LCP Minutes vol. 8, April 30, 1885, p. 557a: “A portrait in oil of James Coxe, artist whose library of 5000 vols was purchased in 1832 by the Co., was presented by Philip F. Snyder Esq. and the Sec’y was instructed to return the thanks of the Board.” Note by George Maurice Abbot, Dec. 4, 1890: The painting of “Mercy Interceding for the Vanquished” said to be by Etty, was given to the library by Philip F. Snyder who also painted for the library from a pencil sketch, a portrait of James Cox, from whom the library at one time bought a large number of books.”, Gift of Philip F. Snyder, 1885., Exhibited in the Library Company's exhibition, In Living Color: Collecting Color Plate Books (2007).
Johnson was an eminent corporate lawyer and was involved in the case dealing with the building of the Ridgway Building. His art collection became the nucleus of the Philadelphia Museum of Art., LCP Annual Report May, 1939, p. 6, “By the kindness of Mr. William De Krafft the Library Company has become the possessor of the portrait of John G. Johnson, painted by Albert Rosenthal.”, Gift of William de Krafft, 1938., Exhibited by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the 112th Annual Exhibition, 1917.
The Library Company directors commissioned Thomas Sully to replace the portrait of James Logan that was destroyed in a fire in the Loganian Library on Jan. 6, 1831. Sully copied his painting from a portrait by Gustavus Hesselius in the possession of Mrs. D. Logan of Stenton (now in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania/Atwater Kent) and received two shares of LCP stock in payment., LCP Minutes vol. 5, Jan. 7, 1831, p. 309, "The destruction of an original portrait of James Logan, the distinguished donor of the Library bearing his name...is...a subject of great regret..." Loganian Library Minutes vol. 1, Nov. 10, 1831, p. 202-203: "An order was drawn ... for two shares of the stock of said company agreed to be given to Thomas Sully, Esqr. for painting a portrait of the founder of the Loganian Library from the one in the possession of Mrs. D. Logan of Stenton.", Commissioned by the Directors of the Library Company, 1831., Exhibited at the Great Central Fair in Philadelphia, in the "Wm. Penn Parlor" (1864). Exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition, Benjamin Franklin and His Circle (1936).
A letter inserted in the LCP Minutes vol. 9, p. 137, dated Nov. 16, 1888, from Lambdin to G. M. Abbot, reads: "The John Penn was copied from a picture said to be by [Godfrey] Kneller, but that could not have been for he died very many years before Penn was born. I think it was probably painted by Hudson, who lived in John Penn's day. The original belonged, I think, to Samuel Lardner, from whom it was borrowed. The copy was presented by me to the Library Co.", Gift of James Reid Lambdin, before 1864.
Cushman was a Boston-born actress who became the leading American stage actress and immensely famous in both America and England. Cushman was the stage manager of the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia from 1842 to 1844, and this portrait was painted during that time., The Folger Shakespeare Library has an almost identical portrait of Charlotte Cushman, also painted by Sully, which was donated to them in 1936 by Mrs. Vincent Cushman, wife of Charlotte's nephew., Bequest of Anne Hampton Brewster, 1892., Exhibited in: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts' exhibition, Memorial Exhibition of Portraits by Thomas Sully (1922); Philadelphia Art Alliance for a theatrical exhibition culled from the Charlotte Cushman Club (1955); National Portrait Gallery's exhibition, This New Man (1968); National Portrait Gallery's exhibition, Thomas Sully, Portrait Painter (1983); Library Company and Historical Society of Pennsylvania's exhibition, Women 1500-1900 (1974); Milwaukee Art Museum and San Antonio Museum of Art's exhibition, Thomas Sully: Painted Performance (2013-2014).
John Jay Smith was the Library Company's Librarian from 1829-Feb. 1851 and Treasurer from 1840-1857., Painting is signed on the lower right., Receipt for portrait, frame, and tablet for name, dated April 13, 83, in vol. 3 of John Jay Smith's Recollections-manuscript copy [8442.F]., LCP Minutes vol. 8, May 3, 1883, p. 474: "Mr. L.P. Smith, having in behalf of himself and his brothers Mssrs. Robert P. Smith and Horace J. Smith, presented the Library Company with a portrait of the late John Jay Smith; the Secretary was directed to thank the donors, for the very acceptable gift of the portrait of one who had so long and faithfully served the Library Company.", Gift of Lloyd Pearsall Smith on behalf of himself and his brothers, Robert P. and Horace J. Smith, 1883., Exhibited in the Library Company's exhibition, Building a City of the Dead: The Creation and Expansion of Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery (2010-2011).
