War - Military Camps [5779.F.90f]

Title: [Armand Dalsemer trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards for Armand Dalsemer's "fine shoes" and "common sense shoes" at 136 North Eighth Street in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict a grinning African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, standing in an open window holding a newspaper labeled "The American Citizen"; a cherub sitting on a lily pad in a lily pond; and a portrait of a little girl wearing a bonnet., Title supplied by cataloger., Printers and engravers include Sunshine Publishing Company (Philadelphia) and Leon Meyers, 29 S. Liberty St., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., 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 - Dalsemer [1975.F.15; 1975.F.19; 1975.F.286]

Title: He dreamt dat from away off thar de angels sent him news. He 'woke and found it was Dunbarr dat sent dem bully shoes; 60 N. Fourth St. Philadelphia
Description: Racist, satiric trade card depicting an African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt, pants with patches at the knee, and old shoes, sleeping with his back resting against a haystack in a field. A rifle is propped on the haystack beside him. An African American angel with wings flies toward the sleeping man with a pair of boots in his outstretched right hand. In the background is a scarecrow. Text printed on the recto describing the scene is written in the vernacular. Burns & Zeigler succeeded the firm of Geo. S. Clogg & Son in 1875., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of business., Contains advertising text printed on verso: E. L. Burns. F. T. Zeigler. Burns & Zeigler, dealers in fashionable boots and shoes, No. 1109 Pennsylvania Avenue, betw. Eleventh and Twelfth Sts., Washington, D.C. F. Lisiewski & Co., prs., 639 Arch St., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Creator: Donaldson Brothers (Firm)
Date: [ca. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Burns & Zeigler [1975.F.33]

Title: Franks Dining Room, for ladies and gents, open day and night, 216 N. Ninth St., Phila
Description: Racist trade card promoting the restaurant of Frank Tiefenthaler and depicting an African American man, portrayed in caricature with grotesque facial features. Shows the man, portrayed with a blank stare and attired in a striped, long-sleeved shirt, eating from several stacked bowls of "mush." He holds a spoonful of porridge close to his open mouth from within a wooden pantry. Illustration also shows the open door to the pantry. Tiefenthaler began to operate his restaurant from 216 North 9th Street in 1884. Tiefenthaler died in 1934 retired from business, but was listed in city directories as operating a dining room through the early 1920s., Title from item., Date inferred from dates of operation of advertised business., Printed above image: "Mush-Room.", Printed in blue., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - F [P.2015.35.2]

Title: Mechanical target and gun. Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Co., 813 Girard Ave., Philadelphia, Pa
Description: Illustrated flier for "comic head" mechanical target issued by the Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Company. Contains image of target (Patented Aug 28 1877), which includes the racist, comic head of an African American clown, portrayed in caricature with a slack jaw and grotesque features, and pictorial details of the "Target Arrow" (Pat. Sep. 5 1876). Flier also contains vignette of "Toy Target Arrow For Boys and Girls." Shows a child's hand pulling the arrow through an egg-shaped barrel. Vignette surrounded by advertising text reading "Throws the Arrow very accurately, and affords hours of amusement for both young and old. Made of hard wood, finely polished, beautifully colored. Price, per gross, $35.00 nett. Sample, by mail, 50 cts." Mutual Novelty Manufacturing Co. operated until at the least the 1920s., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Several lines of advertising text printed below image explicating the size, construction, price, and shipping of toy, and advertising potential of "Target and Envelope." Text also includes the solicitation that "Agents can earn over $30,000 weekly, and Canvassers from house to house more than $3.00 daily, selling our different Novelties. We would like to make you an Agent, and if you send out Sub Agents you can make upwards of $2,000 yearly.", Purchased with funds from the Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., 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.
Date: [ca. 1877]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr - 8x10 - Advertisements - M [P.2013.36.4]

Title: James K. Polk
Description: Bust-length portrait within an ornate border of the U.S. president responsible for the statehood of Texas. Polk, attired in a white collared shirt, a black cravat, waistcoat, and jacket, faces to the right and tucks his left hand into his waistcoat. Border includes the figure of the American eagle, and a vignette titled "Annexation of Texas" depicting a trio of military officers reading the declaration of annexation to a crowd of civilians, including a cheering African American man. Border also includes angelic male torsos, flourishes, scrolls, and ornaments., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Date inferred from content., Gift of Dr. Milton and Mrs. Joan Wohl, 1991., 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., Edwards, an English engraver, worked with New York publishing firms in the mid-19th century.
Creator: Edwards, W. Joseph, active 1843-1867, engraver
Date: [ca. 1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - Polk [P.9363.81]

