Membership certificate containing an image depicting a bust of author, statesman, and ninth attorney general of the United States, William Wirt, on a pedestal inscribed with the text "William Wirt Library and Literary Institute, founded March 18th, 1834." Books with "United States," "Rome," and "Greece," written on the spines rest in front of an allegorical female figure that sits next to the monument. On the left, an eagle perched on an olive branch grasps a banner with a Greek phrase written on it. A charter, laurel wreath, and several books written by Wirt, including "Old Bachelor," "Life of P. Henry," "Spy" and "Speeches," lie on the ground in front of the eagle. In the background stands a decrepit pediment from an old Grecian building. The William Wirt Library and Literary Institute, a social and intellectual club, formed one month after Wirt's death in 1843., Not in Wainwright., Issued to J.J. Richards, signed by D. Perry Leidy, Secretary, W.W. Richards, President, and Clayton Haines, Vice President., Stamped wax seal with ribbon on recto., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 278, Gift of David Doret., LCP AR [Annual Report] 2000 p. 66., Matthias S. Weaver, artist and lithographer for Thomas Sinclair, was an active member of the William Wirt Library and Literary Institute in the mid-1840s and wrote in his diary about his work on the Wirt Institute certificate beginning on April 6, 1842. One hundred copies of the lithograph were printed by Sinclair's shop in February of 1843.
Creator
Weaver, Matthias S., 1815 or 16-1847, artist
Date
[ca. 1843]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Philadelphia certificates - Libraries [P.9772]
