© Copyright 2020 - The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. TEL (215) 546-3181 FAX (215) 546-5167
For inquiries, please contact our IT Department
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 3548
- Description
- Block numbered in two places: 3548, also 1271 on small adhesive label on back of block., Image of a girl reaching for a book in a cabinet above her head; she stand between a chair and a small table beneath the cabinet; the girl holds one book under her other arm, and there are several more books on the table in front of her and one book on the floor.
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 23
- Title
- [Young girl leaning on book on chair]
- Description
- Shows very young girl attired in a dress and leaning on a book on a chair. A stack of books on a table is partially visible in background., Title supplied by cataloger., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Gift of Jane Carson James., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
- Creator
- Cremer, James, 1821-1893
- Date
- [ca. 1868]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Cremer - Genre [P.9299.11]
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 3775
- Description
- Block numbered in one place: 3775, also 1108 on small adhesive label on back of block., Image of two girls reading a book; one is seated and holds the book, and a smaller girl stands, looking over the other girl’s shoulder and resting her hands on the seated girl’s shoulder and knee; this scene is surrounded by a circular outline.
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 26
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 6910
- Description
- Block numbered in one place: 6910., Image of a small child in an interior setting. The child appears to be looking at a book on a nearby table., Back of block partially obscured by pasted-down paper.
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 11
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 7073
- Description
- Block numbered in two places: 7073, also 1439 on small adhesive label on back of block., Image of two men; the standing man looks toward the other man, who sits up in a four-poster bed, and extends his arms slightly; the man in bed may be reacting with fright or surprise, as it appears that several books have fallen from the bottom of his bed., Back of block (and wood dealer’s imprint) partially obscured by pasted-down paper on back of block.
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 31
- Title
- Twenty five. Merits
- Description
- Reward of merit designed as a bank note. Contains pictorial details, including books, an ink stand, and an urn, within a decorative border., Signed Amelia Hess, Teacher., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of Helen Beitler and Estate of Helen Beitler., Described in Patricia Fenn and Alfred Malpa, Rewards of merit (Charlottesville, Va.: Ephemera Society of America, 1994), 110.
- Date
- [ca. 1865]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helen Beitler Graphic Ephemera Collection - Rewards of Merit [P.2011.10.161]
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 5849
- Description
- Block numbered in one place: 5849, also numbered 57 in one place., Image of an old woman in a chair watching a small boy reading nearby., Illustration appears in Charlie ; or, The bad habit (Philadelphia, between 1866 and 1893?), p. 53. This title was listed in American Sunday-School Union catalogues from March 1867 to at least 1893. Caption of illustration -- "The old lady sat listening in her armchair.", Illustration also appears in Seeds for young sowers (Philadelphia, 1893?). Caption of illustration -- "Keep thy heart.", Signed in reverse: Vaningen Snyder [i.e. Van Ingen & Snyder], Van Ingen & Snyder, a partnership between William H. Van Ingen and Henry M. Snyder, was active between 1853 and 1871., “Ri…[rest obscured by paper]” – inscribed on back of block., “N.J. Wemmer. 5 Pear St. Phila.” -- Back of block. Nelson J. Wemmer is listed (as an artist) at this address in Philadelphia city directories from 1848 to 1856., Back of block partially obscured by pasted-down paper.
- Date
- [between 1853 and 1856?]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 12
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 7015
- Description
- Block numbered in two places: 7015, also 1444 on small adhesive label on back of block., Image of a woman in a doorway looking at a boy and a girl; the boy holds what appears to be a book strap holding books over his shoulder, and looks at a kneeling girl who reaches into a basket on the ground., "V. Grottenthaler, 402 Library St Phila." – Back of block. Vincent Grottenthaler is listed (as a dealer in boxwood) at this address in Philadelphia city directories from 1869 to 1876., Obscured inscription on back of block., Back of block partially obscured by pasted-down piece of paper.
- Date
- [between 1869 and 1876?]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 26
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 6252
- Description
- Block numbered in three places: 6252., Image of two boys reading in a natural setting. One of them is sitting on a fence, and the other is seated on a tree stump., “Sunshine & Shadow To…[unintelligible] Chap 1st Vignette” -- inscribed on side of block., “N.J. Wemmer 215 Pear St. Phila.” -- Back of block. Nelson J. Wemmer is listed at this address in Philadelphia city directories from 1861 to 1876.
