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Title: Plan for the permanent improvement of Independence Square Designed by George F. Gordon
Description: Circular illustration showing an oblique elevation looking southwest at Independence Square, situated between Fifth and Sixth Streets, and Chestnut and Walnut Streets, modified with George F. Gordon's proposed changes. Includes old City Hall built 1790-1791 after the designs of David Evans, Jr. (500 Chestnut); Independence Hall, built 1732-1748 after designs by Andrew Hamilton and Edmund Woolley (520 Chestnut Street); and Congress Hall built 1787-1789 (540-558 Chestnut). Eight equidistant walkways, "to be thirty feet wide, to be laid with variegated tile," radiate from the center to the corners of the square and are connected by a circular walk. Also shows the unexecuted Independence Monument (center), slated to be erected by the Thirteen Original States. Two fountains near Walnut Street demonstrate the creator's desire to beautify the square with "fountains, vases, statuary, and flower beds of all varieties"; and bronze statues on pedestals of the fifty-six signers of "The Declaration of Independence" lining the periphery of the square, which on three sides is completely open and accessible to pedestrians via granite steps. Statues of George Washington, William Penn, a group of Native Americans, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay would face Chestnut Street near Independence Hall., Contains passages of explicative text printed on verso. Text describes how to achieve this plan for the square. The old brick wall surrounding the square would be removed, along with the court house on Sixth Street, and the building occuppied by the Philosophical Society on Fifth Street. Gordon submitted his plan and description in January of 1875 "in the hope, that now, at last, in the Centennial hour of our nation, something may be done, worthy of the sacred place in our midst.", Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 605
Creator: Billings, H.B, artist
Date: 1874
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *BW - Parks & Squares [21095.O.7]

Title: State-House, with a view of Chesnut [sic] Street Philadelphia
Description: View showing Chestnut Street between Fifth and Sixth streets including Independence Hall (built from 1732-48) and the U.S. Supreme Court building, orginally built in 1791 for a city hall. In the foreground, a woman and child walk passed a guardhouse and pump. The State House, built after the designs of Andrewr Hamilton and Edmund Wooley, was initially used as the meeting place of the Pennsylvania Assembly. The U.S. Supreme Court adjudicated in Philadelphia from 1790 to 1800., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., Illustrated in S. Robert Teitelman's Birch's Views of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982, rev. 2000), pl. 21.
Creator: W. Birch & Son
Date: 1798
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 21/P.2276.47]

Title: Old State House, Congress Hall and Town Hall, Chesnut [sic] Street Philadelphia
Description: Street scene on Chestnut Street below Sixth Street with views of Independence Hall (completed in 1748), and the adjacent Congress Hall (Town Hall), completed in 1789 as a county courthouse, and used by Congress from 1790 to 1800. Depicts several men convened outside Congress Hall; couples strolling the sidewalk; and horse-drawn carriages, a man on horseback, and a boy with a dog traversing the street. Includes view of the building originally built as a city hall, and used as the seat of the Supreme Court from 1790 to 1800., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
Creator: Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834
Date: [1804]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 33/P.2276.69]

Title: Philadelphia, from the State House steeple, north, east and south
Description: Panoramic view looking east toward the Delaware River predominantly showing the area east of Fifth Street between Arch and South Streets from Independence Hall. Includes the Court House, i.e. City Hall (500 Chestnut Street); Philadelphia Library, i.e., Library Company of Philadelphia (105 S. Fifth Street); a flag flying on top of the U.S. Bank, i.e., Second Bank of the U.S. (420 Chestnut Street); the spires of Christ Church (22-34 N. Second Street) and St. Peter's Church (300-340 Pine Street). Also shows part of the State House garden; the north side of the 500 block of Chestnut Street, including adjoined storefronts tenanted by the American Hotel (181-183 Chestnut Street); S.L. Simons daguerreotype rooms (179 Chestnut Street); Geo. Earle's Pantechnethica (175 Chestnut Street); Geo. J. Henkels' City Cabinet Wareroom (173 Chestnut Street); and a clothing store on the northwest corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets. Also depicts rooftop views (including people on the roofs) of several of the surrounding city blocks; and a few pedestrians and a horse-drawn carriage on Chestnut Street and the grounds of the State House. Sailboats and a steamboat are visible on the Delaware River in the distance, along with the horizon of Camden, N.J., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 587, Wainwright retrospective conversion project, edited.
