Search results

Title: French spy
Description: Label, possibly for tobacco, containing a scene showing a white man with sword in hand threatening a black man on the ground, his sword laying at his side. The men wear Arabian and Middle Eastern- looking garb, including turbans, tunics, and sandals. Imagery possibly alludes to the J. T. Haine's play "The French Spy" first performed circa 1860., 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.
Date: [ca. 1865]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helen Beitler Graphic Ephemera Collection - Labels [P.2011.10.169]

Title: La main chaude
Description: Trade card specimen depicting a white boy crying in the lap of a white girl after another white girl has hit him. In the left, shows the boy, attired in a white shirt, a brown jacket, brown pants, red socks, and brown shoes, bent over and crying into the lap of a girl. The girl, attired in a green bonnet, a gray dress with white ruffles at the collar and sleeves, white stockings, and brown shoes, sits on the grass and comforts the boy, placing both her hands on his head. In the center, shows the girl, attired in a pink and white bonnet, a red dress, a pink checked smock, white stockings, and brown shoes, lift her right hand up and wave a fist at the boy. Her left hand holds the hand of another boy, attired in a straw hat with a red band, a green shirt with a white ruffled collar, green shorts, red and white striped socks, and brown shoes. The boy holds the string to a pull toy wagon in his left hand. In the right background are bound wheat sheaves., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Manuscript note on verso: George Smith., Illustration of girl in pink bonnet is hand colored in purple ink., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. - Main [P.2017.95.204]

Title: Manner of bush-fighting by the African negroes; Gradation of shades between Europe & Africa
Description: As Stedman noted, he sketched the top diagram to better convey the African negroes' manner of bush fighting. The following explanation can be found in his text: "The two columns E and F are supposed to be first engaged, where No 1 in the column E commences the attack by firing at random in the opposite bushes; and instantly retires, by shifting his place to No 1 in the column C, where he re-loads; while No 2 in the column F, having fired at the flash of his pan, advances in the same manner, shifting his station to re-load at No 2 in the column D; and at the flash of whose pan No 3 fires in E, and receives the fire of No 4 in F, &c. &c. Thus continuing through both lines, til No 8 has fired in F, when the whole have shifted their stations; and the same manoeuvre is continued with the columns C and D, beginning again with the identical numbers 1, 2, 3, &c. at the top; while these lines, having shifted their places, still the firing is repeated by the lines A and B, and thus ad infinitum, until by sounding the horn one of the parties gives way in fight, and the battle is over." Below the diagram, a color scale shows some skin-tone gradations between black and white. Commenting on this, Stedman wrote: "Having frequently mentioned the different shades between a black and a white, the same plate represents them to the reader at one view. From the above two colours the mulatto is produced; from the mulatto and black, the sambo; from the mulatto and white, the quaderoon, & c. &c.", Plate LIV in John Gabriel Stedman's Narrative, of a five year's expedition, against the revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South America; from the year 1772 to 1777 (London: Printed for J. Johnson, St. Paul's Church Yard, & J. Edwards, Pall Mall, 1796), vol. 2, p. 98., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
Date: Dec. 1, 1791
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1796 Sted 755.Q v 2 p 98, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2700

Title: The darktown fire brigade - saved!
Description: Comic print using racist imagery to satirize African American men firefighters. Shows a brigade of eight African American firefighters during a rescue of an African American family from a burning wooden house. Flames and smoke extend from the right side of the roof of a two-story residence. In the center foreground, two firefighters, one not wearing a helmet, hold open a striped blanket. A woman attired in a white nightgown and holding her gown down with one hand and a fan with the other is midair and about to drop, feet first, into it. In the left, another firefighter runs out of the doorway of the building and with a woman over his shoulder. She wears a white cap and night gown. In the right, a fourth firefighter sprays water from a hose into the body of a man in a white nightshirt stuck in a hole in the roof. His head and chest poke through the hole and his legs project out through an upper floor window. The firefighter uses a hose that extends from a fire engine marked "Niagara."It is being pumped by four other firefighters in the right background. The firefighters stand on barrels and push the lever of the water pump on the engine. In the far right distance, another firefighter attends to a donkey. The firefighters are attired in red shirts, blue pants, and black boots. Four men wear helmets, one man wears a top hat, and two men are bare-headed. The men and women figures are portrayed with wide eyes and lips, and large feet. The rescued family members are bare foot. The Darktown series of over 100 prints was originally issued mid 1870s-1890s. Thomas Worth was the artist of several of the prints in the reported popular and profitable series. Joseph Koehler reissued the prints in the early 1900s., Title from item., Reprint of number from "Darktown" comics series originally published in 1884. Joseph Koehler purchased over 200 lithographic stones, including the "Darktown" series, from the Currier & Ives firm following its dissolution in 1907., Contains copyright statement: Copyright 1884, By Currier & Ives, N. Y.
Creator: Currier & Ives
Date: [ca. 1907]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Genre - Darktown [P.2019.55.4]

