Search results

Title: You don't look so fine as you think you do.
Description: Two moustached men are shown with identical top hats, canes, and cigars. The man on the left is how he sees himself, the man on the right is how others see him. The text suggests that by drawing attention to himself with fine clothes, he seems even more ridiculous., Text: Upon the left we here portry / The way you think you look, you jay, / While there is shown upon the right / Your aspect in the public's sight. / You see the difference is not small / And if you'd any sense at all, / You would be careful not to wear / So pompous and absurd an air., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The smokers
Description: Cartoon concerning smoking as a vice depicting a crowd scene where everyone smokes, including women and children. In the foreground, a white man sits on a wooden chair holding a pipe in hand, refers to his "illustrious predecessor," Andrew Jackson. Two white boys light their cigars together. A finely dressed white woman carrying a parasol is horrified and says, "Oh! The monsters, I'm half blinded and suffocated" as she holds her nose. An elegantly dressed African American woman holds her hand to her nose and exclaims, "What a nasty practice, it's enough to make a dog sick." In the right, a white man street peddler carries a tray of plaster busts, including a pipe smoking Jackson. "Jack Downing," cigar in hand, states he picked up the habit in France and that his lighter was made from Jackson's spectacles but thinks a loco-foco (a faction of the Democrats who were named after a type of match) would go quicker. An African American chimney sweep and an African American shoe shiner shake hands with cigars in their mouths. They are portrayed in racist caricature and speak in the vernacular about smoking. "I say Josh, wot you smoke dem long nines for, why don't you smoke Half Spanish like a gen'leman." "Cause I've called in my Shin Plasters, and suspended Specie payments!!", Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress, in the Year 1837, by H.R. Robinson, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the U.S. of the Southern Dist. of New York., Text printed on recto: Tobacco is a stinking weed, It was the Devil sow'd the seed, It drains the purse & fouls the clothes, And makes a chimney of the nose., 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., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
Date: 1837
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1837-25W [5656.F.3]

Title: [J.W. LeMaistre trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards depicting birds; flowers; putti carrying a pine tree or Christmas tree; children holding up a large sign for J.W. LeMaistre; a lady attired in Renaissance or Medieval clothing; a woman standing on a tree branch over a body of water releasing fish she caught in her lace shawl; General Ulysses S. Grant smoking while standing on a globe labeled "United"; and children symbolizing various countries by wearing traditional clothing and carrying the countries' flags, including England, Italy, and Spain., Title supplied by cataloger., Printers and lithographers include L. Prang & Co. (Boston), McCalla & Staveley (Philadelphia) and Craig, Finley & Co. (Philadelphia)., Eight prints contain advertising text printed on versos promoting products imported and sold by J.W. LeMaistre, including embroideries, laces, curtains, handkerchiefs, collars, cushions, silk ties and bows, and bibs sold at his 46-48 North Eighth Street establishment in Philadelphia., 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 - LeMaistre [1975.F.492; 1975.F.498; 1975.F.501; 1975.F.508-512; 1975.F.514; P.9811.1 & 2; P.9838]

Title: Smoke Day's standard of the world Durham smoking tobacco
Description: Racist advertisement for J.R. Day and Brother smoking tobacco depicting a horse race between two African American men jockeys, portrayed in caricature. In the right, the jockey, attired in a blue and yellow cap and long-sleeved shirt, yellow pants, and riding boots, grimaces as he holds the reins to his white horse. The winning jockey, attired in a red and white striped cap and long-sleeved shirt, yellow pants, and riding boots, grasps the reins as his body lifts off of his brown horse. He screams, “Bound to win!” In the background, white men, all smoking pipes with "Day's Standard" tobacco, watch the race from a spectators' box behind a fence inscribed, "They all smoke it?" James R. Day left W.T. Blackwell & Co. in 1878 and applied for a patent for his smokeless tobacco in 1879., Title from item., Date inferred from operation of the advertised business., Text printed below image: Manufactured by Jas. R. Day, Late of the firm of W.T. Blackwell & Co. for J.R. Day & Bro, Durham, N.C., Gift of Carol Baldridge, 1997., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Advertisements [P.9525]

