[The scourged back]
Title
[The scourged back]
Description
Three-quarter length portrait showing the severely scarred back of the former enslaved and Union soldier, Peter, also known as Gordon, taken during a medical examination in Louisiana and sent to the Surgeon General of Massachusetts. Peter is seated, and with his back to the camera. His head is turned left and he holds his left hand on his lef hip. He wears a goatee and his hair is in tight curls., Image reproduced as wood engraving with accompanying article in Harper's weekly, July 4, 1863, p. 429. (LCP **Per H, 1863.) Name of photographer supplied by article., Title and publication information supplied by William Darrah's Cartes-de-visite in nineteenth century photography (Gettysburg: William C. Darrah, 1981), p. 148., One of three variant photographs depicting Peter posed with his back to the camera., Manuscript note in modern hand on verso of P.8925.4 attributes copy to publisher C. Seaver, Jr.: "Gordon" by C. Seaver, Jr. Seaver, Jr., a Boston photographer, published the carte-de-visite in support of the abolitionist movement., 5786.F.157c originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Civil War Miscellanies. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., P.8925.4 accessioned 1982, found in collection., Recent scholarship has shown the identity of the man photographed in "The Scourged Back" to be a man named Peter, not Gordon. See David Silkenat, "'A Typical Negro': Gordon, Peter, Vincent Colyer, and the the story behind slavery's most famous photograph," American Nineteenth Century History 15, no. 2 (2014): 169-186. Copy in LCP Graphic Arts Department Research file - Peter., Description revised 2025., Access points revised 2025., 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
M'Pherson and Oliver, photographer
Date
[ca. 1863]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Peter [5786.F.157c; P.8925.4]
Portraits
Title
Portraits
Description
Bound volume of portrait plates issued between circa 1804 and 1831 from various publications, including "Mechanics Magazine"; "New British Lady's Magazine"; and the compilation "Boxiana or Sketches of Antient [sic] and Modern Pugilism" (London: George Virtue, 1829). Portraits depict prominent and celebrity European figures, predominantly from Great Britain, including clergymen, legislators, entertainers, scientists and inventors, royalty and pugilists. Plates include full-length, half-length, and bust-length portraiture, with some containing backgrounds, props, or ornate borders. Portraits of religious figures predominantly published by London publishers F. Westley and Westley & Davis and arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Portraits of legislators, celebrity and other prominent figures predominantly published by London publishers Fisher Son & Co. and J. Robins & Co. and arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Portraits of pugilists predominantly published by G. Smeeten and Sherwood, Jones & Co. and most arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Volume also includes a title page and views titled "The John Bull Fighters Splendid Silver Cup" and "A Sparring Match at the Fives Court" from the Pierce Egan's "Boxiana" series originally published in parts in 1813 and later as volumes between 1818 and 1828., Sitters include reverends George Burder (Senior Secretary of the London Missionary Society), William Milne (Late Missionary to the Chinese), David Stuart (Theological Tutor of the Irish Evangelical), and Robert Vaughan; physician Carl Linnaeus; inventor Sir Richard Arkwright; Queen Caroline; statesman John Wilson Croker; authors Madame De Genlis, Madame De Stael, and Hannah More; (Victoria Mary Louisa) Duchess of Kent; George I, II, III, and IV; performers Josephine Girardelli and Anna Maria Tree; architect Peter Nicholson; Whig politician Thomas Spring Rice; and chemist William Hyde Wollaston. Sitters also include pugilists Peter Crawley; Dick Curtis; Josh Hudson; Tom Owen; Ned Painter; Dutch Sam (i.e., Samuel Elias); Ned Turner; and expatriate, African American pugilists Bill Richmond and Tom Molyneux (portraits on the same page)., Portraits of Bill Richmond and Tom Molyneux show the men in bust-length. Richmond looks slight to the right. He has curly hair and is attired in a patterned shirt with a ruffled collar and a jacket. Molyneux