Title: James K. Polk
Description: Bust-length portrait within an ornate border of the U.S. president responsible for the statehood of Texas. Polk, attired in a white collared shirt, a black cravat, waistcoat, and jacket, faces to the right and tucks his left hand into his waistcoat. Border includes the figure of Liberty, depicted as a white woman, and a vignette titled "Annexation of Texas" depicting a trio of military officers reading the declaration of annexation to a crowd of civilians, including a cheering African American man. Border also includes angelic male torsos, flourishes, scrolls, and ornaments., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Date inferred from content., 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., Andrews and Babson, Boston engravers, collaborated in the 1850s.
Creator: J. Andrews & R.E. Babson, engraver
Date: [ca. 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - Polk [P.8911.790]

Title: Williams Ogle, coach & harness maker No. 280, Chesnut [sic] Street, above 10th south side, Philadelphia Premium coach
Description: Advertisement showing an elegant coach parked in front of the ground floor of "Ogle's. Coach Manufactory" on the 1000 block of Chestnut Street. An African-American coachman stands behind the lively two-horse team hitched to the coach that is adorned with fringe on the drivers' seat, a lamp, and window shades. Two gentlemen converse in the street at the rear wheels of the vehicle and a couple admires if from the sidewalk. The figure of an animated horse adorns the "280" sign displayed above the entrances to the building. Ogle, previously of Ogle & Watson, operated as a sole proprietor from the address 1847-1850., Date supplied by Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, Wainwright retrospective conversion project, edited.
Creator: Rease, W. H., artist
Date: [ca. 1847]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *W457 [P.2243]

Title: High Street and market shambles
Description: View looking east from above Third and High (Market) streets showing the High Street Prison built circa 1723 and the nearby old market stalls during the colonial era. Shows white men in colonial attire walking on the sidewalks and street. In the right of the image, an African American man walks beside a white man. Two African American men are depicted in a stockade and attached to a whipping post near the jail. The man attached to the whipping post is attired in a white cloth that is tied around his waist. The prison operated until the early 1770s when replaced by the Walnut Street Prison. The market shambles were replaced by the permanent Jersey Market circa 1765., Plate published in John F. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia...(Philadelphia: E.L. Carey & A. Hart, 1830), opp. p. 301., Title from item., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 354, Gift of James Rush., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., RVCDC, Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Streets - High (2 copies)
Creator: Breton, William L., artist
Date: [1830]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department BW - Markets [9245.Q.21]

Title: High Street Prison and Market Shambles
Description: View looking east from above Third and High (Market) streets showing the High Street Prison built circa 1723 and the nearby old market stalls during the colonial era. Shows men in colonial attire walking on the sidewalks and street and two African American men in a stockade and attached to a whipping post near the jail. The prison operated until the early 1770s when replaced by the Walnut Street Prison. The market shambles were replaced by the permanent Jersey Market circa 1765., Title from item., Published in John F. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time:....Embellished with engravings, by T.H. Mumford (Philadelphia, 1844), vol. 1 and later editions., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of views of Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., 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: Mumford, Thomas Howland, -1816, engraver
Date: [ca. 1844]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Pr Pr - 8x10 - Prisons - H [(7)1322.F.231]

Title: The house intended for the President of the United States, in Ninth Street Philadelphia
Description: View showing the executive mansion, originally built for President Washington, on Ninth Street below Market Street. Erected between 1792 and 1797 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the residence (completed after Washington's term in office), never housed a president, and was later purchased by the University of Pennsylvania. In the foreground, a horse-drawn cart travels the street; an African American man rides on horseback; and a white woman with a basket, possibly a peddler, sits across the street. Views of the Alms House and House of Employment are visible in the background., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Illustrated in S. Robert Teitelman's Birch's views of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982, rev. 2000), pl. 13., Accessioned 1979., 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: W. Birch & Son
Date: 1799
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 13/P.2276.25]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. Fancy ball
Description: Social caricature showing a white man-woman couple in costume at a Philadelphia ball. The man, in the left, his head slightly turned to the right, wears a costume reminiscent of the 16th century. He is attired in red and blue striped ballooned knickers, a green brocade jacket with a red sash and cape, white ruffle collar, and a blue cap adorned with white ostrich feathers in the front. The woman, in the right and looking toward her left, is dressed in a pastorial attire. She wears a flat yellow head piece with red and blue bows on top, a white shirt with a low décolleté neckline and puff sleeves beneath a black corset, and a blue skirt with yellow trim underneath a white apron adorned with bows and a floral border. Scene also includes men and women attendees standing behind the couple., Title from print., Date from print., Inscribed: Plate 10., The symbol of a key is used in place of the name Clay., William Simpson was a Philadelphia "fancy store" proprietor who published the first 11 prints of the "Life in Philadelphia" series. He also marketed the series as part of his "Artists' Repository" and possibly helped finance the cost of production., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, etcher
Date: 1829
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.9693]

