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Title: Osman
Description: Illustration accompanies the narrative, "The Dismal Swamp." A fugitive slave identified only as Osman sits amidst some tangled undergrowth. Holding his gun, he appears watchful. According to the text, a "tattered blanket" is wrapped about his shoulders, and he wears "little other clothing than a pair of ragged breeches an boots." His hair and beard are described as "tipped with gray." (p 453), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 13, no. 76 (September 1856), p. 452., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
Date: [September 1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 13 n 76 September 1856 p 452, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2873

Title: [Practical slavery and professional liberty]
Description: Image shows a reformed slave trader who reaches toward a female allegorical figure representing liberty, virtue, and independence, who is seated on a staircase above him. A harbor is visible in the background, as are four slaves (three adults and one child), two of whom appear to be bound., Frontispiece for Thomas Branagan's Penitential Tyrant (New York: Printed and sold by Samuel Wood, 1807)., Accompanied by the following description of the frontispiece: "It is intended as a contrast between Practical Slavery and Professional Liberty, and suggests to the citizens of the American States the following distich: 'Sons of Columbia, hear this truth in time, He who allows oppression shares the crime.' The temple of Liberty, with the motto of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which would as well become her sister states, is displayed; the Goddess, in a melancholy attitude, is seated under the Pillar of our Independence, bearing in her hand the Sword of Justice surmounted by the Cap of Liberty, while one foot rests on the Cornucopiae, and the Ensigns of America appear at her side. She is looking majestically sad on the African Slaves, landed on the shores of America, who are brought into view, in order to demonstrate the hypocrisy and villainy of professing to be votaries of liberty, while, at the same time, we encourage, or countenance, the most ignoble slavery.", Images in this work derived from oral testimony given before the British Parliament's Select Committee Appointed to Take the Examination of Witnesses Respecting the African Slave Trade originally published as An Abstract of the Evidence Delivered Before a Select Committee of the House of Commons in the Years 1790, and 1791; on the Part of the Petitioners for the abolition of the Slave-Trade (London: printed by James Phillips, 1791). Images also issued in a number of other printed works including Remarks on the Methods of Procuring Slaves with a Short Account of Their Treatment in the West-Indies (London: printed by and for Darton and Harvey, no. 66 Gracechurch Street, MDCCXCIII [1793]): Sclaven-Handel (Philadelphia: Gedruckt fur Tobias Hirte, bey Samuel Saur, 1794); Der Neue Hoch Deutsche Americanische Calender aur das Jahr 1797 (Baltimore: Samuel Saur, 1796); Injured Humanity: Being a Representation of What the Unhappy Children of Africa Endure From Those Who Call Themselves Christians... (New York: printed and sold by Samuel Wood, no. 362, Pearl Street, between 1805 and 1808); and The Mirror of Misery, or, Tyranny Exposed (New York: printed and sold by Samuel Wood, 1807) and later editions issued in 1811 and 1814., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
Creator: Edwin, David, 1776-1841, engraver
Date: [1807]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1807 Bra 2721.D frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2709

Title: The runaway
Description: Full length, right profile view of a runaway slave dressed in a collared shirt and a buttoned jacket, and carrying a bundle on his back., Caption title vignette in the Anti-Slavery Record (New York: Published by R.G. Williams, for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1837), vol. III, no. VII (July, 1937), whole no. 31, p. 1., Small caption underneath the image reads: "This picture of a poor fugitive is from one of the stereotype cuts manufactured in this city for the southern market, and used on handbills offering rewards for runaway slaves.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
Date: [July 1837]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per A 245 16998.D v 3 n 7 cover page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2860

Title: Extracts from recent correspondence in relation to fugitives from slavery in America
Description: Docket title. (Appears on bottom half of p. 4; reads perpendicular to text of p. 4.), Caption title: Fugitives from slavery., Introductory paragraph "Signed on behalf of the Committee of the Coloured Refugee Fund, Joseph Crosfield."
Creator: London Yearly Meeting (Society of Friends), Meeting for Sufferings, Committee of the Coloured Refugee Fund
Date: 1864
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare sm # Am 1864 Lond Yea Meet 7285.F

Title: A typical negro
Description: Three engravings accompanying the article "A Typical Negro." The text identifies them as "portraits" of Gordon, a fugitive Mississippi slave who joined the Union army in Baton Rouge. According to the unnamed author, the engravings were taken from photographs by McPherson and Oliver. The engraving on the left bears the title "Gordon as he entered our lines." It shows Gordon sitting on a stool with his hands folded on his lap and one leg crossed over the other. His clothing is frayed and tattered, and he wears no shoes. As the author explains, Gordon "entered our lines, with clothes torn and covered with mud and dirt from his long race through the swamps and bayous, chased as he had been for days and nights by his master with several neighbors and a pack of blood-hounds; . . . ." The middle engraving is titled "Gordon under medical inspection." Here, Gordon is seated on a stool with his bare back facing the viewer. The image offers a detailed view of the wounds and scars that cover his back. As the author commented, the engraving "shows him as he underwent the surgical examinations previous to being mustered into the service -- his back furrowed and scarred with the traces of a whipping administered on Christmas day." The portrait on the right is titled "Gordon in his uniform as a U.S. soldier." It shows Gordon in full military uniform, with all of his gear and his musket. This engraving, the author notes, "represents him in United States uniform, bearing the musket and prepared for duty.", Illustration in Harper's Weekly, vol. 7, no. 340 (July 4, 1863), p 429., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
Date: [July 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per H 1529.F v 7 n 340 July 4 1863 p 429, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2877

Title: You love the contrabands too much
Description: A white man kneels before a racistly depicted African- American man. The African-American man stands on a pedestal and has wings. "Contraband" here means "slave," and the sender rejects the recipient because of his sympathy for slaves. L. Prang & Co. first appeared in the Boston city directory in 1863., Text: You love the contrabands too much / To have love left for me, / And therefore you my Valentine / Can never hope to be., "18", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [1863-1865?]

Title: Journey of a slave from plantation to the battlefield
Description: Collection of twelve titled album (carte-de-visite size) cards depicting the evolution of the life of an African American man from enslavement to a Union soldier. "In the Cotton field" and "The Christmas Week" show his life on the plantation from which he is sold and separated from his family in "The Sale" and "The Parting: 'Buy us too'." His new enslaver whips him in "The Lash," for which he then retaliates in "Blow for Blow." He hides "In the Swamp" and is finally "Free!" to become a Union soldier and "Stand up a Man" to fight in the battlefield to "Make Way for Liberty!" He is struck down in "Victory!" for Liberty, depicted as a white woman, who states as she mourns over his body, "He Died for Me!", Title from series title., Publication information inferred from copyright statement: Entered according to the act of the year 1863 by William A. Stephens in the Clerks' Office of the Dist. Court of the U.S. for the E. Dist. of Pa., Attributed to James Fuller Queen after Henry Louis Stephens., Henry Louis Stephens was a native Philadelphia caricaturist, book, and magazine illustrator who worked in New York in the mid-19th century for the periodical "Frank Leslie's." His brother William Allen Stephens served as his business manager., Described in Gathering history: The Marian S. Carson Collection of Americana. (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1999), p. 26., Original wrapper for the card set held in the collections of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. [LOT 5174], Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of humorous caricatures and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Copyright by William A. Stephens, 1120 Girard Avenue, Philadelphia., Description revised 2023., Access points revised 2023., Queen, a Philadelphia lithographer and pioneer chromolithographer known for his attention to detail, served in the Civil War militia from 1862 until 1863, and created several lithographs with Civil War subjects.
Creator: Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, artist
Date: 1863
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Henry Louis Stephens Collection [(5)5780.F.56m-p; (5)5780.F.57a-h]