is shown in right profile. He has curly hair and is attired in a shirt with a ruffled collar and a jacket., Title from stamp on spine., Inscribed on front free end paper: R. B. bind as arranged., Pages numbered in ink in upper left corner., Inscribed on verso of portrait of ‘His Most Gracious Majesty, George Augustus-Frederick The Fourth” (p. 110): On Celebrated Englishmen, Various artists and engravers, including George Cruikshank; Isaac Robert Cruikshank; Fenner, Sears & Co.; W. T. Fry; W. Hollins; Thomas Lawrence; R. Page; W. T. Page; George Parker; Sherwood, Jones & Co.; J. R. Wildman; and J. W. Wright., Publishers include Knight & Lacey; George Smeeton; F. Westley; Westley & Davis; T. Williams; and Williams & Smith., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Accessioned 1882., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date
[ca. 1804-ca. 1831]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [Uz 3 51278.O]
Portrait Prints and Boxiana Album
Title
Portraits
Description
Bound volume of portrait plates issued between circa 1804 and 1831 from various publications, including "Mechanics Magazine"; "New British Lady's Magazine"; and the compilation "Boxiana or Sketches of Antient [sic] and Modern Pugilism" (London: George Virtue, 1829). Portraits depict prominent and celebrity European figures, predominantly from Great Britain, including clergymen, legislators, entertainers, scientists and inventors, royalty and pugilists. Plates include full-length, half-length, and bust-length portraiture, with some containing backgrounds, props, or ornate borders. Portraits of religious figures predominantly published by London publishers F. Westley and Westley & Davis and arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Portraits of legislators, celebrity and other prominent figures predominantly published by London publishers Fisher Son & Co. and J. Robins & Co. and arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Portraits of pugilists predominantly published by G. Smeeten and Sherwood, Jones & Co. and most arranged in alphabetical order by sitter's name. Volume also includes a title page and views titled "The John Bull Fighters Splendid Silver Cup" and "A Sparring Match at the Fives Court" from the Pierce Egan's "Boxiana" series originally published in parts in 1813 and later as volumes between 1818 and 1828., Sitters include reverends George Burder (Senior Secretary of the London Missionary Society), William Milne (Late Missionary to the Chinese), David Stuart (Theological Tutor of the Irish Evangelical), and Robert Vaughan; physician Carl Linnaeus; inventor Sir Richard Arkwright; Queen Caroline; statesman John Wilson Croker; authors Madame De Genlis, Madame De Stael, and Hannah More; (Victoria Mary Louisa) Duchess of Kent; George I, II, III, and IV; performers Josephine Girardelli and Anna Maria Tree; architect Peter Nicholson; Whig politician Thomas Spring Rice; and chemist William Hyde Wollaston. Sitters also include pugilists Peter Crawley; Dick Curtis; Josh Hudson; Tom Owen; Ned Painter; Dutch Sam (i.e., Samuel Elias); Ned Turner; and expatriate, African American pugilists Bill Richmond and Tom Molyneux (portraits on the same page)., Portraits of Bill Richmond and Tom Molyneux show the men in bust-length. Richmond looks slight to the right. He has curly hair and is attired in a patterned shirt with a ruffled collar and a jacket. Molyneux is shown in right profile. He has curly hair and is attired in a shirt with a ruffled collar and a jacket., Title from stamp on spine., Inscribed on front free end paper: R. B. bind as arranged., Pages numbered in ink in upper left corner., Inscribed on verso of portrait of ‘His Most Gracious Majesty, George Augustus-Frederick The Fourth” (p. 110): On Celebrated Englishmen, Various artists and engravers, including George Cruikshank; Isaac Robert Cruikshank; Fenner, Sears & Co.; W. T. Fry; W. Hollins; Thomas Lawrence; R. Page; W. T. Page; George Parker; Sherwood, Jones & Co.; J. R. Wildman; and J. W. Wright., Publishers include Knight & Lacey; George Smeeton; F. Westley; Westley & Davis; T. Williams; and Williams & Smith., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Accessioned 1882., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date
[ca. 1804-ca. 1831]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [Uz 3 51278.O]