- Date
- [between 1861 and 1876?]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 7
- Title
- List of blank books, manufactured and offered to the trade by Kiggins, Tooker & Co.
- Description
- Three variant price lists for blank books, dated February 1, 1867; July, 1867; and July, 1868., Provenance: Gift of David Doret, 2007., Provenance: Advertisements in the collection were sent by various manufacturers to John C. Clark & Sons, a Philadelphia stationery firm.
- Creator
- Kiggins, Tooker & Co., creator
- Date
- 1867-1868.
- Location
- #Doret Ephemera
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 6450
- Description
- Block numbered in one place: 6450, also 1269 on small adhesive label on back of block., Image of a seated man pointing toward a standing boy and holding a walking stick in his other hand; to their side is a table which has what appears to be a propped-up book on it., “Every man his own fortune-teller” – Inscribed on back of block.
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 26
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 6454
- Description
- Block numbered in two places: 6454, also 1297 on small adhesive label on back of block., Image of a woman wearing a kerchief sitting outdoors reading a book; a girl beside her leans on the woman and looks up toward her., “N.J. Wemmer. 215 [Pear St. Phila.]” – Back of block. Boxwood dealer Nelson J. Wemmer is listed at this address in Philadelphia city directories from 1861 to 1876., “Am.S.S.U” – Back of block.
- Date
- [between 1861 and 1876?]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 25
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 0352
- Description
- Block numbered in two places: 352., Image of a decorative frame, with drapery and floral elements, surrounding a bookcase., Block has an open space for printed type., , Provenance:, , Variant:
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 13
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 3209
- Description
- Block numbered in one place: 3209, also 1908 on small adhesive label on back of block., Image of a girl reading a book on a slope under fruit trees.
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 24
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 3777
- Description
- Block numbered in one place: 3777., Image of a seated woman in an interior setting. She appears to be setting down a book., Tape (inscribed “15 or 75”) on obverse.
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 8
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 2210
- Description
- L-shaped block numbered in two places: 2210, also 1359 on small adhesive label on back of block, and 3210 inscribed on back of block., Image of a woman descending stairs and carrying a bucket in each hand; she turns toward a boy who sits with an open book atop a trellis-like structure, which runs across the inner edge of the block and has a few long, large curling vines and what appear to either trailing flowers or bunches of fruit.
- Date
- [s.a.]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 21
- Title
- The Apostle's Creed
- Description
- Caption title., Kneass published Manual of devotion for the Catholic blind in 1867., Printed in raised-letter Philadelphia Line type on blue paper; printed area, including ornamental border, measures 17.0 x 21.6 cm., In the Michael Zinman Collection of Printing for the Blind., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
- Date
- [1867?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Coll. Zinman Blind 111999.O (Zinman)
- Title
- William Seefeldt, brass and German silver musical instruments, No. 731 Race St., Philad'a
- Description
- Illustrated trade card depicting an open book lying in the grass in front of a grain of wheat, grapes, a pear, and a peach., Testimonials addressed to William Seefeldt printed on verso., 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 - Seefeldt [P.9728.13]
- Title
- [Full-length portrait of an unidentified, seated boy]
- Description
- Full-length, forward facing portrait of an unidentified, young, white boy seated on a chair. Sitter has short hair parted and combed to the left. He is attired in a three-quarter length, checked shirt with gold buttons down the center, pants, white socks, and lace-up boots. He sits on a wooden chair and holds a book in both hands on his lap. Gilt is applied to the pictorial detail of the book. His cheeks are tinted pink. In the right background is a side table covered with a dark-colored tablecloth., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the sitter., Pink tinting on cheeks., Gilt on sitter’s buttons and book., Pad: Red velvet with a spray of flowers in the center surrounded by a border of decorative scrolls., Mat: Oval., Case: Leather. Spray of flowers in an oval surrounded by leaves. Same design on verso.