Title: Perilous escape of Eliza and child
Description: Print of a scene from Stowe's popular, anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," originally published in 1851. Depicts the character Eliza, an African American woman freedom seeker, escaping from Kentucky to Ohio across the icy Ohio River. Eliza, depicted barefoot and with a light skin tone, clutches her son Harry to her breast and straddles two blocks of ice as she looks behind her at the irate white man enslaver on the shore near the tavern from which she has fled., Title from item., Purchase 1997., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Stong was a prolific New York mid 19th-century lithographer, wood engraver, and publisher who mainly published stock prints.
Creator: Strong, Thomas W., lithographer
Date: [ca. 1853]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Fictional Characters [P.9524.2]

Title: Here is a picture of some slaves at work Reward of merit. This may certify that [Mr. George Snow] by diligence and attention to study, merits the approbation of [his] friends and teacher
Description: School token illustrated with a scene showing enslaved men and women working in a tobacco field near a shack. In the right, three younger enslaved men hoe and gather a bundle of tobacco. In the left, an enslaved man stands and converses with an enslaved woman, seated on a bale. They each hold the handles of farming implements. A large sack and crate rest to the left of the bale. In the left background, an enslaved woman stands in the doorway of the shack. Wooden buildings and harvested fields are visible in the right background. The young men wear short sleeves and shorts. The women wear dresses and the man wears short sleeves and pants. Rewards of merit were popular with teachers during the 19th century and were given to reward students who had excelled in their school work. The addition of pictures made a reward of merit card a more special acknowledgement of a pupil’s success., Title from illustration caption and text printed on verso., Date inferred from content of image and graphic medium., Verso contains decorative border surrounding the text., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Illustrated in Patricia Fenn and Alfred Malpa, Rewards of merit (Charlottesville, Va.: Ephemera Society of America, 1994), 118., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1830- ca. 1850]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Rewards of Merit - Slaves [118555.D]

Title: John Bull makes a discovery
Description: Racist cartoon reflecting the Northern fear that Britain's economic ties with Southern cotton growers would cause the British government to relinquish its abolitionist stance in order to support the Confederacy. Depicts a plump John Bull, representing Great Britain, centered between a kneeling enslaved African American man and a bale of cotton in a storage shed. Bull touches the hair of the African American man with his right hand and holds a piece of the cotton from the bale in the other. He declares, "it is certain that Cotton is more useful to me than Wool!!" In the left background, two African American men stand and cry. In the right background, a Southern white man plantation owner looks on and smiles., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Possible publisher supplied by Murrell., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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.
Creator: Currier & Ives
Date: [1861]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1861-40R [5780.Fa]

Title: The question settled
Description: Cartoon depicting Abraham Lincoln as "Old Abe," a white cat who drives "Jeff," (i.e., Jefferson Davis) depicted as a grey striped cat with a noose around his neck from the "United States" food dish. The black cat, "Contraband," (i.e., African American Civil War freedom seeker) makes his way into the dish from the other side. The plate rests upon the Union flag and a map depicting the lower Southern States blockaded by figures of Union ships., Title from item., Possible date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., During the Civil War, the U.S government declared African American freedom seekers as "contraband of war.", Purchase 1970., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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: [1862?]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1862-12W [7870.F]

Title: Cinque The chief of the Amistad captives
Description: Bust portrait of the enslaved leader after a painting by New Haven, Connecticut artist, Nathaniel Jocelyn, engraved by Philadelphia artist and Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society member, John Sartain, to raise funds for the enslaved ship mutineers' defense before the Supreme Court. Sartain reproduced the painting, commissioned in 1841 by Philadelphia African American abolitionist and Amistad Committee defense fund member, Robert Purvis, following the refusal of the Artist Fund Society to display the original at the society's 1841 exhibit. Depicts the West African, attired in a toga, walking cane in hand, slightly facing left, in front of a background of African landscape., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Date inferred from content., Printed on recto: fac simile of the original autograph., Original painting in the collections of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven, CT., LCP exhibition catalogue: Negro history, p. 34., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America, #61., See Ann Katherine Martinez's The Life and career of John Sartain (1808-1897): A nineteenth century Philadelphia printmaker (Ph.D dissertation, The George Washington University, 1986), p. 75-78., See Hugh Honour's The Image of the Black in western Art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989), part 2, vol. IV, p. 159-161., See Katherine Martinez's and Page Talbott's, eds. The Sartain family legacy (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), p. 66-67., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings. McAllister collection, gift, 1886., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Sartain, John, 1808-1897, engraver
Date: [ca. 1841]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait prints-C [5306.F.35]

Title: Cinque The chief of the Amistad captives
Description: Bust portrait of the enslaved leader after a painting by New Haven, Connecticut artist, Nathaniel Jocelyn, engraved by Philadelphia artist and Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society member, John Sartain, to raise funds for the enslaved ship mutineers' defense before the Supreme Court. Sartain reproduced the painting, commissioned in 1841 by Philadelphia African American abolitionist and Amistad Committee defense fund member, Robert Purvis, following the refusal of the Artist Fund Society to display the original at the society's 1841 exhibit. Depicts the West African, attired in a toga, walking cane in hand, slightly facing left, in front of a background of African landscape., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Date inferred from content., Printed on recto: fac simile of the original autograph., Original painting in the collections of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven, CT., LCP exhibition catalogue: Negro history, p. 34., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America, #61., See Ann Katherine Martinez's The Life and career of John Sartain (1808-1897): A nineteenth century Philadelphia printmaker (Ph.D dissertation, The George Washington University, 1986), p. 75-78., See Hugh Honour's The Image of the Black in western Art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989), part 2, vol. IV, p. 159-161., See Katherine Martinez's and Page Talbott's, eds. The Sartain family legacy (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), p. 66-67., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings. McAllister collection, gift, 1886., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Sartain, John, 1808-1897, engraver
Date: [ca. 1841]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait prints-C [5306.F.35]

Title: Uncle Tom and Little Eva
Description: Print of a scene from Stowe's popular, anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," originally published in 1851. Depicts Little Eva, the "angelic" young, white daughter of a Louisiana enslaver informing "Uncle Tom," the African American man enslaved by her father, of her impending death. Eva, with her blonde hair in ringlets and attired in a white dress, white stockings, and black shoes, points to heaven with her right hand and to the Bible in her lap with her left. She sits next to a barefooted, slightly hunched over Tom, attired in a red shirt with an open neck and blue pants, on a grassy mound in the woods. Also includes a cabin visible in the left background., Title from item., The Kellogg's firm, brothers Edmund Burke and Elijah Chapman, was a prolific New England lithographic firm that nearly rivaled Currier & Ives in the production of popular prints., Reaccessioned as P.9179.10., Purchase 1969., 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. 1853]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC-Fictional Characters [7807.F]