Title: Robert Bogle
Description: Bust-length portrait of the respected Philadelphia African American caterer, proprietor of the Blue Bell Tavern, and member of Frank Johnson's band. One of several variant reproductions of the only known portrait of Bogle, possibly a study sketch for a print to accompany Philadelphia antiquarian Dreer's private printing in 1865 of Nicholas Biddle's 1830 poem, "Ode To Bogle," originally written in 1830. Bogle, attired in a white collared shirt, a white bowtie, and a brown jacket with a black collar, faces slightly left., Title from item., Date inferred from content., See LCP exhibition catalogue: The Larder Invaded, p. 65., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of portraits. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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.
Date: [ca. 1865]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait Prints-B [(1)5750.F.55b]

Title: Shad fishing (taking up the net.) On the Delaware opposite Philada. Glo'ster bleaching mills in the distance
Description: View of several fishermen, including African American men, most waist deep in the river and all but one in a semi-circle, gathering up their catch into a rowboat. A Philadelphia pier lined with residences, the mills of Gloucester, New Jersey, and sailboats on the river are visible in the foreground and background., Title from item., Date from manuscript note written on recto: April-May 1855., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 691, Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Queen was a premier Philadelphia genre, nature, and advertisement lithographer who with fellow lithographer P.S. Duval, was an early successful chromolithographer.
Creator: Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 1821-1886, artist
Date: [1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *W335 [P.2189]

Title: Chesnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia
Description: Exterior view of the third building of the popular theater, known as "Old Drury," at Chestnut Street above Sixth. White men and women pedestrians, a white newspaper boy, and laborers stroll the sidewalk. An African American huckster sells his wares to a customer in the street. The building, designed by William Strickland, was erected in 1822 after fire claimed the second building at Sixth and Chestnut Streets. It was demolished in 1855., Title from item., Published in John Howard Hinton's The history and topography of the United States (London: I.T. Hinton, & Simpkin & Marshall, 1830-1832), vol. 2, aft. p. 502. (LCP Am 1830 Hinto (2231.Q))., Printed in upper right corner: 47., Originally part of a Poulson scrapbook of Philadelphia illustrations., 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: Fenner, Sears & Co., engraver
Date: [May 15, 1831]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department PhPr - 8x10 - theaters [(1)1525.F.47a]

Title: No. 15 South 4th St., 1831
Description: Advertisement depicting the three-and-a-half story hotel at 15 South Fourth Street operated, as indicated by a placard above the door, by Horatio Wade, the proprietor from 1831 until 1833. Elegantly dressed white guests rest and read inside near the first floor windows and converse in front of the hotel. On the sidewalk, well-dressed white men, women, and children pedestrians stroll. An African American man, probably a hotel porter, pushes a wheelbarrow of luggage. The Indian Queen Hotel established in 1771, the building altered several times until razed in 1851, was until the mid-19th century incorrectly identified as the site where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence., Later copy of an Evans watercolor created for Philadelphia antiquarian Ferdinand Dreer circa 1880 probably based on lithographic trade card for the Indian Queen Hotel published by Childs & Inman in 1831 (Wainwright #184)., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1975, p. 6-11., Accessioned 1982., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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.
Date: 1896
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Evans watercolors [P.8933.6], http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/evans/files/plc336.html

Title: [Folk art portraits of two African American women and two African American men]
Description: Folk art bust-length portraits of two African American men and two African American women, portrayed in racist caricature, shown in a row, alternating woman, then man. In the left, the woman, wearing her hair in two braids tied with blue bows on either side of her head that stick out, with red lips, and attired in an off-the-shoulder blue dress with ruffles, faces forward with her eyes looking left. Beside her the man, with red lips and attired in a white collared shirt, a pink tie, and a black jacket, slightly faces left and his eyes look at the woman. The woman, wearing her hair tied in multiple braids, with pink lips, and attired in a pink, ruffled dress, looks to the left. In the right, the man, with pink lips and attired in a blue bowtie, a white shirt with blue stripes, and a black jacket, faces left and looks at the woman., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Mrs. S. Marguerite Brenner, 1984., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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.
Date: [1909]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors - Unidentified - Faces [P.9057.28]

