Plan of the Mercantile Library of Philadelphia. 10th Street above Chestnut.
Title
Plan of the Mercantile Library of Philadelphia. 10th Street above Chestnut
Description
Plan for the library building originally built circa 1859 after the designs of John McArthur as a market house. Shows the ground and second floor plans including dimensions, "Front Elevation on 10th Street," and "Interior elevation of Rear Wall." Floor plans include reading rooms for ladies and gentlemen, library room containing "desks for changing books" and book cases, toilet, ladies parlor, desk for umbrellas, writing and business room, lecture room, gentleman's conversation room, work room, committee room, board room, librarian's and janitor's residences, chess room, and newspaper room. Interior elevation contains a sky light and stained glass window. The library, organized in 1821 for the benefit of merchants and merchant clerks, purchased the building in 1867 and relocated in 1869., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 608, Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
Date
[ca. 1869]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW - Libraries - Mercantile [P.8922]
Mercantile Library, on the southeast corner of Fifth and Library Street. [graphic] / Photograph by Richards.
Title
Mercantile Library, on the southeast corner of Fifth and Library Street
Description
View showing the building of the library, organized in 1821 for the benefit of merchants and merchant clerks, built 1844-45 after the designs of William Johnston at 125 South Fifth Street. Includes a horse-drawn carriage parked in front of the library and a partial view of Independence Square. Building demolished circa 1925., Title and photographer's imprint from Poulson inscription on mount., Date inscribed on photograph., Mount inscribed with directions: N. E. S. W., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Select link below for a digital image., Originally part of a series of eleven scrapbooks compiled by Philadelphia antiquarian Charles A. Poulson in the late 1850s entitled "Illustrations of Philadelphia" volume 3, page 111. The scrapbooks contained approximately 120 photographs by Philadelphia painter and pioneer photographer Richards of 18th-century public, commercial, and residential buildings in the city of Philadelphia commissioned by Poulson to document the vanishing architectural landscape., Reproduced in The Print and Photograph Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia's Center City Philadelphia in the 19th century (Portsmouth, N.H.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 11., Arcadia caption text: William L. Johnston designed this Greek Revival edifice, constructed 1844-1845, at the southeast corner of Fifth and Library streets for the Mercantile Library Company of Philadelphia, which formed in 1821 as a member-supported institution for merchants and clerks. Initially serving the specific interests of bankers, traders, and accountants, by the late 19th century the library became a place for the general public to utilize its collection of newspapers, magazines, and novels. Pictured here in 1858, the library relocated in 1869. The building was demolished c. 1925.
Creator
Richards, F. De B. (Frederick De Bourg), photographer
Date
December 1858
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Richards - Libraries - M [(3)2526.F.111 (Poulson)], http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/2526f111.jpg
Mercantile Library. [graphic].
Title
Mercantile Library
Description
Views showing the library built 1844-45 after the designs of William Johnston at 125 South Fifth Street. Demolished circa 1925. Image includes the Library Company of Philadelphia, a partial view of Philadelphia Dispensary, four horse-drawn carriages, and the block of Fifth Street between Market and Chestnut streets in the background., Yellow mounts, including two with rounded and one with square corners., Title from labels on versos of P.9260.9 and P.9573.14., One of images originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of views of Philadelphia., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Bartlett & French was a partnership between Philadelphia photographers George O. Bartlett and William French circa 1867-1868.
Creator
Bartlett & French, photographer
Date
ca. 1868
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Bartlett & French - Libraries [(8)1322.F.5f; P.9260.9; P.9573.14]