Title: First meeting of Uncle Tom and Eva
Description: Print of a scene from Stowe's popular, anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," originally published in 1851. Depicts "Uncle Tom," an enslaved African American man, and Evangeline St. Claire, the white daughter of a Louisiana enslaver, meeting on the steamship that is taking him to auction. On the deck, Tom, barefoot and attired in a red shirt, blue pants, and with shackles on his wrists, sits on a crate with a Bible in his lap. He talks to an attentive Eva, with her brown hair in ringlets and attired in a pink dress and black shoes, who is seated on a bundle of goods. Three bare-chested, enslaved African American men stand in the background behind a bundle and look on., Title from item., Purchase 1970., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Strong, Thomas W., lithographer
Date: [ca. 1853]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Fictional characters [7869.F]

Title: Diorama - Washington at Yorktown
Description: View of the diorama with mannequin figures and a painted backdrop exhibited during the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 recreating a scene from the Battle at Yorktown in October 1781. Shows troops marching and parading before officers, including Washington, on horseback. An African American man stands beside a horse, who is possibly a portrayal of Washington's enslaved valet William Lee. The diorama by Colonel F. Lienard was displayed within a skating rink at Twenty-Third and Chestnut Streets. Figures of Generals Lafayette and Rochambeau were also portrayed., Title from item., Publisher's imprint printed on verso., Buff mount with rounded corners., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., See "Washington at Yorktown," Philadelphia inquirer, December 13, 1875., See related print [Philadelphia roller skating rink, Twenty-third and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia] (trade card - Philadelphia [P.9839])., Purchase 2001.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co.
Date: Centennial Photographic Company
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Centennial Photographic Company [P.9982.2]

Title: "No higher law."
Description: Antislavery print denouncing the immorality of the Fugitive Slave Law by exploiting abolitionist Senator William H. Seward's famous quote that "a higher law" than the Constitution should exist regarding slavery. Shows "King Slavery," depicted as a bearded, bare-chested, white man, attired in a crown made of finger bones and armed with pistols in his waistband. The King sits and leans upon the arm of his throne composed of the "Fugitive Slave Bill," the Bible, and human skulls as he defiantly holds a whip of chains above his head. An American flag on a pole billows behind the throne. Below the throne, Seward, depicted as a priest, looks up and raises his left hand toward the King. He stands before a cat-faced altar inscribed "Sacred to Slavery," which rests upon a book of "Law" and pours oil from a container onto the altar fire, generating clouds of smoke. In the right, three enslaved men squat with their heads bowed. Senator Daniel Webster gestures toward them and holds a paper supporting the Fugitive Slave Bill "to the fullest extent." Near them, "Freedom," depicted as a bearded, white man and attired in a robe, displays his sense of defeat by removing his crown and lowering his liberty pole. In the left, an African American man freedom seeker fends off dogs attacking him. An African American woman freedom seeker and two children flee from two white men mercenaries on horseback and run toward a white woman with outstretched arms in front of a house. In the right background, the figure of Liberty falls from her pedestal., Title from item., Place of publication inferred from the residence of the distributor., Weitenkampf suggests date of publication as 1851., Text printed on recto: Price $3 A Hundred And Six Cents Single Copy., William Harned was an abolitionist printer in New York who also published the pamphlet, "The Fugitive Slave Bill:...." in 1850. (LCP Am 1850 Fug 16809.D.1)., A.B. Maurice and F.T. Cooper's The History of the 19th century in caricature (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1904), p. 156., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2000, p. 40-2., Purchase 1999., 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: [1851]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1851 - 2W [P.9739]

Title: The slavery question. Great prize-fight of the American eagle against the wolf and the alligator
Description: Cartoon portraying the extension of slavery as dependent upon the United States' successful annexation of California and Texas. Depicts the American eagle on a mound protecting her nest of hatchlings labeled "Texas" and "California" from a wolf and an alligator. The wolf dressed as a sheep is being restrained by John Bull who represents England and states, "I bet Canada" (a proposed U.S. annexation). The alligator is being restrained by Don Quixote who represents Spain and states, "I bet Cuba!" (another proposed U.S. annexation). In front of the nest sits a barefooted enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in torn and worn clothes. He holds his head in hands with the unbroken pot of slavery on his left and the broken pot of liberty, under the foot of John Bull, on his right. Behind the nest stands a bowery B'hoy figure holding a banner inscribed, "The Union Forever" and George Washington stating, "Go it, my boy you will beat them all.", Title from item., Publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., Inscribed: Pl. 4., Purchase 1975., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1844]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1844-75W [8138.F]

Title: The Clay compromise - a settler
Description: Racist cartoon satirizing the Clay Compromise of 1850 concerning the extension of slavery to the territories. Depicts a prostrate enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, who is being pulled by ropes from each end by a Northerner and Southerner. The Northerner states, "We are content with the Compromise," and the Southerner states, "An equal division is fair." Standing over the enslaved man is Henry Clay, who is poised with a sword to cut him in two. William Lloyd Garrison rushes to stop Clay, stating "let the Union go; but spare the man!" A Quaker man confers with a minister about the compromise, saying "Well I'm very glad that Friend Clay has interfered." The minister responds that he hopes the question is settled because his parishioners have been quarreling so long that they almost forgot to pay him. A white man overseer about to whip a group of enslaved men, attired in yellow sarongs, exclaims, "Damn the niggers! Their hides are so used to the whip that they mind it no more than a horse.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., RVCDC, Purchase 1991., 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: [1850]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1850 - Cla [P.9314.3]

Title: The Rail candidate
Description: Political cartoon questioning candidate Abraham Lincoln's ability to succeed in the presidential election of 1860 with the controversial antislavery plank as a part of the Republican Party’s platform. Depicts Lincoln with an expression of discomfort on his face and straddling a wooden rail labeled, "Republican Platform." He complains, "it is true I have split Rails, but I begin to feel as if this Rail would split me, it's the hardest stick I ever straddled." Carrying the front end of the rail is an African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature, who says in the vernacular, "Dis Nigger strong and willin, but it's awful hard work to carry Old Massa Abe on nothing but dis ere rail!!" The back end of the rail is carried by New York Tribune editor, abolitionist, and Lincoln supporter, Horace Greeley, who ensures that they will prove Lincoln can split rails and be elected President., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1860, by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern Distc. of N.Y., Probably drawn by Louis Maurer., Stamp on verso: L.A. DeVries., Purchase 1960., 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.
Creator: Currier & Ives
Date: 1860
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1860-31R [6419.F]

Title: "The Nigger" in the woodpile
Description: Racist political cartoon satirizing the Republican Party platform during the 1860 presidential election. In the right, shows Abraham Lincoln saying, “Little did I think when I split these rails, that they would be the means of elevating me to my present position" as he sits on top of a woodpile labeled, “Republican Platform.” An enslaved African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature with exaggerated features, sits within the intertwined rails of the platform. In the left, New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley is confronted by "Young America," depicted as a white man, who represents the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Greeley reassures him, "...you can safely vote our ticket, for we have no connection with the Abolitionist party, but our Platform is composed entirely of rails split by our candidate." "Young America" protests "It's no use old fellow! You can't pull that wool over my eyes, for I can see 'the Nigger' peeping through the rails," and he points his finger to the African American man in the woodpile., Title from item., Date from the copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1860, by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern Distt. of N.Y., Library Company, Annual report, 1967, p. 53., Accessioned 1999., 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.
Creator: Currier & Ives
Date: 1860
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1860-30R [P.9677]