Title: Trotting cracks of Philadelphia returning from the race at Point Breeze Park Having a brush past[sic] Turner's Hotel, Rope Ferry Road, Philadelphia, 1870. Respectfully dedicated to the lovers of horses and the sporting public in general by the publisher
Description: View depicting eighteen trotting horse teams racing on a dirt path passed the South Philadelphia hotel, surrounded by lush trees and near an open stable. White men stand on the covered porch and converse and watch the teams including one steered by a one-armed gentleman. Near the stable, a white boy and an African American man, probably a stablehand, wave their hats at the racers. Contains a key to the names of all the race horses below the image. The park, established in 1855 by the Point Breeze Park Association of sportsmen, promoted trotting races as agricultural exhibitions to circumvent an 1817 city ban of horse racing. The park was sold to a private owner in 1901 and later sold for an amusement park in 1912., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1870, in the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania., Copyrighted by H. Pharazyn., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 760, LCP exhibition catalogue: Philadelphia revisions #40., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1974, p. 58-59., Purchase 1974., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: 1870
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **BW - Recreation [8094.F]

Title: Academy of Natural Sciences
Description: Book illustration depicting an exterior of the museum building at Broad and George (i.e., Sansom) Streets built from 1839 to 1840 after designs by Philadelphia architect, John Notman. In the foreground, pedestrian traffic includes an African American man peddler carrying a rack of ducks. The Academy, incorporated in 1815 as a scientific association to disseminate and promote the knowledge of natural history, opened as a public museum in 1828., Title from item., Published in R.A. Smith's Philadelphia as it is in 1852 (Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1852), p. 203. (LCP Am 1852 Smith)., Originally part of a Poulson scrapbook of illustrations of Philadelphia., Poulson inscription: 1852., 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: Louderbach & Hoffmann, engraver
Date: [1852]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department PhPr - 8x10 - Museums [(1)1525.F.36e]

Title: A bran new coon in town
Description: Racist, satiric postcard depicting an African American family (portrayed as racist stereotypes) welcoming a “new” member, a baby. Shows the grandfather standing and weighing the infant on a hand held scale, as the grandmother, attired in a head kerchief, a floral shirt, a skirt, and an apron, cradles the baby’s head. In the right, the father smiles as he stands leaning down with both hands clutching a small table. In the center, a young boy sits at the table eating as he looks up at the baby. In the left, the mother sits smiling beside a stove as she pours water from a kettle into a cup., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright, 1898, and published by Knaffl & Bro., Knoxville, Tenn., Originally published in an 1898 edition of Leslie's Weekly as part of "The Blackville Gallery" series under the title "Weighing the Christmas Baby.", RVCDC, Accessioned 1999., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Digitized with funding from a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: 1898
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP postcards - Genre [P.9725.1]

Title: Die Einwohner von Boston wersen den englisch-ostindischen Thee ins a Meer am 18 December 1773
Description: Scene depicting the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Protestors board and dump barrels of tea from English ships as spectators watch from the shore. Among the spectators is an African American man sitting on a barrel and a Native American man smoking a pipe., Inscribed upper left corner: S.74., Plate 2 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.8935.2]

Title: Die Hessen vom General Washington am 25ten Dec. 1776 zu Trenton uberfallen, werden als Kriegsgefangne in Philadelphia eingebracht
Description: Scene depicting General George Washington and his bodyguard on horseback marching the Hessian prisoners captured on Christmas 1776 over a Philadelphia drawbridge. Spectators line the bridge, including a woman and an African American man., Inscribed upper left corner: S.iii., Plate 6 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.8935.6]

