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- Title
- Intérieur de salle à manger à Ste. Marthe
- Description
- Dining room on the plantation of Ste. Marthe. As a planter dines with his family, a female slave serves them, while a male slave fans the family (?) with a contraption that swings from the ceiling., Plate in Voyage pittoresque dans le deux Ameriques (A Paris : Chez L. Tenr'e, libraire-éditeur, rue de Paon, 1; et chez Henri Dupuy, rue de la Monnaie, 11., M DCCC XXXVI. [1836]), p. 46., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1836 Orbi 6335.F p 46, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2748
- Title
- La Batugue à San-Paulo
- Description
- In an open, outdoor space, two couples dance to music performed by the two men at the left. One musician appears to play a percussion instrument, while the other seems to play a string instrument. The dancing women are bare-breasted, and some of their facial features correspond to racist stereotypes, particularly in the case of the woman closest to the right. On the left, a third woman sits underneath a pole that supports a straw roof. Some pieces of tropical fruit lie on the ground near her feet. Batugue, a type of dance still practiced today, is an Afro-Brazilian circle dance., Plate in Voyage pittoresque dans le deux Ameriques (A Paris : Chez L. Tenr'e, libraire-éditeur, rue de Paon, 1; et chez Henri Dupuy, rue de la Monnaie, 11., M DCCC XXXVI. [1836]), p. 210., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1836 Orbi 6335.F p 210, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2749
- Title
- Case a Negres
- Description
- Tropical landscape in which a black family is featured in the foreground. The father wears a straw hat, and carries some type of tool or bundle over his shoulder. The mother sits with their child on her lap in a posture that suggests breast-feeding. Behind a stone and wooden fence, the thatched roofs of two small houses are visible., Illustration in Abel Hugo's France pittoresque ou Description pittoresque, topographique et statistique des départements et colonies de la France (A Paris: Chez Delloye, éditeur de la France militaire, place de la Bourse, rue des Filles-Saint-Thomas, 13, 1835), vol. 3, p. 274., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Creator
- Chamouin, Jean Baptiste Marie, b. 1768, engraver
- Date
- [1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1835 Hugo 10039.Q v 3 p 274, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2743
- Title
- Creole de la Martinique
- Description
- Outdoors on the island of Martinique, a well-dressed Creole couple is waited on by a black male slave who carries a serving tray upon which rests a bottle and small drinking vessel. The woman sits stiffly in a chair; a book rests upon her lap. The man stands next to a tree and holds one of its branches., Illustration in Abel Hugo's France pittoresque ou Description pittoresque, topographique et statistique des départements et colonies de la France (A Paris: Chez Delloye, éditeur de la France militaire, place de la Bourse, rue des Filles-Saint-Thomas, 13, 1835), vol. 3, p. 292., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1835 Hugo 10039.Q v 3 p 292, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2744
- Title
- [Liberator masthead, 1831]
- Description
- As indicated by two signs, the vignette is set in a horse-market, and depicts an auction of "Slaves, Horses, & Other Cattle," complete with an auctioneer standing at a podium at the right. In the center of a small group consisting of slaves and potential bidders, a female slave covers her face in desperation as two small childen huddle around her. To her right, a male slave sits at the base of the podium. In a clear gesture of despair, he rests his elbows on his knees and holds his head in his hands. A domed building that appears to be a court-house is visible in the distant background. A large flag reading "LIBERTY" waves from its top., Masthead from the Liberator (Boston: William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp, Publishers), vol. 1, no. 27 (July 2, 1831), p. 105., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [July 1831]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per L 21 1646.F v 1 n 27 July 2 1831 p 105, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2880
- Title
- [Liberator masthead, 1838]
- Description
- Divided into two halves, the masthead vignette contrasts the consequences of slavery and the benefits of emancipation. Scene to the left is a reworking of the original masthead illustration of 1831 showing a slave auction with a slave being whipped in the background and a capitol building adorned with a flag reading "Liberty." A common graphic strategy of abolitionists was to picture scenes of slavery alongside symbols of American freedom such as the capitol, the flag, etc. In this revised version, the slave auction is set on Freedom St., and joining it on the right is a scene showing emancipated slaves enjoying the benefits of freedom. Added vignette commemorates the abolition of slavery in the British colonies., Masthead from the Liberator, ed. William Lloyd Garrison (Boston: Published weekly at no. 25 Cornhill by Isaac Knapp), vol. VIII, no. 9 (March 2, 1838), p. 33., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [March 1838]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per L 21 1646.F v VIII n 9 March 2 1838 p 33, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2881
