Hand-colored tissue stereograph depicts interior view of shop where skeletons surround a man who is passed out or dead in a chair. The Devil stands behind a counter holding out a container to the man, presumably containing the substance that cause(d) the man's demise. A skeleton stirs a concoction in a large pot behind the devil figure. Skeletons on the street are visible through the open doorway., Title on negative., Yellow mount with rounded corners and embossed decorative pattern surrounding images., Diables stereographs, also known as Journey into Hell stereographs, were among the most popular tissue stereographs issued from 1868 to 1874. They often depicted earthly sins that could lead one to hell., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Gift of William Helfand.
Date
[ca. 1870]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unidentified - Genre [P.2009.13.5]
Life membership certificate containing a montage of plants, animals, minerals and fossils to represent different fields of the natural sciences, i.e., natural history, taught at the institute. Iconography encircles an oval containing the certificate text. Includes a bat for "Mammalia"; a human skull for "Anatomy"; an eagle for "Ornithology" perched on a slab with rocks and minerals for "Mineralogy"; a butterfly for "Entomology"; stems of flowers and plants for "Botany"; a thorny fish for "Ichtheology"; pre-historic crustaceans for "Palaeonotolgy"; the skeleton of an elephant for "Comparative Anatomy"; a shell for "Conchology"; a rattlesnake for "Herpetology"; a horseshoe crab for "Crustacea"; and Fossils - "Botany," Entomology," "Crustacea," and "Zoology" showing a fossilized plant, fish, dragon fly and lobster. Filigree adorns the corners. Wagner Free Institute was founded in 1855 by philanthropist and professor William Wagner to provide free public education in the sciences. Wagner donated his large collection of specimens and his science library in addition to monetary support to establish the institution., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 266, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Certificates - Wagner Free, P. S. Duval & Co. operated as a firm 1851-1857., Inscription lower left corner torn: Est. C. J. [ ?].
Date
[ca. 1855]
Location
Historical Society of Pennsylvania | Print Department | HSP at LCP HSP Certificates - Wagner Free