Creator: Elliot, Leo von, 1816-1890, artist
Date: c1849
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **W287 [P.2125]

Title: Illustrations of Philadelphia
Description: Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and graphics dated between 1858 and 1859 pertaining to the built environment, and social, cultural, economic, and political climate of Philadelphia. Subject matter includes overviews of Central High School, the schism between Orthodox and Hicksite Quakers, and the construction of the Continental Hotel; descriptions of Maelzel's Chess Automoton; reports of sold, new, forthcoming, and razed buildings, particularly on Arch, Chestnut, Walnut, and North Third streets; the development of Fairmount Park; police station and fire hose company demonstrations and events; reports on the state of local trades and manufacturing, including wool, buttons, and straw goods; descriptions of fancy balls of local clubs and organizations, including the Sons of Malta; passed city ordinances, including the forbiddance of market wagons standing on Market Street; church events and pew sales; estate, building, and personal library sales by noted auction house M. Thomas & Sons; public displays of art, including Thomas Sully's "Illustrations of Robinson Crusoe" at the Earle's Galleries; theatre engagements, particularly at Walnut Street Theatre; weather conditions and their effects on the citizenry; and local anecdotes, including scams. Also contains real estate, stock, and cattle market price lists; classified, commencement, benevolent institution, and "Balls and Parties" listings; an illustrated sheet music advertisement for "Philadelphia Passenger Rail Road Polka by Goldsmith"; a public notice against coal ashes thrown on side walks; Poulson's invitations to club meetings (Wistar Party and Franklin Lodge); and periodical illustrations, advertisements, and prints showing businesses, schools, household furnishings and implements, and social satires, predominately about women's fashion., Graphic materials include engravings, lithographs, trade cards and cameo stamps depicting A. Wiltberger, druggist (233 N. Second); Charles Adams, dry goods (Arch & Eighth); D. G. Wilson and J. G. Childs & Co., Philadelphia Plantation & Road Wagon Works (2612 N. Second); Edwin Greble, dealer in foreign and domestic marble (1700 block Chestnut Street); E. P. Moyer & Bros., harness and trunk makers; Gans Leberman & Co. (16 N. Third), wholesale clothing emporium; George Doll & Co., importers of fancy goods (14 N. Sixth); Jones, White & McCurdy Dental College (700 block Arch); Lightfoot, Shoemaker & Co., hats (415 Arch); Mount Vernon Hotel (117-119 N. Second); North, Chase & North, stoves, heaters and ranges (Second anf Mifflin); [Samuel] Simes, chemist (Twelfth and Chestnut); Schaffer & Roberts, fancy goods and notions (429 Market); Watson & Cox, wire manufactory (46 N. Front); Wm. A. Drown & Co., umbrella manufactory (246 Market); Wm. Colbert, Safety Envelope Manufactory (123 S. Fourth); William Warnock, dry goods (39 N. 8th St.); the Hope Hose & Steam Fire Engine Co. No. 2 of Philadelphia; "H. Sebald, Designer & Engraver on Wood"; Maas & Vogdes, fancy printers; [William] McRea, stationer, card engraver & printer; "Phalon’s Cocin or Cocoa-nut Oil"; and "Spalding’s liquid glue." Prints also depict vignette images of cooking ranges, stoves, a piano, and a window awning, and cartoons satirizing ladies crinolines and the political "Salt River.", Majority of contents annotated with a date by Poulson., Title page illustrated with a lithograph and wood engraving. Lithograph is a ca. 1856 lithographer's advertisement issued by Wagner & McGuigan after the work of lithographer Maurice Traubel and artist William Croome. Depicts an allegorical, patriotic scene with the figure of Columbia, attired in a toga, American flag, and laurel wreath, and with a broken shackle under her foot as she stands on a pedestal. Wood engraving shows "Independence Hall.", Verso of title page contains Poulson inscription: "The "Articles" in the book are taken from fugitive sources only; and the dates affixed to each are those of the newspapers &c from which they were procurred." Cut out designed with ornamental pictorial details frames inscription., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Artists, engravers, printers, and publishers include J. H. Byram; George G. Evans; Familton & Chemin; F. Pilliner; David Scattergood; Robert Telfer; [Wellington?] Williams; and Van Ingen & Snyder., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1858-1859
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 1 [(1)2526.F]

Title: Illustrations of Philadelphia, from fugitive sources only