- Title
- [Middle passage: instruments of restraint and torture]
- Description
- Engraving shows instruments of restraint and torture used during the Middle Passage. From top to bottom, it includes: iron hand-cuffs, iron shackles, a thumb press, and a speculum oris, an instrument originally used to open the mouths of lock-jaw patients. On slave-ships, it was used to force-feed slaves who refused to eat. The bottom diagram shows a cabin space that is 3 feet, 3 inches high; it shows manner in which enslaved Africans were forced to sit during the passage., Illustration in Lydia Childs's An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans (New York: Published by John S. Taylor, 1836), p. 21., Opposite page includes the following text: "The engraving on the next page will help to give a vivid idea of the Elysium enjoyed by negroes, during the Middle Passage. Fig A represents the iron hand-cuffs, which fasten the slaves together by means of a little bolt with a padlock. B represents the iron shackles by which the ancle [sic] of one is made fast to the ancle [sic] of his next companion. Yet even thus secured, they do often jump into the sea, and wave their hands in triumph at the approach of death. E is a thumb-screw. The thumbs are put into two rounds [sic] holes at the top; by turning a key a bar rises from C to D by means of a screw; and the pressure becomes very painful. By turning it further, the blood is made to start; and by taking away the key, as at E, the tortured person is left in agony, without the means of helping himself, or being helped by others. This is applied in case of obstinancy, at the discretion of the captain. I, F, is a speculum oris. The dotted lines represent it when shut; the black lines when open. It opens at G,H, by a screw below with a knob at the end of it. This instrument was used by surgeons to wrench open the mouth in case of lock-jaw. It is used in slave-ships to compel the negroes to take food; because a loss to the owners would follow their persevering attempts to die. K represents the manner of stowing slaves in a slave-ship.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1836 Chi S49622.D p 21, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2746
- Title
- The moral character of the Africo-Americans
- Description
- Set in New York, the image shows William Peterson, a black boy who prepares to rescue a white boy who has fallen through the ice while skating. Next him, a white boy supports another skater whom Peterson has saved from drowning. A few others continue to skate in the background., Caption title vignette in the Anti-Slavery Record (New York: Published by R.G. Williams, for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1837), vol. II, no. IV (April, 1836), whole no. 16, p. 1., Small caption underneath the image reads: "William Peterson -- The Heroic Colored Boy.", Curator's note: Notice here the use of the term "Africo-Americans," used infrequently but persistently by some African Americans and abolitionists from at least the early 1830s through the Civil War period. The common usage of "blacks" and "Africans" was supplanted in the 1820s with "Negro" common among most whites, and "Colored" among most African Americans. As in all the terms used to describe black Americans over time, there is a nationalist-assimilationists dichotomy at work here, with "Africo-Americans" suggesting separate nationality and culture, and "Colored" suggesting darker-hued members of the common American nation and culture., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [April 1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per A 245 60026.D v 2 n 4 cover page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2849
- Title
- Negres au travail
- Description
- Engraving accompanies Chapter IV, "Haiti.- Géographie. - Histoire." Under the supervision of two overseers with whips, approximately thirty slaves dig a trench that may be used to irrigate sugar cane fields. Swinging sharp hoes, the slaves stand in a line that stretches far into the background., Plate in Voyage pittoresque dans le deux Ameriques (A Paris : Chez L. Tenr'e, libraire-éditeur, rue de Paon, 1; et chez Henri Dupuy, rue de la Monnaie, 11., M DCCC XXXVI. [1836]), p. 22., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1836 Orbi 6335.F p 22, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2747
- Title
- Negres de traite en voyage
- Description
- Engraving shows several Africans being led from Senegal's interior to the coast, where they will be sold into slavery. Three Africans in the foreground wear forked branches around their necks. Such branches were commonly used in the African slave-trade, and appear frequently in depictions thereof. The branches were secured in back by an iron rod, which threatened to choke the wearer if he or she struggled or tried to escape., Illustration in Abel Hugo's France pittoresque ou Description pittoresque, topographique et statistique des départements et colonies de la France (A Paris: Chez Delloye, éditeur de la France militaire, place de la Bourse, rue des Filles-Saint-Thomas, 13, 1835), vol. 3, p. 270., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Creator