- Date
- [ca. 1855]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos – unid photo – unid sitter [P.2012.68]
- Title
- Ghost River the fall and rise of the Conestoga
- Description
- "Told from the Indian perspective, this graphic novel depicts the massacre of 20 unarmed Conestoga Indians in colonial Pennsylvania in December 1763 by a vigilante group of Scots-Irish frontiersmen known as the "Paxton Boys", first six Conestoga People at a settlement near what is now Millersville, and then fourteen remaining Indians -- six adults and eight children that were under protective custody -- days later in Lancaster. The graphic novel is half of the book. The other half contains interpretive materials and reproductions of historical documents. It also provides instructional guidelines supplied by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History."--, "Ghost River: The Fall and Rise of the Conestoga is part of Redrawing History: Indigenous Perspectives on Colonial America, a project of the Library Company of Philadelphia supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage"-- Book's official website., Contents: Introduction / Will Fenton -- Artist statements / Lee Francis 4 & Weshoyot Alvitre -- Ghost River: graphic novel -- Indigenous representation in comics and graphic novels / Michael Sheyahshe -- Print and place in the Paxton crisis / Scott Paul Gordon -- Passion, politics, and portrayal in the Paxton debates / Judith Ridner -- Primary sources / Will Fenton -- Script and annotations -- Murder on the frontier: the Paxton massacre / Ron Nash & John McNamara.
- Creator
- Francis, Lee, IV, author
- Date
- 2019
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Stack Uy1 A6270.O
- Title
- ASSU Illustration 6204
- Description
- Block numbered in two places: 6204, also 1417 on small adhesive label on back of block., Image of a boy selling books (Bibles?) in the street, carrying a tray suspended around his neck while extending one to a man looking on; several other people are gathered around, including women wearing cloth headdresses resembling wimples., “N.J. Wemmer 215 Pear St. Phila” – Back of block. Boxwood dealer Nelson J. Wemmer is listed at this address in Philadelphia city directories from 1861 to 1876., “Am.S.S.U” – Back of block in three places., “Italy. Buy the light, the true light” – Inscribed on side of block.
- Date
- [between 1861 and 1876?]
- Location
- ASSU Woodblocks -- Box 22
- Title
- Douglass, Margaret.
- Description
- In Educational laws of Virginia / The personal narrative of Mrs. Margaret Douglass, a southern woman, who was imprisoned for one month in the common jail of Norfolk, under the laws of Virginia, for the crime of teaching free colored children to read (Boston, 1854), frontispiece., Facsimile signature: Margaret Douglass., Douglass established a small school for free black children, teaching them to read and write in her home. For this offense, she spent a month imprisoned in jail in Norfolk, Virginia., Waist-length portrait of Douglass.
- Date
- [1854?]
- Title
- Soldier's prayer book. For sale here. Price $5 per hundred
- Description
- The Soldier's prayer book was issued by the Protestant Episcopal Book Society in Philadelphia in 1861., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook; inscribed: approved by Rt. Rev. A. Potter D.D. [and] on large paper., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War.
- Date
- [1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare #Am 1861 Soldiers (2)5786.F.43a (McAllister)
- Title
- Applegate & Co. Publishers, booksellers & stationers, no. 43 Main Str. Cincinnati Copying presses and books. Blank books made to any pattern, paged, with or without printed headings. Notes, drafts, letter cap & note papers. Envelopes. Inks, pens, bankers cases. Sealing wax. Mucilage &c. bills of lading, railroad receipts, dray tickets, billheads, checks, drafts, notes, & cards printed to order. Publishers of: Clarks Commentary, Dicks Works, Rollins Anct. History, Plutarch's Lives, The Spectator, Webb's Monitor, &c
- Description
- Advertisement calendar for 1859-60 containing an allegorical vignette and pictorial details framing a calendar depicted as an architectural monument. Vignette shows a female figure, a harp at her side, drawing on a sketch pad as she looks above to a slightly open curtain. Landscape is visible in the distance. Pictorial details depict vinery and symbols of the arts and book and stationery trade, including a globe, paint palette, quill pens, compass, and the advertised books published by Applegate & Co., Inscribed in upper right corner: 55., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., See also proof copy containing pasted overlay of vignette of a locomotive [P.9349.216a].