Title: The triumph
Description: Print predicting the Union's triumph over the Confederacy using an allegory of "Humanitas" (i.e., Humanity) depicted as a white woman holding a child astride an eagle, reaching to save a shackled African American held on the ground by the evil "King Cotton." From a break in the clouds an apparition appears behind "Humanitas," including "Freedom" depicted as a woman wearing a crown of feathers holding a large American flag and a Liberty cap; "Christianity" depicted as a white woman holding a bible; "Justitia" depicted as a white woman holding scales; George Washington; Thomas Jefferson; and Benjamin Franklin. The oppressed enslaved person reaches up as "King Cotton," portrayed with an alligator head with a body composed of a bale of cotton with a holster of pistols, raises his hands in horror as the eagle clutches his cloak and shoots lightning bolts at his throne. To his right a column labeled "Lecompton", "Fugitive Slave," and "Missouri Compromise" is set aflame from the lightning. In the left, the "Hydra of Discord" accompanied by a hound "Fugitive Slave Law," a group of white men enslavers, and a Spaniard, who drops a package marked "Cuba $50,000,000," flee from the vision to the sea where a boat of enslaved African American men are docked. Contains eighteen lines of verse from Lord Byron's 1813 poem "The Giaour" below the image., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Reilly., Per Reilly, published key to print exists., Copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1861 by M. H. Traubel, in the Clerks Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Penna., Accessioned 1999., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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: 1861
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *political cartoons - 1862-15 [P.9654]

Title: [Album]
Description: Album belonging to Mary Anne Dickerson, a young middle-class African American Philadelphian, possibly created as a pedagogical exercise, with contributions dating from 1833 until 1882. Contains engraved plates depicting scenic views, and original and transcribed poems, prose, essays, and drawings on topics including friendship, motherhood, mortality, youth, death, flowers, female beauty, and refinement. Also contains a one page record of family deaths, marriages, and births with entries up to the birth of Mary Anne's grandson in 1882. Identified contributors are mainly Black elite scholars active in the African American anti-slavery and cultural communities of mid-19th century Philadelphia, New York, and Boston., Contains the following contributions: "The Mother's Joy," a poem by C.F., possibly by abolitionist and second wife of entrepreneur James Forten, Charlotte Vandine Forten; illustration after "The Boroom Slave" and the poem, "To the Album," by artist and activist Robert Douglass; prose, "To Mary Ann", about living a happy life by Philadelphian anti-slavery activist Amy Matilda Cassey; a memorial, "To My Dear Willie," by Mary Anne to her deceased son, William Jones; poem, "The Night of Death," by J.A.J., Mary Anne's husband, John A. Jones; Boston author and civil rights activist William C. Nell's transcription of the poem, "The Rights of Women"; allegorical prose on the meaning of life by New York abolitionist Harriet Forten Purvis; transcription of the poem, "The Pearl Diver," by white Philadelphian anti-slavery activist Arnold Buffum; prose to "Mary Annie" about remembrance by Ada, possibly by anti-slavery activist Sarah Forten Purvis or educator and anti-slavery activist Ada Howell Hinton; floral drawing by A.H.H., probably by Ada Howell Hinton; prose and floral watercolors by educator, abolitionist, and Quaker Sarah Mapps Douglass, the sister of Robert Douglass; "Lines Addressed to a Wreath of Flowers Designed on a Present for Mary Ann" by E.S. Webb, possibly Elizabeth Susan Webb, sister of novelist Frank J. Webb; and prose by Mary Anne about mortality. Additional entries of prose and poetry by John G. Dutton, E.S. Webb, Lydia A.B., Henrietta, W.F.P, and S.L.C., unattributed entry, "To Esther," and unattributed entry of a floral watercolor. Also contains engraved plates by A.B. Durand, C. Fielding, C.G. Childs, Robert Walter Weir, James Smillie and Thomas Cole entitled respectively, "Falls of the Sawkill"; "Italy, The Bay of Naples"; "Weehawken"; "Delaware Water Gap"; "Catskill Mountains"; "Fort Putnam"; and "Winnipiseogee Lake"., Title supplied by cataloguer., Inclusive range of dates inferred from entries inscribed with dates., Contains engraved illustrated title page: Album. The Mother's Joy., Blank album published in New York in 1833 by J.C. Ricker., Embossed and gilt morocco binding., Release of Dower document dated 1838 giving the Dickerson home to the surviving children, contemporary unidentified newspaper clippings, manuscript poetry transcriptions, contemporary greeting cards, trade card, and other miscellaneous loose items removed and housed separately., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1993, p. 17-25., Research file available at repository., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Dickerson, a pupil of African American educator Sarah Mapps Douglass, was the daughter of African American activists, Martin and Adelia Dickerson, and step-father Samuel Van Brackle.
Creator: Dickerson, Mary Anne, 1822-1858
Date: [ca. 1833-ca. 1882]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Mary Anne Dickerson album [13860.Q]

Title: Proclamation of Emancipation. By the President of the United States of America
Description: Print commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation containing a bust-length portrait of Abraham Lincoln and two abolitionist vignettes above text from the Proclamation. In the center, Lincoln, attired in a white collared shirt, a black bowtie, waistcoat, and jacket, faces slightly right and is bordered by an American eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows in front of a backdrop of American flags. To the left and right of the portrait are scenes of an auction of enslaved people, with an African American woman, and free African American men working in a carpentry shop. Below the scenes, two African American cherubs hold a banner inscribed, "By the President of the United States of America." Below the text, an allegorical vignette contrasts the productive North with the destitute South depicting a white woman crying, surrounded by her children, sitting underneath a tree., Title from item., Date from copyright statement., Purchase 1972., 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., J. Mayer & Company, the Boston lithography firm established by John Julius Mayer in 1862, specialized in practical lithography. Despite the official firm name, John Mayer had no partners.
Creator: J. Mayer & Co., lithographer
Date: 1865
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Emancipation [8025.F.4]

Title: All slaves were made freemen. By Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, January 1st, 1863. Come, then, able-bodied colored men, to the nearest United States camp, and fight for the stars and stripes
Description: Civil War recruitment print targeting African Americans by evoking the freedoms granted by the Emancipation Proclamation. Depicts a montage of symbolic scenes centered around an African American Union soldier triumphantly holding up a sword and an American flag with the banner "Freedom to the Slave." He stands near broken shackles upon a tri-color flag adorned with a coiled snake. The flag is tugged upon by one of three joyous African Americans freed from enslavement by an African American soldier. Other scenes depict an African American man reading a newspaper on a rocking chair near a plow and child, African American children entering a "Public School" near a church, and a regiment of "U.S. Colored Troops" marching across a battlefield strewn with dead bodies., Title printed on verso., Text of the "Original Version of the John Brown Song" by H.H. Brownell printed on verso., Described in LCP exhibition catalogue: Negro History, entry #139., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Civil War miscellany [(2)5786.F.107b]. Transferred from #Am 1863 All (2)5786.F.107b. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886. Accessioned 1987 [P.9179.44], 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Emancipation [P.9179.44; (2)5786.F.107b]