Title: The "Reading" route for Philadelphia and New York, is the quickest and best
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting two men dueling with swords and shields. In the background, a lady stands with her back to the fight and a dog runs toward the viewer in the foreground. Includes a thermometer adjacent to the title. The Bound Brooke Route, operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, operated between Ninth and Green Streets in Philadelphia and New York City. Route opened about 1876 and capitalized on the Centennial celebration in Philadelphia., Attributed to E. Ketterlinus & Co. based on similar trade cards in the collection, see trade card - Bound [1975.F.45; 1975.F.86; 1975.F.90]., Time tables for trains bound to Philadelphia and New York, including the "Bound Brook Route", printed on verso. Signed J.E. Wootten, gen'l manager and C.G. Hancock, G.P. & T. agt., 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 - Reading [1975.F.729]

Title: If you want a cheap suit of clothing go to Commercial Clothing House, 822 Market St., Phila. Don't forget 822 Market Street
Description: Illustrated trade card depicting three anthropomorphic figures, including two flowers attacking a butterfly with spears., Price list printed on verso for men's pants and working suits., 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 - Commercial [1975.F.189]

Title: Hope Hose Company. Instituted 1805
Description: View of the ornately decorated hose carriage of the company founded on August 17, 1805 by male residents living near Second and Pine streets. Ornamentations include silver plated bells; swan figurines; and a painted scene showing heavenly figures. Image surrounded by oval frame decorated with floral elements., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 112
Creator: Heiss, George G.
Date: [ca. 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW - Fires and Firefighting [P.9942]

Title: Northern Liberty Fire Company. No. 1. Instituted May 1st 1756. Incorporated March 18th 1833
Description: View of the hand-powered Philadelphia-style fire engine of the fire company that operated from Front Street below Green Street. Engine contains double decker end-stroke hand pumpers. The compressor contains ornate detailing and is adorned with a plate depicting the figure of Liberty standing beside a pedestal adorned with the portrait of Washington. A trumpet hangs from the harness of the engine. Also contains a border with geometric details., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 154
Creator: Heiss, George G.
Date: [ca. 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW - Fires and Firefighting [P.9943]

Title: Broad Street Independant [sic] Church, Philadelphia
Description: Exterior view of the First Independent Church, later renamed Chambers Presbyterian Church, built 1831 at the northeast corner of Broad and Sansom streets. Also shows a partial view of an adjacent building and pedestrian traffic. Pedestrians include a couple with a child and two men greeting one another. Also contains amateur ink-drawn and hand-colored modifications. Retouches show fire hoses in front of the buildings leading to firefighters using a hand-pumper to fight a blaze in the background. Some pedestrian figures also altered with firefigher hats and capes. The church, altered in 1853 to include a front portico, housed the independent congregation of Rev. John Chambers. Congregation admitted to the Presbytery in 1873., Inscribed on recto: S.A. Jackson; see p. 81., Title annotated with a slash through the "a" in "Independant.", Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 64, Originally part of a series of eleven scrapbooks compiled by Philadelphia antiquarian Charles A. Poulson in the late 1850s entitled "Illustrations of Philadelphia" volume 4, page 85. The scrapbooks contained photographs of 18th-century public, commercial, and residential buildings in the city of Philadelphia collected by Poulson to document the vanishing architectural landscape.
Creator: Town, E.
Date: [ca. 1850]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW - Churches and meetinghouses [(4)2526.F.85]

Title: F[ire] and P[olice] Dept. Record. [certificate]
Description: Blank membership certificate for members of fire and police departments that contains eleven views, some montages, documenting the activities of life as a police officer and fireman. Views include call boxes in use by concerned citizens; scenes of rescue, including victims pulled from fires and the restraining of run-away horses and of crowd control, including police assistance during a fire alarm; police in a horse-drawn wagon in a shoot out with a mob throwing bricks; police manning and marching in a parade; racing fire engines and trucks; and a courtroom scene. Also includes a vignette showing a policeman and fireman shaking hands in front of a call box; pictorial details of a billy club, an ax, and flags of different nations; and a border containing cornices depicted as police and firemen helmets. Imagery surrounds a blank entry for genealogical, professional, and death information., Gift of David Doret., Vickroy, a prominent Indiana fine arts publisher, specialized in genealogical and fraternal order certificates.
Creator: J. M. Vickroy Co.
Date: c1902
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Certificates - Fire [P.2009.6.3]