- Date
- [ca. 1858]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Specimens Album [P.9349.37b]
- Title
- [Half-length portrait of an unidentified woman, seated]
- Description
- Half-length, forward facing portrait of an unidentified white woman. Sitter has long, dark hair, parted in the middle, and looped behind her ears. She is attired in a dark-colored, long-sleeved dress with buttons down the bodice and a white collar, and black lace, fingerless gloves. A broach adorns her collar. Her lips and cheeks are tinted pink. She is seated and holds a book labeled, Message and Documents 1857-8 Part 1 (i.e., Congressional documents), on her lap with her right hand. She crosses her left arm over her right and rests her left hand on her right wrist., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the sitter., Pink tinting on lips and cheeks., Cased image accompanied by a lock of hair and four feathers from an Amazon parrot., Gift of Ivan Jurin, 2022., Pad: Red velvet with flowers within a decorative scroll border., Mat: Nonpareil., Case: Leather. Decorative geometric and scroll pattern in the center with leaves in the corners. Same design on verso.
- Date
- [ca. 1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos – unid photo – unid sitter [P.2022.29.1-1a]
- Title
- Stationer & blank book binder, Hymen L. Lipman successor to Samuel M. Stewart. No. 139 Chestnut St. opposite the Philadelphia Bank. Philadelphia Merchants’ account books of superior paper and binding made to any pattern at short notice and warranted. A constant supply of stationery, English, French and American, of every description, suitable for banks, public offices and counting houses. Prompt attention given to orders from engineers for field books, drawing materials and every article used in the field or in the office. Job printing of every description. Visiting and address card plates engraved in the newest style. Copper plate printing neatly executed
- Description
- Advertising label for the Philadelphia stationer. Between the words of the title is a tabletop crowded with stationers’ products, including an artist’s palette with brushes, a box of watercolor paints, quill pens, a pair of compasses, boxes of paper, and books. Samuel M. Stewart moved to New Orleans in 1840 and Lipman operated from the Chestnut Street address through 1849., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 240, American Antiquarian Society: Graphic Arts Lithf Duva Stat
- Date
- [ca. 1840]
- Location
- American Antiquarian Society AAS Graphic Arts Lithf Duva Stat
- Title
- On the classification of books: a paper read before the American Library Association, May, 1882
- Description
- A paper outlining Lloyd P. Smith's book classification system, which he presented to the American Library Assocation in May 1882., Pagination statement has been simplified by cataloger., The front endpaper is inscribed, "George M. Abbott Esq with the kindest regards of the author. Euge serve bone, et fidelis : quia super pauca fuisti fidelis, super multa te constituam." Contains considerable marginalia. The text is the same as MSS00270v184., These materials are part of the Library Company Papers Project: Archiving and Preserving Early American History. For additional information on this project, visit librarycompany.org/lcppapersproject. Papers Project processing and digitization has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this resource do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For additional information on NEH, visit www.neh.gov., All use must credit The Library Company of Philadelphia. For additional information on Rights & Reproductions, visit https://librarycompany.org/using-the-library/rightsrepro/#/.
- Creator
- Smith, Lloyd P. (Lloyd Pearsall), 1822-1886
- Date
- 1882
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia. | Books & Other Texts | Rare MSS00270v105
- Title
- Thaw, William H., -1889
- Creator
- Library Company of Philadelphia, creator
- Date
- December 4, 1857
- Title
- [Collection of samples of raised-letter line types for printing for the blind.]
