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Title: Five Points, 1827
Description: Chaotic street scene after the 1827 painting Five Points by George Catlin depicting the early 19th-century New York City lower income area east of City Hall. Shows several white and Black men and women, individually, as couples, and in groups at the crossroads of Orange, Anthony, and Cross Streets. The streets are lined with places of "entertainment," "lodgings," and grocery stores primarily selling liquor. Amongst the melee on the streets, a large brawl and several small fights occur, people are knocked over, "couples" of men and women stroll and engage in conversation, peddlers sell their goods, a white woman pumps water, and pigs roam free., Title from item., Inscribed lower right corner: For Valentine's Manual., Plate from D.T. Valentine. Manual of the corporation of the city of New York for 1855 (New York: New York Common Council, 1855) (LCP Am 1855 New Yor Com)., Original painting in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, bequest of Mrs. Screven Lorillard (Alice Whitney), from the collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, 2016., Gift of Mrs. S. Marguerite Brenner, 1984., 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., McSpedon & Baker, the New York lithographic partnership of Thomas McSpedon and Charles W. Baker, primarily performed stationery work. Illustrative plates executed by the partnership are rare.
Date: [1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Views - New York - New York City [P.9057.8]

Title: To the people of America, this engraving of "First in Peace," from the original painting, is respectfully dedicated, representing the arrival of General George Washington at the Battery, New York, April 23rd, 1789, previous to his inauguration as the first president of the United States of America, April 30, 1789
Description: Print after the design of painter Henry Brueckner of Washington's arrival by barge to New York (the nation's capital) for his inauguration depicting a large crowd welcoming the newly-elected president. Shows Washington, at the head of the barge, raising his hat to New York Governor George Clinton standing within a heavily decorated "Welcome" canopy on the wharf. Clinton stands next to his wife, daughters, and white men envoys, all finely attired. On the heavily-decorated barge, containing a red canopy, Washington is surrounded by white men envoys and oarsmen. The envoys are finely attired and the oarsmen wear matching tan suits and black caps adorned with ribbons. The ribbons contain the names of the U.S. states. Throngs of men, women, and child spectators stand along the wharf and upon sailing vessels on the river. Spectators include an African American man cheering with his hat in the air (right); white women in gowns; a white sailor hanging from a rope ladder attached to a ship (right); and an Indigenous man, woman, and baby seated in a canoe by the barge (center right). The man claps and the woman holds the baby in a cradleboard to her chest., Title from item., Place of publication and date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress A.D. 1867 by John C. McRae, in the Clerk's Office of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York., Name of artist and engraver from earlier state in collections of the Library of Congress., See also Scottish American Journal, April 21, 1866, p. 5 and Vermont Chronicle, May 19, 1866, p. 3 for articles that describe the engraving as representing "Washington after the proclamation of peace with Great Britain." Articles also note that McRae was occupied on the work for nine years., Gift of David Doret, 1994., In poor condition. Stained and tears., Cataloged 2021.
Creator: McRae, John C., engraver
Date: 1867
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***GC - Washington [P.9472]

Title: Millie Christine, "the Two Headed Nightengale."
Description: Full-length portrait of the African American conjoined twins and performers posed near an arm chair. The women are attired in a long-sleeved damask dress with front ruching. Each wears a lace neckerchief, an adornment in her hair, and earrings. Millie (on the left) holds a fan in her hands. A backdrop illustrated with a changing screen is visible in the background. The twins were born in Whiteville, North Carolina on July 11, 1851, to Jacob and Monemia McKoy who were enslaved to Jabez McKay. Various enslavers and managers exhibited the twins nationally and internationally. By the end of the 1880s, the twins retired to a farm in their home state of North Carolina., Title printed on mount., Photographer's imprint printed on mount., Date inferred from address of photographer., See History and medical description of the two-headed girl:...(Buffalo, N.Y.: Warren, Johnson, & Co., 1869). (LCP Am 1869 Hist, 70318.D)., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2015, p.42-43., Purchase 2015., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., RVCDC, Horace Ollivier operated his studio from 466 5th Avenue between 1889 and 1903.
Creator: Ollivier, Horace, photographer
Date: [ca. 1889]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card - sitter - Millie [P.2015.23.2]

Title: Enlistment of Sickles brigade
Description: Caustic satire depicting the enlistment by notorious New York Congressman Colonel Daniel Sickles of recruits from offices near New York's crime-ridden Five Points area. The congested scene depicts several men, including African American men, clustered on a city street near a liquor store. In the left, Sickles, unwigged, stands above the crowd, and holds out Bibles in each hand. In the right above the crowd, "Mrs. Higby," wife of a New York clergyman, hands out pipes to the men (an allusion to Sickles's men being given pipes and Bibles for enlisting). A sign near Sickles reads "The Capital in danger. Sickles Brigade to the Rescue!!" A sign near Mrs. Higby reads "Pipes for the noble saviors of their country by Mrs. Higby." The "enlisting" men wear torn, worn, and patched uniforms or street clothes and hold picket signs, guns, and clubs. Within the crowd, a pit bull terrier and a white boy watch the melee, which includes a white man, attired in a uniform and a "Colonel Sickles Brigade" cap, offering an African American man a medal, who scratches his head, next to another African American man, attired in uniform and portrayed in racist caricature, and seated on a barrel. A few years before the war in 1859, Sickles gained notoriety for murdering Philip Barton Key II for having an affair with his wife Teresa Bagioli. He was acquitted based on the first successful use of the insanity defense in the U.S., Inscribed upper left corner: 6., Issued as plate 6 in Sketches from the Civil War in North America (London [i.e., Baltimore]: [the author], 1863-1864), a series of pro-Confederacy cartoons drawn and published by Baltimore cartoonist Adalbert John Volck under the pseudonym V. Blada. The "first issue" of 10 prints (numbered 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 16, 21, 24), with imprint "London, 1863" were printed as etchings. The remaining 20 prints (numbered 4, 8, 9-11, 14, 17-20, 23, 25-27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 40, 45) headed "Second and third issues of V. Blada's war sketches" and dated "London, July 30, 1864" were printed as lithographs., Tile and publication information from series at Brown University Library., Research file about artist available at repository., Accessioned 1935., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Volck, Adalbert John, 1828-1912, artist
Date: [1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Volck - Sketches - Volck 6 [2990.F.23]