Title: [John Wanamaker & Co., 818, 820 & 822 Chestnut Street trade cards]
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards for John Wanamaker & Co.'s 818, 820 & 822 Chestnut Street store in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict the eastern and western hemispheres of the world; sheep standing in the snow; striped socks; butterflies; an anthropomorphic owl attired in a plaid coat and top hat standing in the curve of the moon observing the townscape below; a boy and a girl standing on a path below a tree in which a large birds sits; Philadelphia's City Hall; a boy riding on a sled through the snow pulled by two turkeys; a bird on a tree branch; a hearth with a kettle over a fire; rabbits and a grasshopper; an owl and birds; a well-dressed boy reading a sign on a stone all for boys' clothing at John Wanamaker & Co.'s store; putti seated in a bird's nest and playing with a Dutch clog in a pond; Japanese men assembling a paper lantern; an owl flying above two Japanese men huddled on the ground; cricket players; a large ship at sea framed by a large horseshoe; Japanese men running and falling from their sled in the snow; an angry merchant holding a $20.00 I.O.U. from a man attired in a new suit smoking a cigarette; men sitting on the field of a shooting range; and children playing with wood blocks and spelling "Wanamaker". Includes a metamorphic trade card, which when open shows an advertising board for John Wanamaker & Co. propped in a man's crooked teeth in his wide open mouth and when closed, shows the man with his eyes open and mouth closed. In 1869, Wanamaker established John Wanamaker & Co. on the 800 block of Chestnut Street., Title supplied by cataloger., Two prints [1975.F.940 & 1006] copyrighted 1881 by E.O. Goodman., Two prints [1975.F.963 & 966] copyrighted 1878 by L. Prang & Co., Boston., Two prints [1975.F.990, 991, 1000] copyrighted 1881 by O.J. Ramsdell., One print [1975.F.993] copyrighted 1879 by G.H. Kendall, engraver, 285 Broadway, New York., Printers and engravers include Hiram P. Arms, Jr. (Philadelphia), Rogers & Florance (Philadelphia), L. Prang & Co. (Boston), and G.H. Kendall (New York)., Four prints [1975.F.958, 979 & 980, 993] contain advertising text printed on versos promoting John Wanamaker & Co.'s quality clothing and low prices., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
Date: [ca. 1878-ca. 1881]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - John Wanamaker & Co. [1975.F.906; 1975.F.916 & 917; 1975.F.924; 1975.F.926; 1975.F.940 & 941; 1975.F.946; 1975.F.957 & 958; 1975.F.962 & 963; 1975.F.966; 1975.F.977; 1975.F.979 & 980; 1975.F.987 & 988; 1975.F.990 & 991; 1975.F.993; 1975.F.1000; 1975.F.1006; 1975.F.1009; P.9651.24; P.9728.16; P.9745]

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: Slave emancipation; or, John Bull gulled out of twenty millions
Description: Anti-abolitionist satire of the indemnification expenses to be paid as a result of the abolition of slavery in the British colonies in 1833. Depicts William Wilberforce, a prominent British abolitionist, leading a tour group comprised of a white man enslaver, a white man Whig, and "John Bull" through the dwellings of enslaved people. As the tour passes, a group of happy and celebrating Black men, attired in yellow, blue, or green pants and shoes and portrayed in racist caricature, dance and smoke from pipes. One man sits with his back to the viewer and smokes a pipe beside a jug labeled, "Rum." Wilberforce preaches about the necessary expense of emancipation and the wretched condition of the enslaved to which Bull laments about "our poor innocent factory children, for whom you haven't one small spark of pity." The white men comment about the personal effect of emancipation on them., Title from item., Date and place of publication inferred from content., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1978, p. 55., Purchase 1978., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1833?]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1833 - Sla [8392.F]