- Description
- Collection title devised by cataloger., Contents: Coll. Zinman Blind: [1] Specimen of type. Medium type. This sample of Howe's Boston line type appeared in the Ninth annual report of the trustees of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind (Boston 1841) -- [2] Card embossed with a geometric diagram, and the Lord's prayer. This appeared as a specimen in Address to the trustees of the New England Institution for the Education of the Blind (Boston 1833) -- [3] Of Greece & of Rome? raised-letter, all capitals, signed: W. Crafts -- [4] Poem in two verses by Anna McClintock, a blind poet, printed in raised letter on pink paper; first line: Art those weary burdened one? -- [5] Child's book, leaf 27; text is common to the moral lessons in spellers of the 1820s -- [6] New York point alphabet. Specimen printed in Boston line type and New York point; inscribed: Myra M. Cox PO address 624 Batavia -- [7] Students' magazine, Pennsylvania Institution for the instruction of the blind, v. 1 no. 1 (Jan. 3, 1838), leaf 3 --, Contents: #Coll. Zinman Blind: [8] The pilgrims progress, leaf 79, probably printed at the Perkins Institution before 1880 -- [9] New Jerusalem Church, leaves 141-142 -- [10] Proverbs chapter 6, leaves 980-981, probably printed at the Perkins Institution before 1880 -- [11] Visitation of prisoners, leaf 245 of the Book of common prayer, probably printed at the Perkins Institution before 1880 [12] David Copperfield, leaves 188 and 193, probably printed at the Perkins Institution before 1880 -- [13] Type specimen, [2] leaves., In the Michael Zinman Collection of Printing for the Blind., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
- Date
- [1830-1900]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare TWO FOLDERS FOLDER 1 Coll. Zinman Blind 11865.F.1-7 (Zinman), Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare TWO FOLDERS FOLDER 2 #Coll. Zinman Blind 11865.F.8-13 (Zinman)
- Title
- Rapson's trimmings and zephyrs, 132 N. Eighth Street, corner of Cherry St
- Description
- Illustrated trade card die-cut and shaped into a bound book with an illustration on the cover depicting a bucolic scene of a man leading animals to a tree-lined stream. A man fishes in the stream in the distance and cattle approach the water on the opposite bank., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- c1883
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Rapson's [P.9728.6]
- Title
- [Portrait of an unidentified African American woman]
- Description
- Three-quarter length, forward facing portrait of a seated, African American woman. Sitter has long, dark hair, parted in the middle, and looped behind her ears. She is attired in a dark-colored, long-sleeved, silk dress with a white lace collar, and black lace, fingerless gloves. A broach adorns her collar. She rests her left forearm on a table covered in a patterned cloth. A book lies on the table. The sitter’s left hand rests on her lap. Her lips are tinted pink. Sitter is probably a member or acquaintance of the Dickerson Family of Philadelphia., Title supplied by cataloger., Pad: Dark purple velvet with a scroll design in the center., Mat: Oval., Case: Square thermoplastic. On recto is a leaf design surrounded by scrolls. This design is #3-128 reproduced in Paul K. Berg's nineteenth century photographic cases and wall frames (Huntington Beach, Ca. 92647: Huntington Valley Press, 1995.) The design on the verso is a bunch of grapes, #2-25 in Berg's book., Gift of Mary P. Dunn, 1993., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1993, p. 17-24.
- Date
- [ca. 1850-ca. 1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos -Dickerson Family Collection [P.9427.16]
- Title
- [Portrait of an unidentified woman]
- Description
- Three-quarter length, forward facing portrait of a seated, African American woman. Sitter has long, dark hair, parted in the middle, and looped behind her ears. She is attired in a dark-colored, long-sleeved, silk dress with a white lace collar, and black lace fingerless gloves. A broach adorns her collar. She rests her left forearm on a table covered in a patterned cloth. A book lies on the table. The sitter’s left hand rests on her lap. Her lips are tinted pink. Sitter is probably a member or acquaintance of the Dickerson Family of Philadelphia., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred by sitter's attire., Pink tinting on lips., Pad: Deep purple velvet without a design., Mat: Oval., Case: Leather. Small vase of flowers in the center surrounded by ornate decorations. The"Flower Vase" design is reproduced as Plate 146 in Floyd and Marion Rinhart's American miniature case art (Cranbury, New Jersey: A. S. Barnes and Co., Inc., 1969.) Geometric design on verso., The die-engraver's name is below the design in reverse, and properly reads A[nthony] C. Paquet., Gift of Mary P. Dunn, 1993., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1993, p. 17-24., Reproduced on page 45 of Julie Winch's The Elite of our people (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000), Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- [ca. 1850]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos - Dickerson Family Collection [P.9427.11]
- Title
- [B.L. Dai looking at books of the Nashi who inhabit the high mountains between China & Tibet several hundred years ago. Now in The Library of Congress]
- Description
- Photograph depicting B.L. Dai, attired in a suit and tie, standing in front of shelves of folio books at the Library of Congress's Oriental Division on Jan. 9, 1931. He holds open a book of pictographs, probably Dongba, the script of the Nashi language. The Nashi (or Nakhi, Naxi) people inhabit the foothills of the Himalayas., Title supplied by cataloger from manuscript note on verso: Books of the Nashi who inhabit the high mountains between China & Tibet several hundred years ago. Now in the Library of Congress., Corporate photographer and publisher from stamp on verso: This credit line should not be omitted, altered, or abbreviated: Underwood & Underwood Studios. This photograph is realeased for use in one publication only and must not be used for trade or advertising purposes, copied, loaned, syndicated or rented. Underwood & Underwood, Inc. 1230 Connecticut Ave, Washington, D.C., Label on the front, Underwood & Underwood, Washington., Identity of sitter from duplicate photograph in the collections of the Library of Congress., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Gift of William H. Allen.