Title: A mistaken identity
Description: Racist trade card specimen depicting a caricature of an African American woman striking a passing white man with the back of her hand. Shows the woman portrayed with exaggerated features and attired in a hat, a striped dress, a polka dotted apron with a patch, and black shoes, carrying an umbrella in her left hand and hitting a man with her right hand. In the left, the man lifts his right leg and his left hand up as he jumps in alarm after being struck., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. - Mistaken [P.2017.95.205]

Title: A correct view of the City of Philadelphia on the Delaware River as it appeared on 25th of January 1852
Description: Panoramic and bustling, winter view showing several men, women, and children, on the ice-covered river. In the center foreground, a small crowd gathers around a man reading a newspaper as around them, throngs of individuals traverse the frozen walkway, promenade as couples, make conversation, and fall, laugh, and grab one another as they slip on the ice. Several men skate, boys sled, dogs chase each other, and children frolic, including a pair retrieving a hat from a broken patch of ice. Others peddle refreshments from a table and flee from broken ice as ruffians engage in a fist fight. The cityscape of Philadelphia is visible in the background, including Christ Church and Independence Hall in addition to Spark's Shot Tower and Girard College. Also shows the frozen channel running through Windmill Island covered in barren trees in the far left of the image., Copyrighted by A.A. Dugan., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 165, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Bc 72 R 815, Dugan was a Philadelphia engraver.
Date: c1852
Location: Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Bc 72 R 815

Title: Near a fire. Say! Just hold this while I fetch another section, will you. (Likely?)
Description: One of a series of satires mocking the ineptitude of Philadelphia volunteer firefighters. Shows a volunteer, in full uniform, offering a flowing fire hose to an unsuspecting gentleman on a street corner. The gentleman whose hands are occupied with a cigar and a cane looks aghast at the firefighter. A woman watches the scene from the window of her dwelling. Additional streetscape, including a storefront, is visible in the background, Philadelphia on Stone., POS 253b, Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Harrison & Weightman was a partnership between Henry G. Harrison and William N. Weightman., Variant of P.8970.12., Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - The Fireman (Cartoons)
Date: c1858
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW - Fires and Firefighting [P.8970.13]

Title: Near a fire. Say! Just hold this while I fetch another section, will you. (Likely?)
Description: One of a series of satires mocking the ineptitude of Philadelphia volunteer firefighters. Shows a volunteer, in full uniform, offering a flowing fire hose to an unsuspecting gentleman on a street corner. The gentleman whose hands are occupied with a cigar and a cane looks aghast at the firefighter. A woman watches the scene from the window of her dwelling. Additional streetscape, including a storefront, is visible in the background., Philadelphia on Stone., POS 253c, Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Harrison & Weightman was a partnership between Henry G. Harrison and William N. Weightman., Variant of P.8970.13., Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - The Fireman (Cartoons)
Date: c1858
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW - Fires and Firefighting [P.8970.12]

Title: Near a fire. An awkward attachment
Description: One of a series of satires mocking the ineptitude of Philadelphia volunteer firefighters. Shows the volunteer in full uniform catching a male pedestrian in the hook of his ladder as he rushes past the gentleman on the sidewalk. The man shirks backward, his hat falling off, as the hook tugs at his coat collar. Streetscape, including the storefront of a stove business, is visible in the background. Also shows a fire hose sprung with leaks laying in the street., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 253b, Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Harrison & Weightman was a partnership between Henry G. Harrison and William N. Weightman., Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - The Fireman (Cartoons)
Date: c1858
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW - Fires and Firefighting [P.8970.9]

Title: Mrs. O'Toole- Give it to im Mickey, t'was for de loikes of sich as him, yer fayther got kilt in the war
Description: Racist trade card specimen depicting an Irish boy portrayed in caricature preparing to fight an African American boy portrayed in caricature. Shows the Irish mother, Mrs. O’Toole, attired in a bonnet, a polka dotted scarf, and a long-sleeved shirt, holding a pipe in her left hand and leaning out of a window. She speaks in the vernacular to her son, Mickey, that "t’was for de loikes of sich as him, yer fayther got kilt in the war." In the center outside of the house, the barefooted son Mickey, attired in a hat, a torn long-sleeved shirt, a vest, and pants, holds his left hand in front of his chest as he angrily looks at the African American boy in the right. The African American boy carries a hoop and stick toy in his hands and opens his mouth in alarm. In the background, clothes hang from a clothesline., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Illustration printed in red ink., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1870]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. - Mrs. O'Toole [P.2017.95.206]