- Lalemont, engraver
- Date
- [1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1835 Hugo 10039.Q v 3 p 270, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2742
- Title
- Section of a slave ship
- Description
- Plate includes three diagrams of a slave-ship. Top diagram is a cross-section of the ship's hold, viewed from the side. The small, shallow space in which slaves were transported lies between the deck and the main body of the hold. Diagram at the left is a detail of this space with its dimensions. (It was 3 feet, 5 inches in height.) Detail illustrates the manner in which slaves were packed into the ship, one next to another, with barely enough room to sit upright. Bottom diagram is an aerial view of the ship's deck with its dimensions., Plate at the front of Matthew Carey's Letters on the Colonization Society: And on its Probable Results; under the Following Heads . . . Addressed to the Hon. C.F. Mercer (Philadelphia: E.G. Dorsey, printer [May 30, 1838])., The caption below the image reads: "From Walsh's Notes of Brazil.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from the Slave Trade
- Date
- [1838]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1838 Car 75256.O plate I, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2769
- Title
- A Carib of Morne Ronde, St. Vincent
- Description
- Portrait image of Mary and her child, two Caribs whom Wentworth met in Morne Ronde on St. Vincent. According to Wentworth, Mary's features "were more of the African character, than of the aboriginal Indians, who were remarkable for the symmetry of their forms, and long straight glossy hair." "Her proportions, too," he wrote, "were singularly out of proportion, as if -- excepting her head and feet, she had been formed of the half limbs of a muscular giantess." (p. 337), Plate in Trelawney Wentworth's West India Sketch Book (London: Printed for Whittaker & Co., Ave Maria Lane, 1834), vol. II, p. 336., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- December 1833
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Wentw 5894.D vol 2 p 336, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2740
- Title
- [Sampson, a West Indian slave]
- Description
- According to St. Clair, the engraving features the slave Sampson, who was referred to as such on the basis of his enormous strength. Sampson was owned by a Dutchman whose plantation was near the Essequibo River in Guyana. After Sampson's second escape and capture, his master sentenced him to a severe flogging, and then took steps to deter future escape attempts. As St. Clair explained, Sampson "had an iron collar fastened round his throat, which had three legs sticking out from it, having, as represented in the sketch, hooks at their ends, which render it impossible for any human being to escape through the thick underwood in this country. In addition to this, his left leg was chained to an enormous heavy log of wood, which, when he walked, was thrown over his left shoulder. In this state, he was obliged daily to perform as much work as any other Negro on the estate.", Illustration in Thomas St. Clair's A Residence in the West Indies and America (London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, publisher in ordinary to His Majesty, 1834), vol. 2, p. 214., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 St. Cla 8958.O v 2 p 214, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2739
- Title
- The bloody massacre perpetuated in King Street, Boston, on March 5th, 1770, by a party of the 25th Regt
- Description
- Depicts a scene during the "Boston Massacre" of March 5th, 1770 in which an officer signals seven British soldiers to fire into a mob of protesting colonists. The wounded lie on the ground or are carried away by the crowd. A woman in a shawl observes the carnage. Eighteen lines of verse criticizing the actions of the British and a list of colonists killed or injured appear below the image: "Saml Gray, Saml Maverick, James Caldwell, Crispus Attucks, and Patk Carr (killed) and it is noted that there were "Six wounded; two of them (Christr Monk & John Clark) Mortally." Crispus Attucks, included in the list of colonists but not transparently depicted, was a free man, sailor, and the alleged leader of the crowd who was the first colonist shot and killed., Title from item., Most well-known of Paul Revere's prints, and a nearly identical copy of a print entitled "The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre" by Henry Pelham who accused Revere of piratism., Facsimile based on the original by Revere., Inscribed: Copy Right Secured., One of the prints originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of views of Massachusetts. 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., Revere was a Boston silversmith, engraver, and cartoonist, most known for his patriotic activities during the American Revolution.