Title: Gantz, Jones & Co.'s sea foam
Description: Series of trade cards containing captioned scenes in silhouette and profile, including racist imagery, that promote and portray the use of the New York firm's baking powder in cooking. "The First Lesson in Cooking" shows a matron-like figure (in the right) holding out a can of "Sea Foam" baking powder to three young woman standing in a row (in the left). The older woman is attired in a long-sleeved dress with a tiered skirt and bustle, spectacles, and an adornment in her hair. The young women wear long-sleeved dresses with tiered skirts and bustles and hair ornaments that resemble pointed caps. The woman closest to the matron also holds a parasol in her right hand and the woman in the far left also wears a long braid that runs down her back. The women look at and lean toward the baking powder can with interest. "Mine is the Best" shows a woman home cook and a professional male cook facing off. In the right, the man, holds his right hand in a fist, and points behind himself to a table on which a can of "Sea Foam" and a bowl rest. In the left, the woman points at him with her left hand and with her right hand points behind herself at a table on which a bowl and two canisters rest. The man wears a mustache, baker's hat, long smock, and pants. The woman wears a long-sleeved dress with an apron. "Missus, We'll Nebber Use Any Odder!" shows an African American man, portrayed with exaggerated features, and holding an extra-large "Sea Foam" can, walking toward a stove at which a woman is kneeled and placing something in the oven. A pot and tea kettle rest atop of the stove across from the stove pipe. The woman wears her hair down and is attired in a long-sleeved dress with ruffles at the bodice and a skirt with bustle., Gantz, Jones, & Co. was originally established as a chemical business in 1849 by Thomas Andrews. George W. Gantz joined the firm in 1853. About 1869 Andrews retired and in 1877 Walter H. Gantz and F. B. Jones joined the business as partners. In 1884 the firm's New York warehouse was heavily damaged by fire and in 1890 the partnership dissolved. Following the 1856 patent of the first modern baking powder, several later 19th-century chemical firms, including Gantz, Jones & Co. attempted to capitalize on the new, very profitable baking powder industry. Baking powder significantly lessened leaving times for baking and cooking, and multiple companies began to market either cream of tartar or alum based powders that required no combining at home. The "Baking Powder Wars" mired in propaganda about the pure and safe properties of various firms' products ended in the early 20th century with alum baking powder companies Clabber Girl and Calumet dominating the American industry., Title from items., Date inferred from attire of figures portrayed and format of advertisements., Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.1, "The First Lesson in Cooking": It is a first-class article, and will do more than it claims to do, and never fails to do its work well. Good health makes labor of all kinds easier and prolongs life. Sea foam is warranted to make better, lighter, healthier, sweeter, more toothsome and more [in italics] digestive [in italics] and nutritious bread, biscuits, cakes, puddings, etc., than can be made in any other way. Those who use it say: "We prefer it over all others." "It is A No. 1." "Gives universal satisfaction.", Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.2,"Mine is the Best": SEA FOAM BAKING POWDER IS PERFECTLY PURE. Those who have used it once will never use any other. The BEST in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Without an equal. It is the perfection of science in cookery. Your cookery will be always good. You will always have a good cook. It makes every cook a good one. Your bread will never be sour. Light, well-raised bread, biscuits, and cakes digest easily and conduce to good health., Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.3, "Missus, We'll Nebber Use any Odder!": Bread is always good. Cannot be beaten. Champion Yeast Powder of America. Every body likes it. Sells like hot cakes. The best customers ask for it. It is A No. 1. The ladies never get tired of telling each other about it. All first-class stores keep it. Gantz's Sea Foam is perfectly pure. Without an equal [in italics]. It is an entirely new invention. Never fails to make light bread. To avoid dyspepsia, use Sea Foam. One can is worth three of any other., Captions printed in all capitals., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Gantz, Jones & Co. [P.2018.6.3.1-3]

Title: Use Merrick's thread. "Gully this cotton beats 'em all!"
Description: Racist trade card promoting Merrick thread and depicting a domestic scene of an older African American man sewing. Shows the man, in a cabin setting, seated atop a stool, his feet slightly turned in, and mending the seat of a pair of blue pants. The man holds the pants in his left hand and pulls a needle and thread through a patch on the pants in his right. The thread comes from a large spool beside the man which is marked with "Merrick Thread Co. Best Six Cord 8" logo. Behind the man is a window with a sill, which is lined with potted plants. A candle holder rests on a shelf attached to the wall below the window. The man is attired in a red button-down shirt, blue suspenders, brown pants, and brown shoes. Merrick Thread Co. was founded in 1865 by Timothy Merrick, Austin Merrick, and Origen Hall in Mansfield, Connecticut. After its founding, the company established mills in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In 1898, the company merged with thirteen other independent thread and yarn manufacturers to form the American Thread Company., Title from item., Date inferred from content and genre of print., Advertising text printed on verso: Buy Merrick Thread Co's best six cord soft finish spool cotton for machine & hand sewing warranted 200 yds. also these threads are made from the finest quality of combed sea island cotton, and for strength, evenness, elasticity and smoothness surpass anything in the market. By the use of the "ready wound bobbins" the annoyance of winding the iron bobbin is done away with, and a more perfect stitch obtained. When in want of more thread, don't fail to ask for Merrick's., See related copy: Goldman Trade Card Collection - Merrick [P.2017.95.122], Gift of George Allen, 2022., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Trade cards - M - Merrick [P.2022.42.10]