- Creator
- Underwood & Underwood
- Date
- 1931
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo- Underwood & Underwood [P.8512.11]
- Title
- [Full-length portrait of an unidentified older woman seated in a wheelchair]
- Description
- Full-length, forward facing portrait of an unidentified older white woman, seated in a wheelchair positioned at a slight angle. Sitter has gray hair parted in the center and is attired in a dark-colored lace cap with lappets and a dark-colored, long-sleeved dress with a white collar. Her cheeks are tinted pink. She holds a book, with the spine towards the viewer, in her right hand on her lap. Her left arm is propped on the armrest. A small pouch-like bag hangs from the corner of the back of the wheelchair visible in the left of the image. The chair back is covered with a patterned cloth., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the sitter., Pink tinting on cheeks., Pad: Red velvet with a leaf in the center and decorative scroll border., Mat: Nonpareil., Case: Leather. Decorative geometric and leaf pattern in the center with leaves in the corners. Same design on verso.
- Date
- [ca. 1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Cased photos – unid photo –unid sitter - ambro [P.2021.31]
- Title
- Connecticut State Building - Interior
- Description
- Interior view of the Connecticut State Building. Depicts a room with high ceilings, wood paneled walls and floors, and a fireplace in the central area of the back wall. Also shown is a table with multiple chairs, a portrait hanging above the fireplace, a hanging banner with a list of names, a grandfather clock, and a variety of other objects and collectibles.
- Creator
- Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
- Date
- 1876
- Location
- Centennial - album [P.8965.24e]
- Title
- The Novel-Reader.
- Description
- The valentine shows a woman walking. The text suggests that the sender will "read" the recipient now that he has read all the books in libraries and bookstores., Text: I have read every Library / And book-store through; / And, since fate decrees it, / I'll read only you., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
- Date
- [between 1840 and 1880?]
- Title
- John Weik's (Philadelphia) kochbuecher (cookbooks)
- Description
- Whimsical publisher's advertisement containing four vignettes in a fanciful border of food imagery surrounding a list of cookbook titles in German and English authored by Marianne Struf and the steward of the Union League, William Vollmer. Vignettes depict three quirky scenes representing agricultural work, hunting, fishing, and fine dining. Also contains a scene depicting four women peeling apples, mincing meat, and baking in a kitchen. Vignettes include an African American man waiter and an African American woman cook. Fanciful border contains stone pedestals adorned with seals comprised of cooking implements, as well as a basket of bread, bottles of wine, a crab holding oranges, a tureen of soup, dead game, ears of corn, plates, a pitcher, a coffee grinder, and mischievous monkeys., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1856 by J. Weik in the Eastern District Court of Pa., Printed above image: Life Preserver., Printed under title in German: All five books can be had here., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 126, LCP exhibition catalogue: The Larder invaded, aft. p. 9., LCP exhibition catalogue: Philadelphia revisions #32., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1973, p. 44., Top corner and center edge mended., Purchase 1973., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Creator
- Nissle, J., artist
- Date
- 1856
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **BW - Advertisements [8074.F.1]
- Title
- William Russell Birch Collection
- Description