Title: In commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of American independence
Description: Elaborate Centennial Exhibition commemorative print depicting an arched monument containing a central full-length portrait of George Washington surrounded by vignettes; allegorical figures; and religious quotes by the first president. Washington is depicted mounted on his horse. Arch is adorned with the names of the 38 states and is flanked by columns containing views representing the industries of the North, East, South, and West. Views show a white man laborer of the North chopping a tree at a waterfront, white women loom workers of the East, an overseer on horseback watching an enslaved African American man picking cotton in the South, and a white man farmer reaping his harvest with a horse-drawn plow in the West. Columns also contain allegorical figures to represent the years 1776 and 1876. Justice and Independence (depicted as white women and holding the Declaration), and a prostrate British soldier represent the year 1776 and Peace and Liberty (depicted as white woman and holding a "Ballot"), and a seated enslaved African American man free from his shackles represent the year 1876. Monument also contains views of Independence Hall and Memorial Hall (Centennial Exhibition), the scene showing the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and allegorical figures and emblems symbolizing the classical and industrial arts. Other pictorial elements depict the all-seeing eye; American eagle, shield, and flag; vignettes showing Washington praying, and accepting the sword of surrender from Lord Cornwallis during the American Revolution; and vignette views with dimensions of Centennial Exhibition buildings. Buildings include the Art Gallery, Main Building, Agricultural Hall, Machinery Hall, and Horticultural Hall. The centennial of the United States was celebrated through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia., Not in Wainwright., Improvement copyrighted 1877 The Presbyterian Philadelphia, Pa., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 370, Gift of David Doret, 2007., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: 1876, 1877
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **BW - Centennial [P.2007.28.7]

Title: Washington birthday greetings
Description: Postcard containing an interpretation of Christian Schussele's 1864 painting "Washington and his Family" that was also issued as an engraving. Shows a domestic family group portrait with George and Martha Washington seated at a table, near which their step grand-children Nelly and William stand. A map rests on the table, and Washington holds a book in his lap. In the background, William Lee, an African American man enslaved by Washington who worked as his valet including during the Revolutionary War, enters the room holding a note on a tray. In the right foreground, Washington's overcoat and sword rest on a chair., Date inferred from postmark: Mass., Dec. 1910., Addressed in manuscript to: Mr. Ralph Osgood, Oak St., Springfield, Mass., Inscribed in lower left corner on verso: Cores. from Ethel., Contains cancelled one-cent stamp printed in green ink and depicting Benjamin Franklin in profile., Divided back., Gift of John Serembus, 2013., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1910]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP postcards - Non-Pennsylvania [P.2013.66]

Title: The Washington family
Description: Group portrait of George Washington, his wife Martha, and his two step-grandchildren gathered around a cloth-covered table. A seated George Washington, attired in civilian clothing, rests one arm on the table and the other on the shoulder of his step-grandson and namesake who stands next to a globe, which shows "America." His step-granddaughter, Nelly, stands next to a seated Martha on the other side of the table. Both are pointing at "North America, United States" on a large map unfurled on the table. William Lee, an African American man enslaved by Washington who worked as his valet including during the Revolutionary War, stands in the right background. He is attired in a white cravat and a black jacket and tucks his left hand into his jacket. A curtain is draped open near a column revealing a waterscape scene in the background., Title from item., Names of sitters printed in margin below image., Purchased with Davida T. Deutsch Women's History Fund, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Currier & Ives
Date: 1873
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Washington [P.2013.23]

Title: The house that Jeff built
Description: Cartoon attacking slavery and Jefferson Davis as the Confederate President. Contains twelve vignettes indicative of the inhumanity of the institution of slavery with accompanying verse following the frequently used cartoons scheme of the nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built." The vignettes starting with the house that Jeff built (a depiction of a "Slave Pen") continue to include images of bales of cotton; enslaved African Americans working in the cotton fields; an auction of enslaved African American men, women, and children; a white man auctioneer; shackles; a white man enslaver whipping an enslaved African American woman; and a portrait of "arch rebel" Davis. The vignettes end with the image of several smashed symbols of slavery, such as shackles and whips alongside a notice of Davis's execution. The accompanying verse predicts that "Jeffs infamous house is doom'd.", Title from item., Artist and publication information supplied by Reilly., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1863 by D.C. Johnson in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts., Purchase 1966., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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., David Claypoole Johnston (1779-1860), known as the "American Cruikshank," was a respected comic illustrator, engraver, and lithographer.
Creator: Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865, artist
Date: 1863
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1863-9 [7549.F]

Title: The resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia Who escaped from Richmond Va. in a box 3 feet long 2 1/2 ft. deep and 2 ft. wide
Description: Antislavery print celebrating the moment freedom seeker Henry Box Brown emerged from his crate in Philadelphia. Brown, with the assistance of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, escaped slavery by having himself shipped to Philadelphia where he emerged in the presence of abolitionists Professor Charles D. Cleveland, J. Miller M'Kim, William Still, and printer Lewis Thompson. Depicts Brown just emerging from his box with Still holding the crate's lid labeled, "Wm. Johnson, Arch St. Philadelphia, This side up with Care;" Cleveland with a saw in his right hand; M'Kim with a hatchet in one hand and using his other hand to help Still hold the lid; and Thompson pointing to Brown with his right hand as he holds in his free hand a walking stick., Title from item., Date inferred from variant described in Reilly and LCP copy described by Jeffrey Ruggles, The unboxing of Henry Box Brown (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 2003), 114. Ruggles notes copies of the print had been received and advertised by the "Anti-Slavery Bugle" of Ohio before March 8, 1851., Variant reproduced in William Still, The underground railroad (1872) p.70. [LCP Am 1872 Still, 56405.O]., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1975, p. 59-60., Purchase 1975., 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., Call number in location based on Reilly entry., Kramer was a German born painter and lithographer who worked with the Rosenthals, a prominent Philadelphia family of lithographers, by 1850 and through the early 1850s.
Creator: Kramer, Peter, 1823-1907, artist
Date: [ca. 1850 - ca. 1851]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1850-4R variant [8183.F]