Title: J.C. Hand & Co. Fine furniture, no. 1205 Market Street, Philadelphia
Description: Racist trade card promoting the J.C. Hand & Co. and depicting a caricature of an older African American man reading a notice on a country grocery store. Shows the man with a white beard and attired in a yellow brimmed hat, a long-sleeved red shirt, red and yellow pants with patches and held up by suspenders, and black shoes. He bends forward to read the sign on the boarded up, dilapidated store. It states in the vernacular that the Johnsing & Skinner Grocery is out of business and that, “Dem as owes de firm, will settle wid me--dey de firm owes will settle wid Skinner. G.W. Johnsing." The African American man is labeled as a creditor who says in the vernacular, “I’ll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I’ll lick de hul firm.” In the right, the man’s donkey is tied to an orange post behind him. In the background, fenced in fields and trees are visible. J. C. Hand & Co. operated circa 1882-circa 1884 and the failure of the business., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of the advertised business., Date deduced from the dates of operation of the advertised business., Text printed on recto: Johnsing & Skinner Grocery. Notis—De firm of Johnsing & Skinner am resolved. Dem as owes de firm, will settle wid me—dey de firm owes will settle wid Skinner. G.W. Johnsing. Creditor of Johnsing & Skinner—“I’ll hab a hundred and fifty cents on de dollar, or I’ll lick de hul firm.”, Text and illustrations printed on verso. Illustrations depict a closed sofa bed that looks like a chair with the caption "closed," and the open sofa bed resembling a cot, captioned, "open." Text reads: J.C. Hand & Co. 1205 Market Street. Manufacturers of Patent Sofa Beds. These beds can be made up as low as $25. In Raw Silk. We have a large stock of well made Furniture at moderate Low Prices. Size of Bed, 4ft. 6x6 ft. 2. Can be made any length or width. Estimates Given. J. C. Hand & Co., 1205 Market Street., Gift of Dr. Milton and Joan Wohl., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1883]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - Hand [P.2011.64.34]

Title: New transfer picture-album offering a collection of fine transfer pictures and the direction how to fix them
Description: Pocket-size volume of decals of vignette maps of French cities, territories, colonies, and provinces during the antebellum period. Decals also include illustrations symbolic of the environment, culture, and economy of the depicted regions. Maps include (Afrique) Ile Bourbon, i.e., Réunion; Department de la Course, i.e., Corsica; Department de la Seine, i.e., Paris; Amerique Guadeloupe; Nle Caledonie/Iles de la Societe, i.e., New Caledonia/Society Islands; Algerie; (Amerique) La Martinique; (Afrique) Mayotte, Nossi-Be, St. Marie/Senegal; and Algerie (Afrique) Prov. De. D’Oran, i.e., Oran Province. Illustrations depict ethnic stereotypes and racist caricatures showing Africans, including an enslaved man from Ile Bourbon and Algerians; a Guadeloupean white plantation owner; a Corsican woman; sacks, crates, and barrels of foods and spices, including cacao, coffee, canella, cotton, sugar, indigo, and nutmeg; and native flora and fauna, including trees, grasses, a turtle, bird, elephant, and alligator. Vignettes also show a portrait of Napoleon; Paris architecture; ships and boats; and huts and a tent., Title from item., Date inferred from era of production of miniature decals and cover design., Front cover illustrated with a clown figure holding a trumpet to his mouth in one hand and tugging his hat with the other., Printed on back cover: Directions for fixing transfers. Take the picture, put it into luke-warm water for a quarter of a minute, pres the picture-side firmly on the object you wish to decorate, and draw gently the paper away. the fixed picture can be varnished, which makas [sic] it finer and secure against water and dust., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - Misc. [P.2014.17.3]

Title: Marriage certificate. This certifies that [blank] of [blank] and [blank] of [blank] united in holy matrimony according to the ordinance of God and the laws of [blank] at [blank] on the [blank] day of [blank] A.D. [blank]. Witnesses [blank] [blank]
Description: Marriage certificate containing a scene with an African American bride, groom, and reverend, pictorial details, and an ornamented border. Scene depicts the bride, in the left, in right profile, standing, and attired in a long-sleeved white wedding dress and bridal cap with floor length veil draped down her back. She holds a large bouquet from which ribbons stream and she bows her head slightly forward. In the right, the groom, in left profile, stands, attired in a dark suit with morning jacket and a boutonniere adorning the lapel. His head is slightly bowed. Between them, facing the viewer, stands an older reverend, attired in a clerical waistcoat and pants. He is balding with tufts of grey hair by his ears. He holds a Bible at his midriff. Ferns adorn the background. Pictorial details, surround the scene and text of the certificate, and include two Black putti; a vignette depicting the clasped hands of a Black bride and groom; and tropical greenery. The ornamented border is composed of ribbons and a chain link., Title from item., Name of publisher inferred and date from copyright statement: copyrighted 1910 P.P. and F. Co. Chi., Description of print (No. 1900) included in 1911 trade catalog for the Consolidated Portrait and Frame Co., p. 135a. Description reads: Good Luck Marriage Certificate. This certificate was printed and designed especially for the negro race. There is no other certificate so far as we know, exclusively for them., RVCDC, Purchased with partial funds from the Davida Tenenbaum Deutsch Women's History Fund.
Date: 1910
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Certificates - Marriage [P.2023.7]