- Collection containing primarily engravings, watercolors, and drawings executed by English-born artist and engraver William Birch and his descendants between the 18th and later 19th century. Several of the graphic materials are by William Birch and represent engraved work he completed in Britain before 1794 and following his immigration to the United States that same year. His British work includes plates from his unpublished satiric volume “The Busy World, or London Dissected ...” (ca. 1792-ca. 1793) showing a charlatan at work, a fight between Richard Humphreys and Daniel Mendoza, a May Day procession, and rag dealers (P.2016.50.28-33); loose plates from his book of British landscapes “Les Delices de la Grande Bretagne” (1791) (P.2016.50.34, 36, 42); the rural and scenic “The Porcupine Inn Yard Rushmore Hill” (p.2016.50.38); the disaster print “The Great Fire of London in the Year 1666” (P.2016.50.55); and portraits of the poetical character Secander (P.2016.50.40) and his mentor “Sir Joshua Reynolds” (P.2016.50.22). His American work includes variant editions of plates from his “Views of Philadelphia” originally published as a series 1798-1800 (P.2016.62.21-37); variant editions of plates from his “Country Seats” originally published in 1808 (P.2016.62.38-45a); and the 1800 commemorative portrait “George Washington. Late President of the United States of America” (hand-colored and black and white [P.2016.50.59 & P.2016.62.55])., British and American work of Birch is also included in the collection in the form of watercolors, drawings, paintings, a sketchbook, and as photographic reproductions. These graphics depict portraits of family members (some photographed ca. 1910s by Charles W. Parker), including his children Priscilla, Thomas, George, and Albina while young as well as his purportedly his mother Anne (P.2016.50); ca. 1800s plan and views of his Bucks County country seat Springland (purchased in 1798) (P.2016.50.48-50); views of the Philadelphia country seat China Retreat, Gunpowder Falls near Hampton, MD, and the George Read estate in New Castle, DE (P.2016.50.43, 45-46); an annotated sketch of Westminster Bridge from the Adelphi Terrace (P.2016.50.51); a drawing of a group of boys (P.2016.62.2); and pencil sketches of male and female figures within an undated sketchbook (P.2016.62.59). Additionally, Birch’s work is represented by a preparatory sketch of an A. Sheffer portrait of Lafayette (P.2016.50.21); portrait drawings of unidentified sitters (P.2015.25 & 26); a ca. 1795 miniature enamel painting of his daughter Deborah (P.2016.50.67); a palette of his paint colors (P.2016.50.66); and an 1830s oil painting of an older Thomas Birch (1779-1851) attributed to William (P.2016.62.1)., Other original and reproduced material is attributed to William Birch or by Birch family members or by other artists and engravers. This includes a 1742 Thomas Worlidge pencil portrait of William’s father Thomas (P.2016.50.14), a Birch portrait of William King (father-in-law of son Thomas), and portraits and a "Museum" (i.e., Peale Museum) blind-stamped silhouette of Birch (P.2016.50.16); ca. 1785 Robert Freebairn watercolor of Hampstead Heath (Birch’s British county of residence); engravings by M. Marigot of “Mount Vernon ...” and “View of the City and Port of Philadelphia ...” from Janson's "Stranger in America" (London, 1807); Franklin Birch 1860s pencil sketches of a printing press and plows (P.2016.62.5-6)); Louise S. Birch's oil renderings of flowers (P.2016.62.12-13); sketches of a title page to the 1852 edition of Thomas Day’s “The History of Sanford and Merton” and of rural and landscape scenes and animal studies (Thomas Birch?; P.2016.62.3, 8-11); John McAllister, Jr. 1860 restrikes (some signed by Agnes McAllister) of Philadelphia views by Charles Willson Peale, Thomas Birch and William Strickland and the 1798 “Congressional Pugilists cartoon (P.2016.62.46-52; and engraved portraits of Major Genl. Brown (P.2016.62.53) and Edward Shippen (P.2016.62.54)., Collection also contains a unique ca. 1810 mockup by Birch for a revised and enlarged edition of his “Country Seats” (P.2016.62.59).The album includes plates from the first edition as well as a proof plate of the Devon view, three watercolors showing “Analostun, or Masons Island with one wing of the house at Georgetown and two of Mr. Custus’s in the distance”; “Point Breeze. The Residence of Joseph Bonapart – at Burdentown on the Delaware”;“The Mill & House of Mr. E. Esirel late sheriff of Phila., Near Christeen,” and a pencil sketch “Mr. Bells Buildings at Richmond.” Other unique items in the Birch Collection include his two variant volumes of manuscript copies of “The Life and Anecdotes of William Russell Birch ...”