Title: Reading the Emancipation Proclamation
Description: Print depicting a white Union soldier reading the Emancipation Proclamation to families of enslaved African Americans in a cabin. The families are depicted with anxious and solemn mannerisms. Family members surround the officer near a dining table and hearth. An older boy holds a torch providing the officer with light. The father watches over the soldier's shoulder. Other figures, including a "young woman with two children, the house servant of her [enslaver], not belonging to the cabin but happened to be in on the occasion" pray, cheer, and cling to their mothers. Interior also includes a side of bacon hanging next to a ladder, a drying line with cotton balls handing from it above the hearth, and a cradle. Contains portrait of Abraham Lincoln below the image. The Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863, granted African Americans not only their right to freedom but the right to join the Union Army., Title from item., Date from copyright statement., After painting by Henry Walker Herrick exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1865. Exhibited by "possessor" Lucius Stebbins., Publisher and copyright holder Stebbins published complementary pamphlet "Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1864 [sic]" that included "Description of the Engraving." Description: Old man at the right with folded hands, Grand-father; Old lady at the left with cane in hand, Grand-mother; man leaning on ladder, the father; woman with child in her arms, the mother; lad swinging his hat, oldest son; one holding torch, second son; little girl, oldest daughter; infant in the arms of its mother. Young woman with two children, the house servant of her master, not belonging to the cabin but happened to be in on the occasion. Party reading, Union Soldier. The internal view of the Cabin is true to nature. The stone chimney, garret, ladder, side of bacon, rough cradle, piece of sugar cane and cotton balls, &c, all combine to give a correct idea of the slaves' home. Lincoln Financial Foundation copy of pamphlet accessible at Internet Archive., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1993, p. 44., LCP exhibition catalogue: An African American Miscellany p. 22., Purchase 1993., 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., Lucius Stebbins (1810-1901), born in Massachussets, worked in Hartford, Connecticut, in the businesses of map coloring and subscription book publishing (American Publishing Company).
Creator: Watts, James W., -1895, engraver
Date: 1864
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC-Emancipation [P.9429]

Title: Emancipation Freedom for all, both black and white!
Description: Print depicting the Emancipation Proclamation for both African Americans and whites including equal opportunity to education. Depicts Lincoln raising his right hand and holding the "Emancipation Proclamation" in his left hand in the center between a poor white family and an enslaved African American family. Both families, attired in torn and worn clothing, stand and kneel as they hold their clasped hands up toward Lincoln, who treads upon broke shackles and a serpent. A "Spelling Book" lies on the ground near them. In the background, Union soldiers stop a white man enslaver from whipping a shackled and enslaved African American woman and children enter "Public School, No. 1." From the roof of the school waves a flag inscribed "Education to all Classes." Contains text from the Proclamation above the image, "and by virtue of the power and for the purpose of the aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves, within designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be free!", Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to the act of Congress A.D. 1865 by J.L. Magee in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania., Magee, a lithographer, painter, and cartoonist, established his own firm in Philadelphia in 1850., LCP exhibition catalogue: Negro History, p. 77., Accessioned 1999., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1865
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Emancipation [P.9702]

Title: Cartes de visite reproductions of Civil War era sketches by H.C. Bispham
Description: Collection of fifteen cartes de visite of sentimental, satiric, and racist Civil War era scenes, predominately depicting white men soldiers, by Philadelphia artist Henry Collins Bispham. Includes scenes of soldiers flushing out a sharpshooter, engaged in battle, wielding a knife, being thwarted from stealing a chicken and honey, dozing on watch, and confronted on horseback by a growling dog, as well as contrasting views of a Union and Confederate amputee soldier returning home. Racist caricatures show an ape walking with a cane, Lincoln spoon feeding a white man soldier the "Black Draft," and a downtrodden Southern white woman on the defense with an enslaved African American man on crutches and an African American boy. Other images show Abraham Lincoln as a dog confronting opossum Jefferson Davis on a tree and an itinerant white man musician with a monkey and dog. One scene includes a zouave., Two of the images signed by artist., Thirteen of the images attributed to Bispham., Created postfreeze., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of humorous caricatures and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - miscellaneous - Civil War - Caricatures & cartoons - Bispham [5780.F.51 a, d, & h; 52a, l, p & q, u & v; 53 a,c, l&m, o&p]

Title: Centennial Westward the course of empire takes its way
Description: Print commemorating the 100th anniversary of the nation, celebrated at the Centennial Exhibition through an international exhibition of industry, agriculture, and art in Philadelphia. Contains the text of the Declaration of Independence and the Proclamation Emancipation bordered by several historical and allegorical vignettes, scenes, and views that symbolize the social, political, and technological progress of the country. Oval frames surround the texts, which encircle bust-length portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The frames are adorned with banners labeled with the names of the original 13 colonies and the 38 states recognized as of 1876. Two bird's eye views showing the development of a cityscape, possibly New York City, from 1776 to 1876 are visible between the framed texts. Other images show the "Battle of Bunker Hill"; "Battle of Gettysburg"; "Surrender of Cornwallis"; "Columbus - 1492"; colonists landing at "Plymouth Rock"; "[Lafayette's] Visit to U.S. in 1824"; "A Home of 1776" with a white woman at a loom; "Franklin's Printing Press"; "Hoe's Ten Cylinder Press"; "A Home of 1876" with a white woman at a sewing machine; the marine battles of the "Constitution and Guerriere" and "Merrimac and Monitor"; Independence Hall, and the U.S. Capitol., Uncaptioned vignettes show an auction of enslaved African American people, African American children in a classroom, farmers harvesting a field by hand, a farmer harvesting a field with a horse-drawn reaper, a man traveling by horseback, a speeding train, a hand-pump fire engine of "1776" and a steam engine of "1876." Other pictorial elements include an American eagle, flags, and a view of the Main Building of the Centennial Exhibition incorporated into the title design in addition to floral vinery interweaved between the vignettes, scenes, and views., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1876, by D.T. Ames in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington., Letters of title illustrated with state seals., Title based on quote by Bishop George Berkley., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 96, Gift of David Doret, 2001., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Ames, Daniel T., artist
Date: 1876
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***BW - Centennial [P.9974.2]

Title: Civil War stationery collection
Description: Collection of stationery containing patriotic designs often used on patriotic envelopes, with a majority including a title, slogan, and/or verse. Designs predominately include views of regiment camps; images of soldiers, including battle and camp life scenes; patriotic symbols including flags, eagles, bells, shields, stars and the figure of liberty; portraiture of historic and military figures; and basic designs including stripes, colored edges, and lined borders. Unique designs with assigned LCP numbers include an untitled regiment view showing the soldiers playing baseball, possibly at Abner Doubleday's camp (RE-LCP 35); a view of Poughkeepsie from 1854 (SC-NW-LCP-3); the New York funeral procession for Abraham Lincoln on April 25, 1865 (SC-NW-LCP-4); two designs published by J.W. Barber of New Haven showing bars of music from "My Country Tis of Thee" (O-M-LCP-8) and an allegorical scene of Liberty fighting treason, rebellion, tyranny, and oppression (F-P-LCP-1). Collection also contains a series of seven Charles Magnus hand-colored designs containing birds-eye views and military maps. Views show Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort and Hygeia Hotel, Va. and the Capitol. Military maps shows Maryland and Virginia; Virginia between Washington and Manassas Junction; Richmond and Alexandria; Fortress Monroe and Richmond; and the southern coast between Fortress Monroe and New Orleans. Collection also includes a small number of Confederate stationery. Confederates designs include a view of enslaved African American people driving a wagon of supplies to a battlefield and a satire of Abraham Lincoln as an Native American chief. Portraits include George Washington, George McClellan, and Elmer Ellsworth. Three uncut printed proof sheets of patriotic stationery used as ream wrappers and the first style of U.S. postcard (circa 1872) also included as part of the collection., Some copyrighted., Some contain manuscript notes., Various publishers including Philadelphia publishers James Magee and L. N. Rosenthal as well as New York publisher Charles Magnus., Title supplied by cataloger., See William R. Weiss, Jr.'s The catalog of Union Civil War patriotic covers (Bethleham, Pa.: William R. Weiss, 1995). LCP copy annotated to show collection holdings., See the George Walcott collection of used Civil War patriotic covers (New York: Robert Laurence, 1934)., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of materials related to the Civil War. McAlliser Collection, gift, 1886., Reproduced in Erika Piola, "For the millions: Civil War stationery for women and children in the McAllister Collection at The Library Company of Philadelphia," The Ephemera journal 13 (2010), [32]., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1861-1865
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Civil War Stationery [various], Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Civil War - Ream Wrappers [P.2006.1.30a-c]