Title: Washington's triumphal entry into New York, Nov. 25th, 1783
Description: Historic scene from the close of the American Revolution depicting General Washington, carrying his hat in his right hand and holding the reins in his left hand, on horseback and triumphantly parading his troops through a crowded New York City street on November 25, 1783. Following him closely on horseback are his principal officers: Governor George Clinton, General Frederick William Augustus, Baron von Steuben, General Thaddeus Kosciusko, General Gilbert Motier De La Fayette, Alexander Hamilton, General Henry Knox, General Israel Putnam, General Nathaniel Greene, and General Horatio Gates. Army personnel in the back carry the St. George cross flag, the New England Pine Tree flag, and the Washington life banner. The exuberant spectators, comprised of prominent figures and everyday citizens, line both sides of the thoroughfare and cheer from the street, balconies, and windows and include: Martha Washington; the society ladies of the Republican Court including Mrs. Cornelia [Tappan] Clinton, Mrs. Anne Willing Bingham, Mrs. Elizabeth [Schuyler] Hamilton, Mrs. Sarah [Livingston] Jay, Mrs. Polly Caton, and Mrs. Abigail Adams; Native Americans of the Six Nations including Chief Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant); General Benjamin Lincoln; Thomas Mifflin; John Marshall; Reverend David Jones; Stephen Hopkins; Miss Bingham; Miss J. Marshall; Mrs. Hamlin; the personification of a free press as an older white man reporter; continental guards; an African American woman peddler seated and holding a basket of grapes; and an older white man veteran with a crutch., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1860 by Geo T. Perry in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania., Copyrighted by George T. Perry., Pamphlet titled Description of the print entitled Washington's triumphal entry, New York, November 25th, 1783 (Philadelphia: George T. Perry, 1861) describes and provides a key to figures in the engraving. Copy of Library of Congress original housed with print. Link to digital version below in Koha Catalog., Peter C. Marzio's Chromolithography 1840-1900: The democratic art, pictures for 19th-century America (Boston: David R. Grodine, 1979), p. 27 and 283., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1973, p. 44-45., Accessioned 1979., 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: Inger, Christian, lithographer
Date: 1860
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***GC-American Revolution [P.2279], https://www.loc.gov/item/10031942/

Title: Dancing for eels at Catharine [sic] Market N.Y A scene from "New York as it is" as played by Chanfrau and Winans, at the Chatham Theatre N.Y
Description: Print after the theatrical advertisement published by Eliphalet Brown, Jr. and James Brown depicting the most popular scene from the mid-19th century play about the lives of the New York city lower classes. Shows an African American boy, attired in torn and worn clothes, street dancing while surrounded by a crowd of spectators. Spectators include an African American man, boy, and woman marketer with a basket; Mose, the central character of a fireman b'hoy, and a white man fish monger, attired in torn and worn clothes. Also shows a white woman vendor near a broadside titled "Mose" to the right of the image and the slip in the background. From the 18th century, Long Island enslave people would cross the East River to sell produce or to street dance to earn money, fish, or eels at the Catherine Slip Market. The performances transformed into impromptu dance contests paid for by market customers., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1848 by J. Baillie in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Southn Dist of N.Y., Created postfreeze., Purchase 2005., 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: Baillie, James S., active 1838-1855
Date: 1848
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Entertainment [P.2005.10]

Title: A case of infectious fever (from "84 South Street, 4 doors from Callowhill Street," Philadelphia) before the New York Board of Health
Description: Cartoon criticizing the New York Board of Health's handling of the 1820 yellow fever epidemic based upon August 1820 newspaper accounts about "John C. Williams," a drunk man falsely claiming to be from Philadelphia who was misdiagnosed with the fever. Depicts several doctors and officials from the Board, with handkerchiefs over their mouths, surrounding and discussing the condition of the bed-ridden Williams who is vomiting into a bucket and exclaiming, "drunk, drunk, oh lord." Despite the protestation of the African American housekeeper who holds a tankard and states that he is drunk from "de toast and toddy," the various doctors, including prominent physicians Felix Pascalis, Samuel Latham Mitchill, and President of the Board, David Hosack, discuss his symptoms of "black vomit," "delerium," "a red nose," and "difficulty of speech," as evidence of "yellow fever." Others including New York Post editor William Coleman and Marine Hospital attending physician Joseph Bayley discuss treatments and his being sent to quarantine., Date and place of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America, p. 24., 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.
Date: [1820]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - [1820] - 1W [P.2275.24]

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