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- Title
- Here is a picture of some slaves at work Reward of merit. This may certify that [Mr. George Snow] by diligence and attention to study, merits the approbation of [his] friends and teacher
- Description
- School token illustrated with a scene showing enslaved men and women working in a tobacco field near a shack. In the right, three younger enslaved men hoe and gather a bundle of tobacco. In the left, an enslaved man stands and converses with an enslaved woman, seated on a bale. They each hold the handles of farming implements. A large sack and crate rest to the left of the bale. In the left background, an enslaved woman stands in the doorway of the shack. Wooden buildings and harvested fields are visible in the right background. The young men wear short sleeves and shorts. The women wear dresses and the man wears short sleeves and pants. Rewards of merit were popular with teachers during the 19th century and were given to reward students who had excelled in their school work. The addition of pictures made a reward of merit card a more special acknowledgement of a pupil’s success., Title from illustration caption and text printed on verso., Date inferred from content of image and graphic medium., Verso contains decorative border surrounding the text., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Illustrated in Patricia Fenn and Alfred Malpa, Rewards of merit (Charlottesville, Va.: Ephemera Society of America, 1994), 118., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., RVCDC
- Date
- [ca. 1830- ca. 1850]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Rewards of Merit - Slaves [118555.D]
- Title
- Civil War stationery collection
- Description
- Collection of stationery containing patriotic designs often used on patriotic envelopes, with a majority including a title, slogan, and/or verse. Designs predominately include views of regiment camps; images of soldiers, including battle and camp life scenes; patriotic symbols including flags, eagles, bells, shields, stars and the figure of liberty; portraiture of historic and military figures; and basic designs including stripes, colored edges, and lined borders. Unique designs with assigned LCP numbers include an untitled regiment view showing the soldiers playing baseball, possibly at Abner Doubleday's camp (RE-LCP 35); a view of Poughkeepsie from 1854 (SC-NW-LCP-3); the New York funeral procession for Abraham Lincoln on April 25, 1865 (SC-NW-LCP-4); two designs published by J.W. Barber of New Haven showing bars of music from "My Country Tis of Thee" (O-M-LCP-8) and an allegorical scene of Liberty fighting treason, rebellion, tyranny, and oppression (F-P-LCP-1). Collection also contains a series of seven Charles Magnus hand-colored designs containing birds-eye views and military maps. Views show Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort and Hygeia Hotel, Va. and the Capitol. Military maps shows Maryland and Virginia; Virginia between Washington and Manassas Junction; Richmond and Alexandria; Fortress Monroe and Richmond; and the southern coast between Fortress Monroe and New Orleans. Collection also includes a small number of Confederate stationery. Confederates designs include a view of enslaved African American people driving a wagon of supplies to a battlefield and a satire of Abraham Lincoln as an Native American chief. Portraits include George Washington, George McClellan, and Elmer Ellsworth. Three uncut printed proof sheets of patriotic stationery used as ream wrappers and the first style of U.S. postcard (circa 1872) also included as part of the collection., Some copyrighted., Some contain manuscript notes., Various publishers including Philadelphia publishers James Magee and L. N. Rosenthal as well as New York publisher Charles Magnus., Title supplied by cataloger., See William R. Weiss, Jr.'s The catalog of Union Civil War patriotic covers (Bethleham, Pa.: William R. Weiss, 1995). LCP copy annotated to show collection holdings., See the George Walcott collection of used Civil War patriotic covers (New York: Robert Laurence, 1934)., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of materials related to the Civil War. McAlliser Collection, gift, 1886., Reproduced in Erika Piola, "For the millions: Civil War stationery for women and children in the McAllister Collection at The Library Company of Philadelphia," The Ephemera journal 13 (2010), [32]., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- 1861-1865
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Civil War Stationery [various], Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Civil War - Ream Wrappers [P.2006.1.30a-c]
- Title
- "No higher law."
- Description
- Antislavery print denouncing the immorality of the Fugitive Slave Law by exploiting abolitionist Senator William H. Seward's famous quote that "a higher law" than the Constitution should exist regarding slavery. Shows "King Slavery," depicted as a bearded, bare-chested, white man, attired in a crown made of finger bones and armed with pistols in his waistband. The King sits and leans upon the arm of his throne composed of the "Fugitive Slave Bill," the Bible, and human skulls as he defiantly holds a whip of chains above his head. An American flag on a pole billows behind the throne. Below the throne, Seward, depicted as a priest, looks up and raises his left hand toward the King. He stands before a cat-faced altar inscribed "Sacred to Slavery," which rests upon a book of "Law" and pours oil from a container onto the altar fire, generating clouds of smoke. In the right, three enslaved men squat with their heads bowed. Senator Daniel Webster gestures toward them and holds a paper supporting the Fugitive Slave Bill "to the fullest extent." Near them, "Freedom," depicted as a bearded, white man and attired in a robe, displays his sense of defeat by removing his crown and lowering his liberty pole. In the left, an African American man freedom seeker fends off dogs attacking him. An African American woman freedom seeker and two children flee from two white men mercenaries on horseback and run toward a white woman with outstretched arms in front of a house. In the right background, the figure of Liberty falls from her pedestal., Title from item., Place of publication inferred from the residence of the distributor., Weitenkampf suggests date of publication as 1851., Text printed on recto: Price $3 A Hundred And Six Cents Single Copy., William Harned was an abolitionist printer in New York who also published the pamphlet, "The Fugitive Slave Bill:...." in 1850. (LCP Am 1850 Fug 16809.D.1)., A.B. Maurice and F.T. Cooper's The History of the 19th century in caricature (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1904), p. 156., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2000, p. 40-2., 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.
- Date
- [1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1851 - 2W [P.9739]