Title: F. Pulaski & Co., 1026 Chestnut St Opening days, November 1st and 2d, 1881
Description: Series of illustrated trade cards promoting F. Pulaski & Co., a fancy goods store at 1026 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Illustrations depict a white woman pulling on her red stockings as her pet cat rubs his head against her foot and the same woman attired in a brown coat, a pink hat, blue stockings and white shoes, leaving her home with her cat trailing her. Also includes two related scenes showing a white woman standing with her head lowered before her surprised white husband with black soot on her face and clothing. In the subsequent scene, the husband is fighting with a Black man. In the right, the white man's brown cap flies off his head and white flour is dispersed through the air. In the left, the Black man's brown, brimmed hat falls to the ground as he grabs his hands around the white man's head with his right leg lifted up. F. Pulaski & Co., initially a partnership between Frank Pulaski and M.L. Kline when these trade cards were created, later specialized in pictures and picture frames., Title from item., Text in French printed on recto [1975.F.714]: "En voyant sa femme changée de couleur, Pétrin qui a mauvais caractère, devine tout de suite que Charabia lui a fait une niche. Il a son plan.", Text in French printed on recto [1975.F.718]: "Comme ils se sont promis de faire suer: Charabia, de la farine à chon ami Pétrin, et Pétrin du charbon a Charabia, ils se tiennent parole.", 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: 1881
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Pulaski [1975.F.714; 1975.F.718; 1975.F.764 & 1975.F.871]

Title: I take it on my responsibility
Description: Cartoon critical of Andrew Jackson's decision to discontinue federal deposits to the Bank of the United States and his denial that his informal circle of close advisors, known as the "Kitchen Cabinet," influenced his decision. Depicts Jackson pinned to a column at the top of the stairs of the bank as he and other white men are being drenched by white men wielding fire hoses, one labeled "United States," in the street. Near Jackson, a kettle boils, fueled by burning papers labeled "Constitution" and "Globe," the pro-Jackson newspaper. Behind him several men, one labeled "K.C.," are involved in altercations. Other men run down the steps, one colliding with an African American man carrying barrels. In the street, a rotund white man, attired in a military uniform, observes the soaking of Jackson with delight while two other white men appear to be coming to Jackson's aid., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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: [1834]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1834-12W [5760.F.57]

Title: Columbia Hose Co. of Philadelphia [membership certificate]
Description: Fire company honorary membership certificate containing vignettes depicting fire fighters racing a steam engine and hose carriage past Independence Hall; an exterior view of the Columbia Hose Co. station at Cherry Street above Seventh Street; and volunteers fighting a blaze with hoses, a steam engine, and ladder at the French & Richards drugstore at the N.W. corner of 10th and Market streets (October 3, 1865). Station view also shows the station dog, hose carriage, and pedestrian traffic, including a couple looking at a storefront display window of a neighboring building. Fire fighting equipment including a trumpet, ax, ladder, hose and belt are drawn bundled together to form side borders and decorative elements above the vignettes. Also contains, above the images, the company institution date "1806," American eagle and shield, the Roman numeral for 8, i.e., VIII; and the company motto "The Public Benefit Is Our Desire.", Issued to Charles Flowers "admitted to membership" March 4th, 1850 and "honor conferred" December 5th, 1866. Signed G.W. Taylor, President; William R. Fraley, Secretary., Company seal pasted on recto., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 146, Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphiana - Fire Companies
Creator: Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, artist
Date: [ca. 1865]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *W46 [6531.F]