Title: [Philadelphia Inquirer art supplements]
Description: Series of art supplements, some set in Philadelphia, depicting genre, historical and allegorical scenes, landscapes, portraiture, character studies, and battleships. Includes "Aurora" showing a white female fairy figure smelling a flower; "The Pilot" portrait of an older white man sea captain smoking a pipe; "The Partners" showing a white girl and boy with a broom and shovel; "Tambourine Girl"; "Playmates" depicting a white girl holding a cat; "Deep Sea Fisherman"; "Night of the Ball" depicting an exterior view of a palatial estate in the snow with an inset showing a young white woman in evening attire; "One of the Four Hundred" showing a white boy costumed as a vagabond; "By the Sea" showing an older African American seaman, attired in a grey top hat, a white collared shirt, a blue and gold bowtie, red suspenders, a yellow jacket with a flower boutonniere, brown pants, and boots, smoking a pipe; an older white man reading "Fairy Tales" to a white girl; "Sheik of the Desert" a bust-length portrait of an Arab man; "A Lively Scrimmage" during a football game; a dog inspecting "Five O'Clock Tea"; a white clergyman having "A Disappointing Luncheon"; a view "Off the Belgium Coast near Ostend"; "Spring" and fall landscapes; "Does You Mother Know You're Out" depicting a white girl with a newly hatched chick; "Napoleon and the Old Guard"; "Wellington and His Soldiers"; a white man and woman couple on "A Honeymoon at Niagara"; and a white lady portrayed fancifully "Among the Roses." Other titles issued between February 1897 and May 1898 include "U.S. Dynamite Cruiser 'Vesuvius'”; U.S. Torpedo Boat Destroyer; “Mayflower”; "Christmas Shopping"; "Christmas Morning-Rittenhouse Square"; "U.S. Protected Cruiser 'San Francisco'”; "St. Valentine’s Day in Philadelphia"; "Wissahickon Drive-Fairmount Park"; "U.S. Battle Ship, 'Maine'”; "U.S. Double Turret 'Miantonomoh'”; "William McKinley"; "Leaving the Bellevue on a Coaching Trip"; "The Newsboy"; "Skating on the Schuylkill"; "The First Lenten Service"; and "Before the Meet, Radnor Hunt.", Title supplied by cataloger., Various artists and photographers, including M. Duboy, C.L. Van Vredenburgh, Charles P. Gruppe, J.S. Johnston, A. I. Keller, Max Klepper, and W. Merritt Post, and Walter Granville Smith., Various printers, including G.H. Buek & Co., Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company; Leopold Gast & Brother; Julius Bien & Co.; Donaldson Bros.; Ketterlinus; and J. Ottmann., Two of prints designed to stand as display cards., Originally part of Specimens Album [P.9349]., Gift of Margaret Robinson, 1991., Description revised 2024., Access points revised 2024., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: [ca. 1894-1898]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Specimens Album Loose Prints Collection - Philadelphia Inquirer [P.9349.280-282, 287, 290, 295, 310-313, 323-325, 330-331, 333, 412-413, 424-425, 432, 434, 438, 440, 457, 462-471]

Title: Engravings by William Humphrys Scrapbook
Description: Scrapbook of print specimens and proofs engraved by Philadelphia and London engraver William Humphrys. Contents include postage stamp proofs, book and periodical illustrations, tile pages, portrait prints, advertisements, and cut outs of banknote and certificate vignettes. Majority of graphics depict allegorical imagery or illustrations of genre, religious, sentimental, and literary scenes, some from the plays of Shakespeare. Illustrations include scenes of courtship; female friendship; children with animals; a ghoulish-looking woman with a torch; a European man smoking a hookah; Jesus Christ; Adam & Eve; and imagery from Edmund Spencer's "Faery Queen", John Milton's "Palemon's Story," and John Gay's "Thursday: or The Spell." Allegorical works depict the figures of Columbia, Minerva, Mercury, Neptune, Bounty, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Hope, and Apollo, as well as scenes with the American eagle; caducei for the "Liverpool Apothecaries Company"; citizens fighting a fire; cherubs charting a globe; Native Americans; a family; sailing ships; and symbols of farming, trade, and industry. Vignettes also show a portrait of Benjamin Franklin; Pocahontas saving John Smith; and a female warrior slaying a man of royalty captioned "Sic Semper Tyranus."