Title: Practical illustration of the fugitive slave law
Description: Antislavery print depicting a fight between Northern abolitionists and supporters of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. In the left, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and an African American man both raise guns to protect an enslaved African American woman who is attired in a head kerchief, earrings, a short-sleeved dress, and shoes. She raises both arms in the air and clutches a handkerchief in her right hand and exclaims “Oh Massa Garrison protect me!!!” Garrison wraps his right arm around her and says, “Don’t be alarmed, Susanna, you’re safe enough.” In the right, the white man mercenary, attired in a top hat with a star on it, who may represent the federal marshals or commissioners authorized by the act (and paid) to apprehend freedom seekers, carries a noose and shackles. He sits astride Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who is on his hands and knees clutching the Constitution and bemoaning, "This, though constitutional, is extremely disagreeable." Behind them a white man, possibly John C. Calhoun, declares "We will give these fellows a touch of Old South Carolina" and carries two volumes labeled "Law and Gospel." Another white man carries a quill and ledger and says "I goes in for Law & Order." In the background, a number of men on both sides fight. A white man lies on the ground on his back. An African American man grabs a white man enslaver by the head and holds a whip while saying “It’s my turn now Old Slave Driver.” A "Temple of Liberty" stands in the background with two flags flying which read, "A day, an hour, of virtuous Liberty is worth an age of Servitude," and "All men are created free and equal.", Title from item., Probable place and date of publication supplied by Reilly., Weitenkampf attributed this cartoon to the New York artist Edward Williams Clay, but Reilly refutes this attribution on the grounds that the draftsmanship, signature, and political opinions are atypical of Clay., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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: [1850 or 1851]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1851-6 [5760.F.104]

Title: A grand slave hunt, or trial of speed for the presidency, between celebrated nags Black Dan, Lewis Cass, and Haynau
Description: Cartoon criticizing presidential candidates Daniel Webster (i.e., Black Dan) and Lewis Cass's avid support for the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law during the election of 1852. Shows Webster, carrying a copy of the Fugitive Slave Law and a flag, leading a group of white men, including the lagging Michigan Senator Lewis Cass; the infamously cruel Hungarian General Baron Haynau with a pitcher of "Barclay Best" on his head (a symbolic reference to the brewery workers who attacked him in England); and President Millard Fillmore holding a Fugitive Slave Bill. They pursue an enslaved African American woman who runs clutching a baby in her arms and holding the hand of her young son. Additional figures in the background include Horace Mann, Massachusetts Congressman and opponent of the Compromise of 1850; an orator resembling Webster bombasting Mann before a group of kneeling white men admirers; a preaching white man minister with Bible in hand; and an African American woman freedom seeker with her child being tugged between a yelling man and a white man mercenary carrying handcuffs., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Purchase 1967., 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: [1852]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1852-7W [P.9676]

Title: The great presidential race of 1856
Description: Cartoon ridiculing the Democratic and American (Know-Nothings) Party presidential candidates James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore by depicting them in a race to win the election of 1856. Depicts Buchanan having crashed his mount (i.e, running mate John C. Breckenridge depicted as a buck) into a rickety platform marked "Democratic Platform," Slavery," and "Cuba." An enslaved African American man, portrayed with racistly caricaturized features, and wearing shackles on his ankles and worn and torn clothes, shoes, and a hat, stands upon and ridicules the "Democratic Platform." Buchanan angrily replies, "You infernal Black Scoundrel, if it had not been for you and that cursed Slavery Plank that Scared and upset my Buck, I should have won this race certain." Following Buchanan is Fillmore using his running mate Andrew Jackson Donelson, depicted as a goose, as his mount. Fillmore, the American Party candidate, carries a "Know-Nothing" lamp and fears his loss will dissolve the Union. In the distance, the Republican candidate John C. Fremont pulls ahead to the cheers of many of the spectators. Brother Jonathan, (predecessor of Uncle Sam), stands on an observation or judging deck and carries a timer’s watch. Additional spectators include white men belittling Fillmore as "spineless" and a "goose," and a white boy holding a sign inscribed, "We Po'ked Em in 44; We Pierced Em in 52; and We'll 'Buck Em' in 56." He is being hoisted by two African American men, portrayed with racistly caricaturized features, upon the back of a gruff and annoyed-looking, bearded, white man asking him if he's a "Fre'mounter.", Title from item., Artist and publication information supplied by Reilly., Political cartoon Horse sassengers! A free lunch lithographed on recto. (political cartoons - 1858 Hor, P.2275.18b)., Accessioned 1979., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Magee was a New York cartoonist and lithographer who eventually established his own lithographic firm in Philadelphia in 1850.
Creator: Magee, John L., artist
Date: [1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1858 Hor (verso) [P.2275.18a]

Title: The Democratic platform
Description: Cartoon satirizing politicians' support of James Buchanan and the Democratic platform of 1856. Depicts Buchanan as "the platform" of his party prostrate across the backs of the kneeling antislavery advocate Senator Thomas Benton ("Old Bullion"), President Franklin Pierce ("Franklin the last"), and son of Martin Van Buren, John Van Buren ("Prince John"). An enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, sits atop Buchanan’s legs with his arms crossed. Sitting opposite him atop Buchanan’s chest is a white man enslaver, armed with a whip, knives, and a pistol, who declares, “I don’t care anything about the Supporters of the platform as long as the platform supports me and my Nigger.” Underneath Buchanan, Benton replies to Pierce's question of how he can be against his administration yet for "this platform" by stating that he supports Buchanan because his motto is "Men - not principles." (This is a reversal of the Democratic motto: "Principles, not men.") Simultaneously, Van Buren talks with his father "Martin the first," depicted as a fox in his "Kinderhook" burrow, about the changing policies of the great Democratic Party and the plunder to be had. Standing in the left, "Brother Jonathan" (predecessor of Uncle Sam) notes the unreliability of the "platform supporters.", Title from item., Date supplied by Weitenkampf., Purchase 1971., 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: [1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1856-16W [7996.F]

