The valentine shows a man on one knee with a heart for a torso., Text: If you will promise to adore, / To fondly love me ever; / I'll take your little heart and hand, / Yourself and all together., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The valentine shows a hand holding a large mitten. The phrase "to give the mitten" means to reject romantic partner., Text: Now you see how bad you're bitten, / Since I send you, dear, the mitten; / You'll know in the future where your place is, / And keep to yourself your native graces., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
The lawyer has a long nose and a bald spot on top of his head. He holds a piece of paper marked "Bill of." The sender rejects the recipient's marriage proposal., Text: In Hymen's Court you've filed your plea, / In suit on your behalf of me, / But be it known to your vexation, / That No is my fixed declaration., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
A woman wears many flowers in her hair and a skirt with furbelows. She rests her chin in her hand. The valentine cautions the recipient against holding sentimental beliefs about marriage, suggesting that she will not receive marriage proposals because she is neither sensible nor wealthy., Text: Waiting for an offer, few indeed the chances; / These are not the times we read of in romances; / Men want wives with good sense, or with flowing coffers, / And are very careful to whom they're making offers., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Subscriber's premium comprised of a series of titled chromolithographs depicting portraits of historical figures and genre, religious, sentimental, and allegorical scenes. Images include "Beauty and Her Pets" showing a young lady feeding doves at her window garden; a robed woman "At The Cross"; the "Autumn Beauties" of a girl on a swing with her cat in her lap; a woman picking flowers in "Shoo Fly"; "The Sailor Girl"; "Our Idol," a lavishly attired Victorian girl; a woman near a fireplace showing "Maternal Affection" as she holds her baby to her breast; "The Flower Angels"; "The Angel of Song" in a bird's nest; a "Little Tot" of a girl; "The Flower Girl" in a wooded area with her dog; "Young Captain Jinks"; "Little Buttercup"; a woman pondering "Yes Or No" to a written marriage proposal; the engaged woman holding a portrait photograph in "Yes"; portraits of George and Martha Washington and Henry W. Longfellow; chicks confronting "The Unwelcome Visitor" of a frog; a mother kissing the hand of her daughter - "Grandma's Pet" - in a highchair next to her grandmother; "The Angel's Message"; "A Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year" family portrait; "The Young Student" reading on a grassy cliff overlooking a cove; puppies learning "The First Lesson" of hunting vermin; "Puss in Boots" showing a kitten in a boot; the buck "The Monarch of the Glen"; a girl covered in ink from her "Little Mischief" to write with a quill pen; children "Fruit Gatherers" at a fruit tree by a lake; and a woman on an evening "Meditation" near a sun dial., Copyrighted., Presented to every subscriber to The People’s Illustrated Fireside Magazine., Case shaped liked book binding and illustrated on recto and verso. Images include vignette showing a hearth and floral and geometric pictorial details., Text on spine reads: Premium with The Peoples Illustrated Fireside Magazine. 32 Gems., Prints numbered lower left corner: 1-2; 4-23; 26-33. Some in manuscript., Peleg Orison Vickery, publisher and politician, established Fireside Magazine in 1874. The periodical contained fictional stories and served as a mail order catalog., 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
1881
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helen Beitler Graphic Ephemera Collection [P.2011.10.1a-dd]
Series of illustrated trade cards entitled "The morning prayer," "The talking well," "Le dernière mode," "O Nannie, wilt thou gang wi' me?" and "Little Red-riding-hood" depicting a mother praying with her two children and a pet cat; a woman leaning against a well as her lover spies on her from behind a stone wall; a girl playfully wearing a basket on her head; a woman seated with a dog at her feet as a man stands over her and proposes; and a young girl, Little Red Riding Hood, bundled in a red cape with a basket at her feet., Title supplied by cataloger., Advertising text printed on versos promotes Dr. Jayne's "carminative basalm" and "tonic vermifuge" for conditions afflicting the bowels; "sanative pills" for bilious disorders and for worms in children; and "expectorant" and "liniment" for colds and lung issues., Trade cards issued by Lancaster Thomas, Nineteenth and Pine Streets, Philadelphia; Mackeown, Bower, Ellis & Co., Tenth and Market Streets, Philadelphia; Alfred B. Taylor, 31 S. Eleventh Street, Philadelphia; and Wm. McIntyre, 2229 Frankford Avenue, 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 - Jayne's [1975.F.487; 1975.F.628; 1975.F.878; 1975.F.884; P.2002.67.15]
Lantern slide formerly owned and probably used in art lessons by Philadelphia painter, photographer, and art teacher, Xanthus Smith. Depicts the proposal of marriage of Persian King Ahasuerus to the Hebrew Esther. In the center, the King stands from his grand, golden throne, attired in a crown and robes, and holds a scepter in his left hand. He reaches his right hand out to Esther, attired in a white dress and veil and a gold necklace and bracelets. Behind her are attendants, one of which holds a parasol over her. A Black woman, attired in a red and gold dress and a gold necklace and earrings, kneels carrying the future Queen’s crown on a red pillow. In the right, women musicians play the harp and drum. Also in the image are several censors of burning incense., Title from partially legible label on mount., Number 21 in "Bible History" series., Gift of Edna Andrade, 1994., 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
[ca. 1875]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Lantern Slides-Smith, Xanthus [P.9471]