Description: Scrapbook containing clippings, prints, and ephemera dated between 1778 and 1864 pertaining to the built environment, and social and cultural climate of Philadelphia. Illustrated newspaper and periodical clippings (several from The Casket) describing prominent city landmarks during the 1820s to 1840s forms the majority of the content. Subjects include St. Stephens Church (Poulson's annotation states image includes the rear of President’s House on Ninth Street in background); Pagoda near Philadelphia; Gray's Ferry; the Philadelphia Library (i.e., Library Company of Philadelphia); "Statue of Wm. Penn, at the South Front of the Pennsylvania Hospital"; "New Street Cleaning Machine"; and "Rail Shooting on the Delaware.", Scrapbook also contains newspaper articles, advertisements, and prices lists. Subjects include historical anecdotes about Market Street in 1729, the Library Company of Philadelphia, Walnut Street Theatre, Letitia Court, Dock Street, Superstitions of ‘Ye Olden Times,’ and American “firsts”; improvements and alterations to city architecture, including Walnut Street Theatre and the State House; Infant Schools; the April 25, 1846 Eclipse of the Sun; an 1828 transparency illustrated with a caricature of Andrew Jackson; the dissolution of the circulation of “small notes” (1828); the Labyrinth Garden of Thomas Smith at Arch above Broad; Pennsylvania Museum and Menagerie (Market Street); commemoration of the Landing of William Penn; steamboat and stage coach schedules (1828); shift in social classes in Philadelphia society (1842); the 1837 court case against Commodore Perry sloop Capt. Blankman; and the Mauch Chunk Railway. Ephemera includes a facsimile of the original circular "Proposal for the Printing of a large Bible, by William Bradford" held by Nathan Kite. Many of the articles are accompanied by commentaries or are partially transcribed by Poulson. Scrapbook also includes detailed manuscript notes about Hamilton Mansion and the Old Court House., Graphic materials, predominately advertisements and views of prominent landmarks, include wood engravings, engravings, lithographs, and an albumen print. Views include images of "T.W. Dyott’s Apoth’y and Patent Medicine Store N.E. cor. Vine and Second Street"; "Gray’s Ferry on the Schuylkill (a Relic of the Olden Time)"; "Green Hill, The Seat of Samuel Meredith Esq. near Philadelphia"; Birmingham Meeting House "from a Daguerreotype by Mess. Langenheim"; and Cornelius & Baker manufactories on Cherry Street and Columbia Avenue. Advertisements depict N. Lloyd & Son (Seventh and Cherry) elegant coal grates; John Duross Black Horse Alley Old and Extensive Printing Establishment (showing a printing press); M.B. Dyott, manufacturer of Gas Fixtures and Lamps; Bennett’s Tower Hall Clothing Bazaar; Moore, Henzey & Co., hardware; and Wright, Smith & Co., china, glass, queensware. Graphics also include an 1828 vignette showing a carriage and captioned "High Fashion"; "The Stage Coach in 1816"; an 1857 caricature of a Quaker couple; and material added in the 20th century, including a 1905 photo-engraving of the "House and Counting House of Stephen Girard.", Majority of contents annotated with a date and explicative manuscript notes by Poulson., Title page illustrated with a ca. 1856 lithographer's advertisement issued for Wagner & McGuigan. Depicts an allegorical, patriotic scene with the figure of Columbia, attired in a toga, American flag, and laurel wreath, and with a broken shackle under her foot as she stands on a pedestal., Verso of front free end paper contains Poulson inscription: “The Dates of the articles herein, are those of the newspapers &c from which they were cut. Cut out designed with floral details frames the inscription., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Artists, engravers, and printers include John Boyd; William Breton; Jacob Hoffman; George Gilbert; John Hill; Kennedy & Lucas; E. Rogers; Frederick Pilliner, Samuel Sartain; M. Schmitz; James W. Steel; and George Worley., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Several pages have been removed., Small number of original photographs by McClees removed to the Print Department.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1798-1864, bulk 1829-1845
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 11 [(11)2526.F]

Title: Views of construction of New City Building, Philadelphia, John McArthur, Jr., architect