- Creator
- Revere, Paul, 1735-1818, artist
- Date
- March 5, 1832
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1770-1 [1884.F.25; 5738.F.8]
- Title
- Reading circles. [To commence in early October.] These are intended to give variety and interest to a course of instruction in English Literature and are designed for families, or for young ladies who have completed the usual education at school. The exercises attended to by these circles, consist of the reading and analysis of select passages from the most eminent writers of the language, and are accompanied by explanatory and critical observations from the instructor, on the distinctive qualities of style by which each author is characterized, and on the mode of elocution by which these are appropriately expressed. The members of reading circles attend, twice a week, at each other's residence, in rotation or otherwise, as is found convenient, [or at the instructor's house, 96 S. Eighth Str.] Terms. For a course of 12 weeks, in circle consisting of not fewer than five individuals, $20 each--not fewer than ten, $15 [--in circles of ten, meeting once a week, $10.] References. Robert Walsh, Esq. Dr. James Rush, C. Picot, Esq. J. Frost, Esq. Mrs. Sarazin, Mrs. Sigoigne. William Russel. Philad. Sept. 1834
- Description
- Scottish-born educator William Russell taught at Germantown Academy in Philadelphia beginning in 1830 and left Philadelphia for Boston in 1838., Title annotated in pen., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- 1834
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Russell [P.9938]
- Title
- Joanna
- Description
- Portrait of Joanna, a Surinamese mulatto and former slave, mistress to Captain John G. Stedman, an Englishman and the author of "Narrative of a Five Years' Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam.", Illustration in Lydia Childs's the Oasis (Boston: Benjamin C. Bacon: Tuttle and Weeks, printers, No. 8, School Street, 1834), p. 64., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Creator
- Smith, George Girdler, 1795-1859, engraver
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Chi 70173.D.5 p 64, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2736
- Title
- [Instruments of torture]
- Description
- Illustration shows an "instrument of torture" used on Roper during his years of slavery. Of it, he wrote, this is a machine used for packing and pressing cotton. By it, he [i.e., the slave-owner Mr. Gooch] hung me up by the hands at letter a, a horse moving around the screw e, and carrying it up and down, and pressing the block c into the box d, into which the cotton is put. At this time, he hung me up for a quarter of an hour. I was carried up ten feet from the ground, when Mr. Gooch asked me, if I was tired. He then let me rest for five minutes, then carried me round again, after which he let me down and put me into the box, and shut me down in it for about ten minutes." (p. 52), Illustration in Moses Roper's A Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper, from American Slavery (London: Darton, Harvey, and Darton, 55, Gracechurch Street; and to be had of the author, at the Anti-Slavery Office, 18, Aldermanbury, Murrays, Mare Street, Hackney; Hudson, 18, Bull Street, Birmingham, MDCCCXXXVII [1837]), p. 51., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1837]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1837 Roper 101478.D p 51, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2758
- Title
- Truth shall make you free
- Description
- Image features a large allegorical figure representing Liberty, who stands in the center of the scene. Her raised left hand holds a book. In front of her and to the left, a male slave has broken free from his shackles and chains. Next to him, a black woman prays, and a black mother holds her infant child. At the right, a white girl teaches a group of black children to read the alphabet. An American flag flies in the background., Frontispiece for the Liberty Bell (Boston: For the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Fair, 1839)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Creator
- Reason, Patrick Henry, 1816-1898, engraver
- Date
- [1839]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1839 Lib 66087.D frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2770
- Title
- "Deliver us from evil!"