Title: Game of Dr. Busby
Description: Early edition of the popular matching and memory card game designed by Ann Abbot and composed of four suits of five cards (Busby, Doll, Mr. Ninny-Come-Twitch, and Gardener). Suits are denoted with a different pictorial detail in the upper right corner: a mortar and pestle; pan of milk; an eye; and a spade. Suit of mortar and pestle cards depict “Dr. Busby” attired in a top hat, blue jacket with tails, and yellow pantaloons while standing with a walking stick and a bottle of medicine in his left hand in front of the corner of the “Busby Medicine's Drug" storefront with large display windows; “his Wife” attired in a long-sleeved red dress with yellow neckerchief and yellow cap while seated and embroidering; his “Son” wearing a mustache, a blue, cinched blouse, black pants, and a mortarboard, and standing with a walking stick in front a seminary-like building in the distant background; his female “Servant” wearing her hair in a low bun, a blue, deep neck dress with the sleeves pushed up, and a red apron while ironing a shirt next to a basket of laundry on a table; and “Doll, the dairy-maid’s black-eyed Lover” attired in a long-sleeved white shirt, red neckerchief, apron, and blue pants and standing, arms crossed, in front of a broom, wheel barrow of hay, and a barn yard in the distance., Suit of pan of milk cards depict “Doll, the dairy-maid,” her head tilted to the side, and attired in a corseted, red dress with half sleeves, a V-neck, and yellow apron while standing with a pail in one hand and the other behind her back near a fence and a milking stool; her “Father," balding, attired in a dark jacket, yellow vest, and blue pantaloons, while seated on a chair with a newspaper in his lap, a mug in one hand and smoking a pipe with the other beside a table with a tablecloth, lit candle, eye glasses, and a book; her “Brother” attired in a white, flouncy blouse with collar and red tie, yellow pants, and a yellow wide-brimmed straw hat and holding a rake in front of mounds of hay; her “Servant,” shown from the back, and attired in a blue sack coat, tan pants, and black wide-brimmed hat, while using a milkmaid’s yoke to carry pails of milk; her “pan of milk” being lapped at by a black cat while on a round table above a pail underneath it., Suit of eye cards depict Mr. Ninny-Come-Twitch attired in a top hat, yellow vest, red cravat, long black coat, and blue trousers with one hand on a walking stick and the other tucked into his coat while standing beside a dog resembling a greyhound; “his Wife,” her long hair on her shoulders and attired in a red, long-sleeved dress with bandeau neckline, and yellow apron while playing a piano from a book of music; his “Son” attired in a school outfit of a yellow short jacket with a white collar and blue pants, and his cap on the ground as he defends himself from a fight with another boy in school attire (red cap, red short jacket, and yellow pants) and with his fists up; his “Servant,” an African American man attired in a top hat, green coat with red collar and cuffs, ruffled white shirt, and tan pants while holding a basket over one arm and a whip in his opposite hand; and “One Eye” colored blue and part of a person’s face., Suit of spade cards depict “the Gardener” attired in a red jacket, yellow vest, and blue pants while holding a hook knife near a ladder and under a grape vine across from his hat on the ground and a fenced pasture in the background; “his Wife” attired in a blue, long-sleeved dress with white ruffled collar, and a yellow bonnet while using her apron to hold a bushel of roses in front of a young girl attired in a red dress with yellow pantaloons and yellow bonnet and holding a rose and basket; his “Son” attired in a red, blousy shirt, apron, blue pants, and wide-brimmed hat while using a hoe; his “Servant” attired in a short blue jacket, yellow vest and tan pants while walking through a fenced pasture and carrying a basket of fruit on his shoulder that hides his face; and his “Spade” resting idle on a stone wall on which a rose bush and other greenery climbs and two potted plants are displayed. "The Improved and Illustrated Game of Dr. Busby" first published in 1843 purportedly sold over 15,000 copies in 18 months. The game has been credited with creating the explosion in popularity of games in America during the 19th century and containing one of the earliest representations of an African American in an American game., Title from label pasted on maroon paper slip case: Gam[e] of Dr. Busby., Paper slip case contains a partially-removed illustrated label printed on green paper. Label depicts a woman ironing, i.e. the illustration on the Busby suit “Servant” card., Date from copyright statement printed on leaf of “Directions” pasted to inside of inner white cradle: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by W. & S. B. Ives, in the Clerk’s Office of the District court of Massachusetts., "Directions" explicate the suits, "players should sit round a table," and a player is to call upon his right hand neighbors for any card not in his own hand until "he calls for one which his neighbor has not in his hand." Directions also explain the next player needs to "call for those cards which have been called for and obtained by the first" so players must be attentive as "the game is made longer and more complicated by every failure of memory" until its close when the victor has all "four families united in his hand", LCP copy has variant title: Game of Dr. Busby., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Housed in phase box., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Abbot, Anne W. (Anne Wales), 1808-1908
Date: 1843
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Busby [P.2015.28]