(bulk written after War of 1812 and into the 1820s), including accounts of his work and travels (P.2016.50.61 & 62); “Birch’s American Cottage. Volm. 2nd” of personal anecdotes, including discussion of Springland (P.2016.50.63); Birch’s “Book of Profitts” with entries dated 1813-1830 (P.2016.50.64); and probably his personal copy of “Les Delices de la Grande Bretagne” (P.2016.50.65). An imperfect copy of “Les Delices” formerly owned by original subscriber Francis Longe (and including his book plate) and a copy of “Transactions of the Society Instituted at London” (1785) referencing a Birch award (p.183) are also included with the materials (P.2016.50.65 & 60)., A small number of manuscripts written by William Birch comprise the collection as well. These materials include a ca. 1800-ca.1805 calligraphic and manuscript title page to "Views of and from The Country References of William Birch. Drawn by Himself wih a sett of Drawings of Springland"; a ca. 1818 letter to an unidentified granddaughter (P.2015.50.1); an undated letter addressed to the Duke of Grafton and Duke of Richmond about “forgetting their subscriptions” (possibly about subscription to Delices... [1791]) (P.2015.50.2); scraps with names of subscribers to “Busy World” (P.2015.50.3) as well as titles completed and to be completed (P.2015.50.4&5); ca. 1805 list of views of “Beautys of Springland not Pictured” (P.2015.50.6); and an 1811 receipt for 5 dollars issued to Ben Wilson for “Views.” (P.2015.50.7). Ephemera also forms the Birch Collection and includes Birch’s certificate of United States citizenship issued in 1808 (P.2016.50.52); a broadside advertising the 1789 titles to be issued by “J. Bell of the British Library” and addressed to Wm. Birch, Hampstead Heath (P.2016.50.53); the bookplate of historian and writer Thomas Birch (1705-1766) (P.2016.50.35 &P.2016.62.15); completed tags for William Birch miniatures on display at the 1911 The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and The Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters Tenth Annual Exhibition (P.2016.62.17-20); early twentieth-century receipts and labels for works by Thomas and William Birch (P.2016.62.62-66); and an unused enamel plate (P.2016.50.27)., Various artists, engravers, printers, and photographers including William Russell Birch, Thomas Birch, Franklin Birch, Louise Birch, J. N. Gimbrede, Jan Griffier, Augustus Kollner, M. Marigot, Charles W. Parker, Charles Willson Peale, P. Roberts, J. Rogers, Julius F. Sacshe, Ary Sheffer, Samuel Shelley, Thomas T. Stiles, Gilbert Stuart, Benedictus Antonio Van Assen, E. Wellmore, J. Wood, and Thomas Worlidge., Various publishers and distributors including J. Bell, William Birch, R. Campbell & Co., James Cundee, E. Jeffrey, Edward J. Parker, R. Pollard, C. Taylor, and T. Thornton., Research files, genealogical reference files, and modern photographic reproductions of the artists' work that accompanied the collection when acquired are available at the repository., See Emily T. Cooperman and Lea Carson Sherk, Picturing the American Scene (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011)., See Emily T. Cooperman, ed., The Country Seats of the United States. William Russell Birch (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009)., See S. Robert Teitelman, Birch's Views of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982, rev. 2000)., See Martin P. Snyder, "William Birch: His Philadelphia Views," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 73 (July 1949), 271-315., See Martin Snyder, "Birch's Philadelphia Views: New Discoveries," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 88 (April 1964), 164-173., See Martin P. Snyder, "William Birch: his ’Country seats of the United States,’" Pennsylvania magazine of History and Biography 81 (1957), 225-254., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2017, p. 49 - 51., P.2018.55 photographic reproduction of Mrs. Robinson engraved by William Birch after Sir Joshua Reynolds housed with collection., William Russell Birch (1755-1834), trained in England under Sir Joshua Reynolds, was a respected Philadelphia engraver, miniaturist, and enamel painter. Birch was also one of the most important landscape artists in America’s Federal period. He engraved and published the first viewbook of an American city, "The City of Philadelphia in the Year… 1800" and the respected "The Country Seats of the United States of North America" in 1804. His son Thomas Birch (1779-1851) assisted him in the drawing and engraving of his viewbooks. He became a respected artist in his own right and specialized in marine paintings.
- Date
- [ca. 1742 - ca. 1913]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch Collection [P.2016.50 & 62 and P.2017.54 and P.2018.55]