Title: [Arabic fragment, a West African gris-gris]
Description: Contains a line of text from the Koran written in a courtly hand by an enslaved, educated, black Islamic priest. Translated text reads: In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful Say: He is Allah, the One and Only! Allah, the Eternal, Absolut; He begetteth not nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him., Title from LCP exhibition catalogue: Pierre Eugene Du Simitière. His American Museum 200 years after, entry #5:21., Date from manuscript note on recto: the above was written in my presence by a negro m[a]nding[o] at Leoganne in January 1773 DuSimitiere., Du Simitière, a Swiss-born historian, antiquarian, and artist, traveled and documented North America and the West Indies from the 1750s to 1770s. He settled in Philadelphia in 1774, and in 1782 opened the American Museum, which contained his collected antiquities., Purchase at auction, Du Simitière's American Museum, March 10, 1785., Explanation of translation in Du Simitière research file, Graphic Arts Department., 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: [Léogâne, Haiti]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Du Simitière Collection [961.F.5d]

Title: Missionary Society of the Evangelical Association of North America [certificate]
Description: Life membership certificate containing a vignette contrasting scenes of apocalyptic doom and religious salvation. Shows to the right an angel trumpeting salvation and wielding the Bible; a white man missionary preaching to a large group of Native Americans; and a converted African family of a man, woman, and child, kneels and reaches toward the winged messenger of God. On the ground are broken chains and swords, and a hut and palm trees are in the background. Opposite the scenes of salvation, a cross rises from the ground, bringing forth a river of redemption too late for the lost souls of a bejeweled "heathen" woman and a skull-headed man entangled by serpents. Behind them a temple, probably the Vatican, collapses to the ground. The Evangelical Association, a Methodist ministry, worked first to convert Native Americans and enslaved people before extending their missions to the Black inhabitants of Liberia in the 1820s., Issued to Peter H. Cage of Catasauqua, Pa. on February 24, 1870. Signed by Thomas Bowman, Secretary; Francis Hoffman, President; and Isaac Hess, Treasurer., Gift of David Doret, 2004., 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.
Creator: Sartain, John, 1808-1897, engraver
Date: [ca. 1850]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Philadelphia certificates - Organizations - M [P.2004.46.1]

Title: [Geo. S. Harris & Sons print specimens]
Description: Series of specimens, primarily for trade cards and labels, printed by the prominent Philadelphia lithographic firm. Subjects include fanciful, allegorical, and sentimental scenes and portraiture with women, children, and flowers; hunting and recreational scenes; international iconography; animals (dogs, horses, and an alligator clutching a Black baby in its jaws); political and military imagery, including President James Garfield; land and marinescapes; and mythological and fairy tale views. Collection also includes specimen without an imprint and probably printed by Harris showing a plantation scene with a white man, attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt, white pants, and a sword on his waistband, placing his right hand on the shoulder of a barefooted Black man, attired in a straw hat, a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and white pants that are torn at the bottom, who carries a hoe. They stand before a body of water surrounded by flowers and trees with the plantation in the background. Racist scene shows a white female angel with wings pouring packages of tobacco from a cornucopia to a group of men and women from various ethnic groups and nationalities, including Native Americans, Chinese, Spanish, and Middle Eastern people, many of which smoke cigars, hookahs, and pipes. Specimen depicting a man, attired in a turban with a dagger in his waistband, kneeling with a rifle beside him. Surrounding him are palms and desert plants. In the right background, a lions stands and looks on., Title supplied by cataloger., Publication date inferred from content of one print depicting President James Garfield., Originally part of Specimens Album [P.9349]., Gift of Margaret Robinson, 1991., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: [ca. 1881]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Specimen Album Loose Prints Collection - Geo. S. Harris [P.9349.279, 283-284, 292, 298-307, 309, 317-318, 321, 328-329, 332, 436-437, 439, 441-442, 447, 451-453 & 455-456]

Title: Sketches of character. Plate 2. At home. Plate 3. Abroad
Description: Racist caricature contrasting two scenes of the same African American couple "At Home" and "Abroad." The "At Home" scene depicts the couple in their kitchen with a wood floor washing dishes together. In the right, the woman, attired in a kerchief, short sleeves, apron, skirt, and slip on shoes, is bent over and washes the dishes in a tub on a stool. In the left, the man, barefoot and attired in a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, vest, bow tie, and pants, sits on the edge of a butcherblock table on top of which a pile of dishes rests, and dries one. The man and woman look at each other. In the background, on the wall, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and a slab of bacon hang from hooks underneath a shelf lined with cook and dishware near a large woven basket, a cupboard, and a small shelf with two bottles. The "Abroad" scene depicts the pair well attired and about to promenade down a city street, possibly Philadelphia and from near Independence Hall. The woman wears a large plumed bonnet with a veil and a ribbon tied under her chin, a blue cape over a dress giving her the appearance of a bell, and gaiter-like shoes. Her husband wears spectacles, a top hat, white shirt, yellow vest, black waist coat, grey pants, and yellow gloves. He holds a walking cane down toward the ground in his left hand and his other arm out to his companion. A guardhouse is seen in the right and the edge of a building (possibly Independence Hall) in the left. Cityscape is visible in the distant background. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in brown hand coloring., Title and date from item., Copy right secured., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2013, p. 51., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857
Date: January 12, 1830
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.2013.74]