Title: Engravings by William Humphrys
Description: Scrapbook of print specimens and proofs engraved by Philadelphia and London engraver William Humphrys. Contents include postage stamp proofs, book and periodical illustrations, tile pages, portrait prints, advertisements, and cut outs of banknote and certificate vignettes. Majority of graphics depict allegorical imagery or illustrations of genre, religious, sentimental, and literary scenes, some from the plays of Shakespeare. Illustrations include scenes of courtship; female friendship; children with animals; a ghoulish-looking woman with a torch; a European man smoking a hookah; Jesus Christ; Adam & Eve; and imagery from Edmund Spencer's "Faery Queen", John Milton's "Palemon's Story," and John Gay's "Thursday: or The Spell." Allegorical works depict the figures of Columbia, Minerva, Mercury, Neptune, Bounty, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Hope, and Apollo, as well as scenes with the American eagle; caducei for the "Liverpool Apothecaries Company"; citizens fighting a fire; cherubs charting a globe; Native Americans; a family; sailing ships; and symbols of farming, trade, and industry. Vignettes also show a portrait of Benjamin Franklin; Pocahontas saving John Smith; and a female warrior slaying a man of royalty captioned "Sic Semper Tyranus.", Portrait prints, some probably from the British periodical "Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country," depict Israel Putnam; George Washington; Gustavus Adolphus; Mrs. Sloman, of Covent Garden Theatre in the Character of Baltimore; Thomas Carlyle; William Dunlop; Letitia Elizabeth Landon; D. M. Moir; and Henry Purcell. Scrapbook also contains an 1844 banknote specimen of "La Provincia de Buenos Aires" illustrated with vignettes of ostriches; ca. 1845 postage stamp proof depicting Queen Victoria after the Chalon portrait; a full-length portait of an unidentified man, possibly Humphrys; and an advertisement for the Philadelphia artist Joshua Shaw showing a man leading his horse down a bucolic path, as well as engravings after his work of a landscape and an advertisement for Cohen's Lottery Exchange Office, Baltimore., Title from stamp on spine., Morocco binding., Various American and British artists, including W. Chatfield, John Opie, Joshua Shaw, Robert Smirke, C. R. Leslie, Charles L. Eastlake, W. E. West, George Smithard, Carlo Dola, A.E. Chalon, J. Wood, J. Stephanoff, Pastorini, Alfred Croquis (i.e., Daniel Maclise), A. F. Tireggi, John James Barralet, J. Banks, J. M. Wright, Thomas Stothard, P. Williams, Camille Roqueplan, and R. Westall., Various American and British printers and publishers, including H. S. Singleton, J. P. Davis, and James Fraser., Manuscript letter by Humphry completed January 10, 1865 to Anna Holloway pasted on opening page to scrapbook. Letter details his ill health, which in spite of, he still appreciates "the brightness of the sun, the greeness of the earth, and the beauty of extreme nature.", Some scrapbook pages contain manuscript notes identifying the genre of the specimen., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1967, p. 55., William Humphrys (1795-1865), born in Dublin, immigrated to the United States early in his life and studied engraving under George Murray in Philadelphia. He worked as an engraver in the city circa 1815-1823 producing book illustrations, advertisements, and banknote and certificate vignettes. He also served as secretary for the Association of American Artists. Relocating to England, he produced similar work before returning to the United States in 1843. In 1845, he moved to Dublin to engrave "The Reading Magdalene" for the Royal Irish Art Union before returning to England where he worked as an engraver for the firm Perkin, Bacon, and Co. During this employ, he was noted for his re-engraving of the head of Queen Victoria for the 1 d postage stamp. Humphrys retired from engraving in his later years and worked as an accountant for the printing firm Novello & Co. He died at the Novellos' Genoa villa on January 21, 1865.
Creator: Humphrys, William, 1795-1865
Date: [ca. 1817-ca. 1845]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Humphrys [7607.F]

Main menu

Pages