Description: Progress photographs of the early construction of City Hall built 1871-1901 on Penn Square after the designs of John McArthur, Jr. Photographs show different stages of the construction of the foundation and lower floor of the building between 1873 and 1875. Includes images of the dirt sub-basement; construction materials, equipment, and workers; and partially completed walls and abutments. Several of the views include scaffolding; horse-drawn carts; pulleys; piles of construction debris; and workers and well-dressed men, probably the commissioners, reviewing and posed on or near constructed parts of the building and construction materials. Views also show surrounding cityscape, including the west and south elevations of Masonic Temple (Broad and Filbert); the Pennsylvania Railroad freight depot (13th and Market); the towers of the gothic-style St. John the Evangelist Church (23-25 South 13th); West Penn Square Academy (s.w. corner of Market and Merrick); the spire of the Arch Street Methodist Episcopal Church (s.w. corner Broad and Arch); La Salle College High School (n.e. corner Broad and Filbert); and dwellings facing Penn Square. Also shows broadsides posted to the fence surrounding the construction site advertising Pugh & Creauthers furniture manufacturers and dealers (228 So. 2nd St.); Fox's New American Theatre; Arion Pianos (1308 Chestnut); and Secor Sewing Machines (Eighth and Walnut)., Six are from the Views of construction in sub-basement series and eight are from the Views of construction series., Series titled "Views of construction in sub-basement" (P.9840.3-7) copyrighted 1873 by James Cremer., Photographer's imprint on mounts., Dates on versos., Printed text on versos list names of architects and the Board of Commissioners., Yellow mounts with rounded corners., See also albums - Cremer [(1)23455.D and (2)23455.D], Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., From 1873 to 1875, Cremer documented the construction of Philadelphia's City Hall in a series of stereographs produced for the Commissioner for the Erection of the Public Building.
Creator: Cremer, James, 1821-1893
Date: December 1873-September 1875
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Cremer - Construction [P.9006.1-8; P.9079.5; P.9840.3-7]

Title: Collections from fugitive sources only, illustrative of the antiquities, progress & c. of the city Philadelphia
Description: Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and prints, predominantly dated between 1850 and 1855, pertaining to the history and built environment, and social, cultural, and economic climate of Philadelphia. Subject matter mainly relates to improvements to the cityscape, transportation, businesses and industry; historical articles (some illustrated) about the evolution of the city, including notices of destruction of former landmarks; daily, yearly, and seasonal accounts about the weather; and reports (and prices lists) for mortality, election returns, real estate sales, city permits, taxables, debt, stock, trade, exports, and cattle, domestic, and produce markets. Articles about city improvements (some illustrated) describe new construction of churches, storefronts and factories, residences, and places of amusement, on major Center City streets and outerlying neighborhoods, including Arch Street, North Second Street, Market Street, Chestnut Street, Belmont district, Bush Hill, Germantown, Moyamensing, North Philadelphia, Penn District, the Seventh Ward, Southwark, West Philadelphia, and the “vicinity of the Navy Yard.”, Properties referenced include the American Sunday School Union (1100 block Chestnut); Bulletin Building (Third Street below Chestnut); New Presbyterian and Tabernacle Baptist churches; Major Eastwick’s estate at Bartram’s Gardens, Newlin’s Brewery (100 block N. Second), the Farquhar Building (opp. Merchant’s Exchange); Girard Buildings (Chestnut and Third); Matthew T. Miller & Co. (Third and Chestnut); New Masonic Temple (713-721 Chestnut); Stoddart & Co. (278-282 N. Second); M. Thomas & Sons (100 block S. Fourth); Cornelius, Baker & Co. (800 block Cherry Street); Caleb, Cope & Co. (429 Market); the Concert Hall; City Museum; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Philadelphia Gas Works; Farmer & Mechanics Bank; Howell Evans, printing establishment (130 S. Fourth); New Iron Building (600 Arch); Xavier Bazin, perfumer (Seventh and Chestnut); T.W. Evans & Co., mantle and silk store (214-216 Chestnut); and the New Assembly Building (Tenth and Chestnut)., Also contains columns from the series “Benevolent Institutions of Philadelphia” (1849); “Churches and their Pastors” (1849); “Philadelphia in Olden times” (1853); “Reminiscences” (Sunday Dispatch, 1853); “The Progress of Philadelphia”; local historian Thompson Westcott’s “Street Scenes: Philadelphia in 1798, 1799 and 1800” (Sunday Dispatch, 1853); and "Revolutionary Relics" (1854). Topics of historical pieces include Cathedral Cemetery; several churches, including Assumption, Swedes, Tabernacle Baptist and Associate Presbyterian; Videll’s Alley; Market and Chestnut streets; Centre Square; the Pennsylvania Hospitals, including for the Insane in West Philadelphia; Naval