Title: "De breddren and sisters will now relate dere experience."
Description: Set of five collecting cards depicting African Americans, portrayed in racist caricature with grotesque facial features and speaking in the vernacular, satirizing African American church life. Includes (1) "De Breddren and Sisters Will Now Relate Dere Experience" showing a white-haired African American minister at his pulpit before a small congregation of mostly African American women, attired in kerchiefs, and seated in pews; (2) Sister Hannibal. - "Oh Breddren and Sisters, Ise an Awful Sinner" showing Sister Hannibal standing up and confessing among the other congregants; (3) Sister Snowball. - "Yes, Breddren and Sisters, Dats So, I Kin Testify Dat Sister Hannibal is an Awful Sinner. I knows It" showing Sister Snowball standing, her hands clasped across her stomach, while Sister Hannibal, sits and frowns, and the minister rests his hand on his head; (4) "Sister Snowball, You Am a Liar" showing the "sisters" fighting among the other parishioners, who are in various states of commotion; (5) "De Congregation Am Dismissed" showing white men police officers escorting the congregation out of the church, including an unconscious Sister Hannibal in a handcart. Images also show the church interior and exterior, including windows, steps, and a tree., Title from item., Date of publication inferred from date of copyright, Series no. printed in upper left corner., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., RVCDC, 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., Sammis & Latham was a New York publishing firm active in 1882 that issued comic card sets and juvenile novelty items.
Creator: Sammis & Latham
Date: 1882
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Genre [P.2012.24.1-5]

Title: Southern chivalry - argument versus club's
Description: Cartoon critically addressing the Brooks-Sumner Affair in which Southern Congressman Preston S. Brooks caned antislavery Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate on May 26, 1856. Brook's "chivalrous" attack on Sumner was a reprisal for Sumner's two-day speech, "The Crime against Kansas," which attacked the violence occurring in Kansas over the issue of slavery; the South; and Brook's uncle, Andrew Butler. Depicts Sumner, head bloodied, quill in his raised hand and clutching a paper symbolically inscribed "Kansas.," He is held to the ground by Butler whose face is obscured by his raised arm and hand that holds his cane above his head. Butler is posed in mid-strike. Members of Congress observe in the background, some laughing, some scowling, with one member raising his hands in surrender from another who has his fist and cane raised., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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., Magee was a Philadelphia lithographer who established his own lithographic firm in Philadelphia in 1850.
Creator: Magee, John L., artist
Date: [1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1856-3W [5760.F.105]

Title: The little giant - in the character of the gladiator
Description: Cartoon portraying Stephen Douglas as a gladiator to symbolize his split with the Buchanan Administration on the admission of Kansas to the Union as an enslaving state. Depicts Douglas, attired in a tunic, armor, and sandals, defiantly holding his shield of "Popular Sovereignty, The Majority Rule" and sword labeled "Freedom of the Elective Franchise" in the center of a battle arena. He prepares to use his armament to fight against the admission of Kansas under the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution, which was fraudulently ratified because of the barring and abstention of free-state voters. To the left of Douglas, President Buchanan, attired as a gladiator, fends off Robert J. Walker, the Kansas Territory Governor and an advocate of popular sovereignty. In the right, a gladiator representing the power of the "Free Press" trounces the gladiator representing the "Washington Union," the Administration's organ. On the ground lies the Roman standard with an eagle, which reads “S.P.Q.R. Salaries Paid Quite Regular.” The arena is filled with white men and women spectators with various facial expressions of cheer, anger, and shock., Title from item., Publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., Manuscript note written on recto: Douglas-Lecompton question., Purchase 1958., 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: [1858]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1858-1w [6268.F]

Title: [Scraps no. 3 for 1832]
Description: Plate three from the 1832 edition of, "Scraps" Johnston's popular satirical series of societal caricatures published between 1828 and 1840, and in 1849. Depicts a montage of nine scenes lampooning contemporary social issues and everyday life such as fashion, gender relationships, bed bugs, the theater, modesty, materialism, parental relationships, and drunkenness. Includes "A Rain Bow" depicting a white man dandy offering to assist a white woman with her parasol under the judging eye of a fellow unwilling to "wear out" his umbrella in the rain; "Great Cry and Little Wool" depicting white chambermaids mocking the fearfulness of a white man being attacked by gigantic, near sated bed bugs and a mosquito; "Pressure of the Times" depicting a crowd of white men fighting with each other for "Boston Theater" box tickets; "Ne Plus Ultra of Delicacy" depicting white men discussing "decently clothed tables and chairs" while tending to an unconscious white woman driven to faint after viewing a sculpture of barely-clad "Chanting Cherubs"; "Sport of His Satanic Majesty" depicting Satan and his minion fishing for white drunkards to be eaten and used as firewood; "Mother's Hope and Father's Joy" depicting a little, white "gentleman" being bid upon by his mother and a little girl; "The Test of Friendship" depicting a white man drunkard showing true friendship by lying in the gutter with his equally inebriated white man friend; "Steamboat Scene" depicting white individuals and a family reacting to a "man overboard" with gawking looks, a cry for a rope, a criticism of drunkenness, anger at his non-removal of expensive shoes, and a desire to exchange places to forgo seasickness; "Going Off Half Cocked" depicting and an intoxicated white man stuttering "good evening" in front of his snickering African American maid, portrayed in racist caricature., Title supplied by cataloger., Printed in upper left corner: Plate 3., Published in D.C. Johnston's Scraps No. 3 1832 (Boston: D.C. Johnston, 1832), pl. 3., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Accessioned 1979., 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: Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865
Date: 1832
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1832-Scr (c) [P.2275.27]