- Description
- A slaveowner with a whip in his hand towers over three black children in chains and shackles who kneel at his feet., Vignette in Lydia Childs's the Oasis (Boston: Benjamin C. Bacon: Tuttle and Weeks, printers, No. 8, School Street, 1834), p. 20., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Creator
- Hall, John H., engraver
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Chi 70173.D.5 p 20, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2733
- Title
- African mother on a rock
- Description
- Yarrima, an African mother, watches in despair as her son, Yazoo, is whisked away on the white man's boat., Illustration in Lydia Childs's the Oasis (Boston: Benjamin C. Bacon: Tuttle and Weeks, printers, No. 8, School Street, 1834), p. 28., Caption underneath the illustration reads: "Yarrima climbed to the highest rock, and saw the white man's boat moving rapidly over the waves.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Creator
- Hall, John H., engraver
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Chi 70173.D.5 p 28, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2734
- Title
- Henry Diaz
- Description
- Image is set in front of the Cinco Pontas fortress in Pernambuco, Brazil. Henry Diaz, a black slave, leads a slave regiment that he assembled on behalf of the Portuguese. The slave regiment successfully captured Cinco Pontas, a former Dutch stronghold., Illustration in Lydia Childs's The Oasis (Boston: Benjamin C. Bacon: Tuttle and Weeks, printers, No. 8, School Street, 1834), p. 47., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Creator
- Hall, John H., engraver
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Chi 70173.D.5 p 47, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2735
- Title
- Shooting scene
- Description
- Engraving shows a slave being hunted by three men with dogs and guns., Illustration in Lydia Childs's the Oasis (Boston: Benjamin C. Bacon: Tuttle and Weeks, printers, No. 8, School Street, 1834), p. 265., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Creator
- Croome, William, 1790-1860, engraver
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Chi 70173.D.5 p 265, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2738
- Title
- [Consequences of emancipation]
- Description
- In the foreground center, a black man reads aloud from the Bible while a girl kneels and prays before him. In their immediatie proximity, a mother holds her two small children. Behind them, several figures perform various chores and tasks. A group congregates in the middle-ground, and what looks to be a representation of Monticello is visible in the background., Front cover of the American Anti-Slavery Almanac, for 1837 (Boston: Published by N. Southard & D.K. Hitchcock, 1836)., Two captions appear underneath the image: "A sketch from God's description of the 'Consequences of Emancipation.' Psa. 58." and "We hold these truths to be self-evident -- that all men are created equal.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1836 Ame Ant 16996.D cover page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2745
- Title
- [The morning dream]
- Description
- Frontispiece accompanies Cowper's poem "The Morning Dream," which appears on the opposite page. The engraving features an allegorical figure representing Liberty/Britannia, who sailed westward to America "to make freemen of slaves." Shedding light "like the sun," this divine and beautiful figure "sung of the slave's broken chain, wherever her glory appeared." In accordance with the verse, two chained slaves kneel before her, praying for freedom. At the left, a slave-owner drops his whip. ("In his hand, as a sign of his sway, / A scourge hung with lashes he bore, / And stood looking out for his prey, From Africa's sorrowful shore. / But soon as approaching the land, / That angel-like woman he view'd, / The scourge he let fall from his hand, / With the blood of his subjects imbru'd."), Frontispiece for John Greenleaf Whittier's Poems Written during the Progress of the Abolition Question in the United States, between the Years 1830 and 1838 (Boston: Published by Isaac Knapp, No. 25, Cornhill, 1837)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [1837]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1837 Whi 51405.D frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2759
- 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]