Asylum; Commissioner’s Hall, Spring Garden; Robert Morris Mansion; the "libraries of Philadelphia," including the Library Company; and the city police, Quakers and Odd Fellows., Other articles report about the consolidation of the city (including a satiric piece criticizing the grand consolidation ball); Girard College; Philadelphia medical schools, including the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania; auctions conducted by M. Thomas & Sons and James A. Freeman; meteorological reviews, reports and bizarre weather lore, including the 1850 freshet on the Schuylkill; the gas industry in the city; various city water works, including Fairmount and Schuylkill; the number and improvements to omnibuses and their lines and other modes of transportation, including steam boats, ferries, and railroads; improvements to Camden; islands in the Delaware, including Windmill Island. Additional subject matter includes temporary housing of the Post Office in the Jayne Building on Dock Street; “haunts of vice and misery,” including raffling , i.e., gambling, and dance houses; the cleaning of streets through ordinances and sweeping machines; daguerreotypist M. A. Root as the first bidder of the auction of Jenny Lind Tickets in 1850; critical and satirical articles about the newest style of men’s striped pants, the 1855 city directory, the implementation of police hats, and artificial stone fronts on houses; an 1853 benefit at the Parisian Hippodrome; and a black book at the mayor’s office for the reception of “complaints of citizens.”, Scrapbook also contains wood engravings (several from newspaper and periodicals), engravings, cameo stamps, and lithographs. Graphics include predominantly advertisements and cameo stamps. Images show the various locations of the Charles Oakford hat manufactory, including his first shop on Lombard and the mulit-tenanted building on the 700 block of Chestnut; F.C. Kropff, chemical warehouse and laboratory (380 N. Sixth); Keen & Co., manufacturers of ranges and furnaces (Broad & Sansom); J. Smith Harris, merchant tailors (61 S. Fourth); Samuel Hart & Co., manufacturers of playing cards, mother o' pearl goods, and traveling bottles (236 S. Thirteenth); Thomas J. Dickson, brush manufacturer (66 S. Second); W.H. Maurice, blank book and stationery establishment (123 Chestnut); M. Thomas & Sons, auctioneers (67-69 S. Fourth); storefront and factory for Howell & Brothers, paper hangings; the storefront and Callowhill Street manufactory of Daniel Bohler & Co., essence of coffee; Horstmann’s Manufactory (Fifth and Cherry); James Moore’s Porter & Ale brewery (700 block S. Thirteenth); Inquirer Office Building (Third and Carter); interior view of George J. Henkels City Cabinet Warerooms (173 Chestnut); the New Hat Company’s Store (201 Chestnut); John H. Weaver & Co., grocers and tea dealers (Second and Pine); Homeopathic Medical College; J.W. McCurdy & Son, ladies boots and shoes (111 Chestnut); Pratt & Reath, watches & Jewelry (80 Market;) and "View of N.A. College of Health" (Fifth and Race)., Also includes views of benevolent and educational institutions and historical buildings; clipped vignettes showing “Parlors Stoves 1854,” "Newly invented chimney top ventilator," “Fashionable bonnet,” “Melodeons” (with descriptions and prices), spectacles, shoes dated 1832, a “Prize pianoforte,” and a “Washing Machine 1854”; and clipped images of street laborers, including a boy selling lozenges, a “pandy woman” holding a baby to her chest, a female “rag picker,” a girl selling fruit, an organ grinder, “itinerant news boy,” wood collector, and a street advertiser holding a picketed sign promoting "designer and engraver [David] "Scattergood." Latter annotated “a common method of advertising through the streets.”, Several of the clippings annotated by Poulson with dates and manuscript notes., Cut out designed as a monument-like edifice with ornamental pictorial details pasted on title page. Cut out frames title written in ink. Also includes vignette pen and ink sketch showing a beaver., Note by Poulson on verso of front free endpaper: "The dates affixed to the articles in this book, all generally, those of the newspapers from which they have been cut. CAP", Artists, engravers, and lithographers include J. H. Brightly, J. Cone, George T. Devereux, [ ] Farmelee, Alfred Hoffy, Francis Kearny, David Scattergood, R. Telfer, Wagner & McGuigan, and J. L. White., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Volume 7 includes separate index to volume. Index detached and housed with original of volume., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1828-1855, bulk 1850-1855
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 7 [(7)2526.F]

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