The collection consists of illustrations, primarily wood and line engravings, which were cut from serials published in Philadelphia and New York, such as Harper's Weekly, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, the New York Picayune, and The Phunny Phellow; very few of the pieces have dates, source citations or explanatory text beyond the published captions. Included are camp and battle scenes, basic maps meant to help readers understand military strategies, and caricature portraits of generals and politicians. The material was formerly housed in two folio scrapbooks (one for each of the existing series) but was not arranged in any chronological or subject order within the albums. Most of the illustrations remain fixed to the album pages, which have been disbound, foldered and boxed. Material absent from the pages has been incorporated into the Library Company's print department and cataloged separately., Some parts of this collection were previously assigned accession numbers 5779.F and 5780.F., John A. McAllister was an antiquarian collector living in Philadelphia.
Creator
McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
Date
1880
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts MSS McA 5779.F