Title: The follies of the age, vive la humbug!!
Description: Critique of the social climate of the year of 1855 mocking several of the year's fads, social movements, and major events, many specific to the city of Philadelphia. Depicts several individual scenes occurring on an active street lined by businesses near a river. Depictions include: a scene representing the case of Jane Johnson, an African American woman freedom seeker aided by abolitionist Passmore Williamson; a group of ragged and armed white men filibusters holding the banner "Sam" rushing off to free Central America from European control; a stand where one is "allowed to drink 48 glasses of Lager Beer" where a white man police officer tries to stop a white man drunkard; a group of white women Mormons on a cart headed to "Salt Lake City"; a white man hugging two white women as his angry wife looks on and calls them "Ceresco free-lovers" after the Utopian society that lasted until 1855; two motley groups of local militias drilling; a caricature of the popular French actress Rachel who had an inauspicious debut in Philadelphia; and groups of individuals partaking of "water cures" and "sea baths." In the background the Camden Amboy train crash of 1855 is depicted as well as the destruction by fire of the Philadelphia steamer "John Stevens.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., Accessioned 1998., 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: [1855?]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1855-Fol [P.9624]

Title: Five Points, 1827
Description: Chaotic street scene after the 1827 painting Five Points by George Catlin depicting the early 19th-century New York City lower income area east of City Hall. Shows several white and Black men and women, individually, as couples, and in groups at the crossroads of Orange, Anthony, and Cross Streets. The streets are lined with places of "entertainment," "lodgings," and grocery stores primarily selling liquor. Amongst the melee on the streets, a large brawl and several small fights occur, people are knocked over, "couples" of men and women stroll and engage in conversation, peddlers sell their goods, a white woman pumps water, and pigs roam free., Title from item., Inscribed lower right corner: For Valentine's Manual., Plate from D.T. Valentine. Manual of the corporation of the city of New York for 1855 (New York: New York Common Council, 1855) (LCP Am 1855 New Yor Com)., Original painting in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, bequest of Mrs. Screven Lorillard (Alice Whitney), from the collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, 2016., Gift of Mrs. S. Marguerite Brenner, 1984., 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., McSpedon & Baker, the New York lithographic partnership of Thomas McSpedon and Charles W. Baker, primarily performed stationery work. Illustrative plates executed by the partnership are rare.
Date: [1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Views - New York - New York City [P.9057.8]

Title: Practical illustration of the fugitive slave law
Description: Antislavery print depicting a fight between Northern abolitionists and supporters of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. In the left, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and an African American man both raise guns to protect an enslaved African American woman who is attired in a head kerchief, earrings, a short-sleeved dress, and shoes. She raises both arms in the air and clutches a handkerchief in her right hand and exclaims “Oh Massa Garrison protect me!!!” Garrison wraps his right arm around her and says, “Don’t be alarmed, Susanna, you’re safe enough.” In the right, the white man mercenary, attired in a top hat with a star on it, who may represent the federal marshals or commissioners authorized by the act (and paid) to apprehend freedom seekers, carries a noose and shackles. He sits astride Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who is on his hands and knees clutching the Constitution and bemoaning, "This, though constitutional, is extremely disagreeable." Behind them a white man, possibly John C. Calhoun, declares "We will give these fellows a touch of Old South Carolina" and carries two volumes labeled "Law and Gospel." Another white man carries a quill and ledger and says "I goes in for Law & Order." In the background, a number of men on both sides fight. A white man lies on the ground on his back. An African American man grabs a white man enslaver by the head and holds a whip while saying “It’s my turn now Old Slave Driver.” A "Temple of Liberty" stands in the background with two flags flying which read, "A day, an hour, of virtuous Liberty is worth an age of Servitude," and "All men are created free and equal.", Title from item., Probable place and date of publication supplied by Reilly., Weitenkampf attributed this cartoon to the New York artist Edward Williams Clay, but Reilly refutes this attribution on the grounds that the draftsmanship, signature, and political opinions are atypical of Clay., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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: [1850 or 1851]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1851-6 [5760.F.104]