Title: Handicap race presidential stakes 1844
Description: Satire of the presidential election of 1844 depicting the potential candidates; Whig Henry Clay, and Democrats Martin Van Buren, Lewis Cass, John Calhoun, Richard M. Johnson, and John Tyler on various mounts racing for the White House. Clay riding a racoon leads the pack claiming that no one can overtake him. Van Buren follows riding a fox and holding a weather vane labeled "N" (North) and "S" (South) with the slogans "Free Trade Texas" and "Abolition Oregon" attached. He acknowledges that Lewis Cass is closing in. Cass on his hound gloats that he has finally overtaken the "old fox." Calhoun, positioned fourth, rides a lion with an enslaved African American man and child, portrayed in racist caricature, on his shoulders and bemoans his extra weight. Johnson, on foot and holding a hook, follows Calhoun stating he will "hook on" to whomever gets in. Last is Tyler, who switched political parties, trying to ride the two mounts of the "Loco Foco" (radical Democrats) donkey and the "Whig" horse., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in year 1844 by J. Childs in the Clerk's Office in the District Court of the Southern District of N.Y., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1977., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1977, p. 51-52., 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., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which satirized middle-class African Americans of the late 1820s and early 1830s.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
Date: 1844
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1844-55W [8366.F.36]

Title: [Thomas Richardson and American Bank Note Company scrapbook]
Description: Scrapbook compiled by Philadelphia banknote printer Thomas Richardson containing proofs of illustrations after the work of F. O. C. Darley from Susan Fenimore Cooper's "Pages and Pictures from the Writings of James Fenimore Cooper" (New York, 1861); portrait illustrations, some from J. B. Longacre's "National Portrait Gallery" (probably 1854 edition); and vignette specimens of the American Bank Note Company and their predecessor companies. Cooper illustrations depict scenes on the frontier and ship decks, with Native Americans, and of battles; deathbeds; and of informal meeting from his works The Oak Openings, The Redskins, The Chainbearer, The Pathfinder, The Red Rover, The Monikins, Deerslayer, Homeward Bound, Lionel Lincoln, The Pilot, Last of the Mohicans, The Wept Wish-ton Wish, The Spy, and Wing and Wing. Several also contain animals. Sitters in portrait illustrations include Lewis Cass, Giuseppe Garibaldi, David Ramsay, James Kent, Thomas C. Pope, John McLean, Stephen Decatur, Samuel Rogers, Rev. William Capers, John Binns, Washington Irving, and Noah Webster., Specimen subjects include portraits of prominent government officials, Civil War figures, businessmen, clergymen, royalty, and "fancy heads" of named and unnamed women and children; allegorical figures and scenes, including Bounty, Liberty, Arts, Agriculture, and Commerce; state and symbolic seals and insignia; naval and maritime imagery, including sailors, sailing vessels, and wharf and dock views; modes and venues of transportation, including steamboats, trains, streetcars, and rail stations; white and Black men artisans, laborers, and tradesmen, including drivers, farmers, sheep shearers, and furriers; industrial views of factory workers, mineworkers, and female loom workers, as well as mills and factories along canals and riverfronts; women at work feeding livestock, milking cows, and at a sewing machine; municipal buildings and storefronts; southern imagery, including enslaved people at work, palmetto trees, plantations, and ports; patriotic, historical, military, and scenic imagery; frontier views and scenes with Native Americans; and animals. Specimens with titles include Star of Empire (Princess Eugenie of Sweden) River Source, The Guardian, Locomotive, Autumn Fruit, Sheep Feeding, The Yarn, Trusty, Picking Grapes, The Sickle, The Death Blow, and Propeller Loading. Some specimens used as the backs of national currency., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on publication date of specimens., Manuscript notes on front free end paper: Aunt Tillie Richardson (cousin Florence's aunt) in pencil; Scrapbook No. 3 in ink., Lincoln Monument Association of Philadelphia certificate pasted on inside front cover and issued to Thos. Richardson on July 4, 1865, signed C. J. Stille, Secy; Alex. Henry, Prest.; and James L. Claghorn, Cashr. Certificate number 6004 and illustrated with bust-length portrait of Lincoln. Charles J. Stillé, was a Philadelphia lawyer who served on the United States Sanitary Commission, and was later Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. Alexander Henry was the mayor of Philadelphia. James L. Claghorn was president of the Commercial National Bank in Philadelphia and an art collector., Stationer's label pasted on back cover: John Alexander, Stationer and Printer, 52 South Fourth St., Various artists, engravers, and printers including F.O.C. Darley, G. H. Cushman, J. Hamilton, Asher B. Durand, C. Schussele, John Sartain, Samuel Sartain, Jas. D. Smillie, E. Prudhomme, H. B. Hall, T. Phillibrown, R. Whitechurch, J. M. Butler, James Bannister, Charles Kennedy Burt, Louis Delnoce, W. W. Rice, American Bank Note Company, Toppan, Carpenter & Co, Baldwin, Bald & Cousland, and Bald, Cousland & Co., Several of the specimens contain a specimen number and/or title., Few of the specimens contain a copyright statement., Specimen #312 (p. 81) and specimen #280 (p. 71) after the work of Emanuel Leutze., Inventory of portrait sitters housed at repository., Identity of several of the artists and engravers supplied by Gene Hessler, The engraver's line: an encyclopedia of paper money & postage stamp art (Port Clinton, OH: BNR Press, 1993)., RVCDC, Accessioned 2012., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Thomas Richardson (b. ca. 1802) was a Philadelphia plate printer who served as the foreman of printing at the Philadelphia branch of the American Bank Note Company formed in 1858. He retired from the trade by 1880.
Creator: Richardson, Thomas, 1802-approximately 1881
Date: [ca. 1854-ca. 1861]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.2012.6]

Title: Afro-American historical family record
Description: Blank African American genealogical certificate containing a family tree surrounded by portraits of the first twenty-four U.S. presidents; portraits of prominent African American men and women religious, political, and educational leaders; and eleven vignettes contrasting life in the South of the enslaved versus the free. African American portraits include Frederick Douglass flanked by Washington and Lincoln; Judson W. Lyons, Register of the Treasury; Miss Lucy C. Laney, Founder of the Haines Institute; Booker T. Washington; H.M. Turner, Bishop of the A.M.E. Church; T. Thomas Fortune, editor New York Age; Hon. John M. Langston, diplomat; Madam Sissiretta Jones, performer and singer; Miss Hallie Q. Brown, educator and African American women's rights activist; Prof. Mary V. Cook, Principal of the State University, Louisville, KY; Miss Ida B. Wells, editor and author; Hon. John R. Lynch, U.S. Paymaster and ex-Congressman; Dr. Henry Fitzbutler, founder of the Louisville National Medical College; and L.H. Holsey, Bishop of the C.M.E. Church. Vignettes depicting slavery include the last auction of enslaved people in Savannah; enslaved cotton pickers working the field; enslaved people dancing and playing instruments "as children were taught in the dark days of slavery"; and an enslaved family in front of their “hut.” Contrasting post-emancipation scenes include a view of Tuskegee Institute; a view of "progressive farming as taught at Tuskegee Institute"; a group portrait in front of a "school house erected by a Tuskegee graduate"; the Victorian house of R.R. Church, a free man; and Spanish-American War battle scenes of African American regiments assisting the Rough Riders, including at San Juan Hill. Also contains the white eye of Providence below the title., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1899, by J.M. Vickroy, Terre Haute, Ind., Printed on recto: Branch Office Terre Haute, Ind., Purchase 2002., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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., Vickroy, a prominent Indiana fine arts publisher, specialized in genealogical and fraternal order certificates.
Date: 1899
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - African American Heroes [P.2002.16]

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