Title: Sketches of character. Plate 2. At home. Plate 3. Abroad
Description: Racist caricature contrasting two scenes of the same African American couple "At Home" and "Abroad." The "At Home" scene depicts the couple in their kitchen with a wood floor washing dishes together. In the right, the woman, attired in a kerchief, short sleeves, apron, skirt, and slip on shoes, is bent over and washes the dishes in a tub on a stool. In the left, the man, barefoot and attired in a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, vest, bow tie, and pants, sits on the edge of a butcherblock table on top of which a pile of dishes rests, and dries one. The man and woman look at each other. In the background, on the wall, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and a slab of bacon hang from hooks underneath a shelf lined with cook and dishware near a large woven basket, a cupboard, and a small shelf with two bottles. The "Abroad" scene depicts the pair well attired and about to promenade down a city street, possibly Philadelphia and from near Independence Hall. The woman wears a large plumed bonnet with a veil and a ribbon tied under her chin, a blue cape over a dress giving her the appearance of a bell, and gaiter-like shoes. Her husband wears spectacles, a top hat, white shirt, yellow vest, black waist coat, grey pants, and yellow gloves. He holds a walking cane down toward the ground in his left hand and his other arm out to his companion. A guardhouse is seen in the right and the edge of a building (possibly Independence Hall) in the left. Cityscape is visible in the distant background. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in brown hand coloring., Title and date from item., Copy right secured., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2013, p. 51., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857
Date: January 12, 1830
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.2013.74]

Title: Revd. John Gloucester Late pastor of the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia
Description: Half-length portrait of the first African American man ordained by the Presbyterian Church, seated and facing left, and with his right hand raised. Gloucester is attired in a shirt with a high neck collar, a vest, and a jacket. Contains decorative border with an inset of the Bible inscribed with the verse John I:29. Born and enslaved in Tennessee, Gloucester, initially a missionary, presided over the first African American Presbyterian church in the country., Title from item., See Lib. Company. Annual report, 1973, p. 43., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886. Accessioned 1973., 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: B. Tanner & W.R. Jones, engraver
Date: August 1st 1823
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - G [P.8911.430]

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: London Coffee House
Description: Exterior view of the coffee house and merchants' exchange at the southwest corner of Front and Market streets in Philadelphia during the colonial era. An auction of enslaved African American people occurs outside the coffee house and pedestrians traverse the sidewalks and street, including an African American woman carrying a basket on her head. Views of the adjacent printing house and book store of "Pennsylvania Journal" publisher, William Bradford, are visible. Erected in 1702 and established as a coffee house in 1754 by Bradford, the site was a public center for social and economic activities during the later 18th century, including auctions of enslaved people. Razed in 1883., Title from item., Plate published in John F. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia...(Philadelphia: E.L. Carey & A. Hart, 1830), opp. p. 339., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 442, Gift of James Rush., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Breton, William L., lithographer
Date: [1830]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department BW - Hotels, Inns, Taverns [9245.Q.20], http://www.lcpimages.org/afro-americana/F-London.htm

Title: Life in Philadephia [sic]. The valentine
Description: Racist caricature depicting an African American man reading a comic valentine in his bedroom as he prepares for bed. Shows the bearded man, beside a bed with a pink canopy, holding the back of a tilted chair (his waistcoat on it) with his left hand and holding up the valentine illustrated with a picture of the devil in his right hand. The man is portrayed with an angry expression and standing with his feet far apart. He wears a night cap, a blue-striped shirt, a black neck tie, brown pantaloons from which a watch fob hangs, white stockings and one red slipper. A water pitcher and boots lie near his feet. In the left, an African American woman, smiles, and stands behind the ajar bedroom door. She wears a night bonnet, neckerchief, short-sleeved shirt, blue skirt, and black slippers. A stairwell is seen behind her. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in black hand coloring., Title from item,, Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Contains one bubble of dialogue in the vernacular within the image: Holl’a! What’s all dis about_. “De rose is Red de Violets blue” De Debils Black and so are You. Well dat’s bery Fair indeed., Inscribed: No. 6., Charles Hunt was a respected 19th-century London engraver and etcher known mostly for his prints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Summers, William, artist
Date: [ca. 1833]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [P.9710.6]

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