Title: [Thomas Richardson and American Bank Note Company scrapbook]
Description: Scrapbook compiled by Philadelphia banknote printer Thomas Richardson containing proofs of illustrations after the work of F. O. C. Darley from Susan Fenimore Cooper's "Pages and Pictures from the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper" (New York, 1861); portrait illustrations, some from J. B. Longacre's "National Portrait Gallery" (probably 1854 edition); and vignette specimens of the American Bank Note Company and their predecessor companies. Cooper illustrations depict scenes on the frontier and ship decks, with Native Americans, and of battles; deathbeds; and of informal meeting from his works The Oak Openings, The Redskins, The Chainbearer, The Pathfinder, The Red Rover, The Monikins, Deerslayer, Homeward Bound, Lionel Lincoln, The Pilot, Last of the Mohicans, The Wept Wish-ton Wish, The Spy, and Wing and Wing. Several also contain animals. Sitters in portrait illustrations include Lewis Cass, Giuseppe Garibaldi, David Ramsay, James Kent, Thomas C. Pope, John McLean, Stephen Decatur, Samuel Rogers, Rev. William Capers, John Binns, Washington Irving, and Noah Webster., Specimen subjects include portraits of prominent government officials, Civil War figures, businessmen, clergymen, royalty, and "fancy heads" of named and unnamed women and children; allegorical figures and scenes, including Bounty, Liberty, Arts, Agriculture, and Commerce; state and symbolic seals and insignia; naval and maritime imagery, including sailors, sailing vessels, and wharf and dock views; modes and venues of transportation, including steamboats, trains, streetcars, and rail stations; white and Black men artisans, laborers, and tradesmen, including drivers, farmers, sheep shearers, and furriers; industrial views of factory workers, mineworkers, and female loom workers, as well as mills and factories along canals and riverfronts; women at work feeding livestock, milking cows, and at a sewing machine; municipal buildings and storefronts; southern imagery, including enslaved people at work, palmetto trees, plantations, and ports; patriotic, historical, military, and scenic imagery; frontier views and scenes with Native Americans; and animals. Specimens with titles include Star of Empire (Princess Eugenie of Sweden) River Source, The Guardian, Locomotive, Autumn Fruit, Sheep Feeding, The Yarn, Trusty, Picking Grapes, The Sickle, The Death Blow, and Propeller Loading. Some specimens used as the backs of national currency., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on publication date of specimens., Manuscript notes on front free end paper: Aunt Tillie Richardson (cousin Florence's aunt) in pencil; Scrapbook No. 3 in ink., Lincoln Monument Association of Philadelphia certificate pasted on inside front cover and issued to Thos. Richardson on July 4, 1865, signed C. J. Stille, Secy; Alex. Henry, Prest.; and James L. Claghorn, Cashr. Certificate number 6004 and illustrated with bust-length portrait of Lincoln. Charles J. Stillé, was a Philadelphia lawyer who served on the United States Sanitary Commission, and was later Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. Alexander Henry was the mayor of Philadelphia. James L. Claghorn was president of the Commercial National Bank in Philadelphia and an art collector., Stationer's label pasted on back cover: John Alexander, Stationer and Printer, 52 South Fourth St., Various artists, engravers, and printers including F.O.C. Darley, G. H. Cushman, J. Hamilton, Asher B. Durand, C. Schussele, John Sartain, Samuel Sartain, Jas. D. Smillie, E. Prudhomme, H. B. Hall, T. Phillibrown, R. Whitechurch, J. M. Butler, James Bannister, Charles Kennedy Burt, Louis Delnoce, W. W. Rice, American Bank Note Company, Toppan, Carpenter & Co, Baldwin, Bald & Cousland, and Bald, Cousland & Co., Several of the specimens contain a specimen number and/or title., Few of the specimens contain a copyright statement., Specimen #312 (p. 81) and specimen #280 (p. 71) after the work of Emanuel Leutze., Inventory of portrait sitters housed at repository., Identity of several of the artists and engravers supplied by Gene Hessler, The engraver's line: an encyclopedia of paper money & postage stamp art (Port Clinton, OH: BNR Press, 1993)., RVCDC, Accessioned 2012., 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., 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., Thomas Richardson (b. ca. 1802) was a Philadelphia plate printer who served as the foreman of printing at the Philadelphia branch of the American Bank Note Company formed in 1858. He retired from the trade by 1880.
Creator: Richardson, Thomas, 1802-approximately 1881
Date: [ca. 1854-ca. 1861]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.2012.6]

Main menu