On the back of the canvas: "Painted by T[] Henry Smith 1886 from the original painted from life by John Neagle 1825.", LCP Annual Report 1886, p. 2: "The Company is indebted also to Mr. Henry C. Baird for the gift of a fine portrait of his grandfather, the late Matthew Carey, Esq...suitably acknowledged by the Board of Directors.", Gift of Henry Carey Baird, 1886.
Benjamin Morgan was a prominent Philadelphia lawyer. Admitted to the bar in 1785, he became one of the judges of the District Court in 1821, and, previous to this, one of the founders of the Penna. Academy of the Fine Arts in 1805. Morgan was Secretary of the Library Company from 1792-1825 and one of its directors, 1825-1840., LCP Minutes vol. 9, April 4, 1889, p. 158: “A vote of thanks was directed to be sent to Mrs. Robert W. Leaming for her gift of a portrait of Benjamin R. Morgan.”, Gift of Mrs. Robert W. Leaming, 1889.
Gift of Miss Gillingham, June 2, 1904., LCP Minutes vol. 10, June 2, 1904, p. 88: "One portrait and two pastels bequeathed by Miss Gillingham to the Library were received."
Mackenzie was a Philadelphia merchant and book collector whose library of over 7,000 volumes came to the Loganian Library and the Library Company., Painting is signed “J. Neagle, 1829.”, LCP Minutes vol. 5, Nov. 5, 1828, p. 244: "Mess. Norris and Gibson were authorized to contract with any artist whom they may select to paint a portrait of the late William Mackenzie Esquire to correspond with the portrait of the late Dr. Preston by West." Vol. 5, Dec. 4, 1828, p. 246: "Mr. Norris from the Committee appointed for that purpose reported that they had contracted with Mr. Neagle to paint a portrait of the late Mr. Mackenzie Esq. under the authority conferred upon them at the last meeting and that the work had begun." Vol. 5, Aug. 6, 1829, p. 264: “An order was drawn in favour of Joseph Parker Norris for ninety seven dollars for the payment of John Neagle’s bill for painting a portrait of the late William Mackenzie and causing the same to be framed and put up in the room.”, Receipt from John Neagle for the portrait, July 1, 1829. LCP Records, 1829 [7446.F.14]., Commissioned by the Library Company, 1829.
LCP Minutes vol. 12, March 3, 1927, p. 93: “… the residue of the Estate of Sydney George Fisher is left to the Library Company, and in addition various designated engravings and prints.”, Bequest of Sydney George Fisher, 1927.
The painting is not signed or dated., The figure in the foreground supposedly is Benjamin Franklin flying a kite during an electrical storm., Exhibited in Haverford College's exhibition, The Pennsylvania Landscape: Colonial to Contemporary (2007).
George W. Norris was a Library Company board member from 1840-1874. He was a Philadelphia surgeon and author and editor of books on historical medicine. He served as president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, vice-president of the Philadelphia Medical Society, vice-president of the College of Physicians, vice-president of the AMA, and an associate of the Academy of Natural Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.
Sully Register, #1286., Parke was a director of the Library Company from 1778-1835., There is a MS bill in the Daniel Parker Papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania from Thomas Sully to the Directors of the Library Company for the portrait and frame (by M. Pike) for $120., Purchased by the Library Company's Board of Directors, 1822., Exhibited at the College of Physicians (1887). Exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1922).
Poulson was librarian from 1785-1806 and a board member from 1812-1844 at the Library Company., Sully Register, #1356., Commissioned by the Library Company's Board of Directors, 1843., Exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1922). Exhibited in the Library Company's exhibition, Quarter of a Millennium (1981). Exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition, Mr. Sully, Portrait Painter (1983).
Anne Leslie was the sister of Eliza Leslie and Charles Robert Leslie. She was a portrait painter and copyist. Written on the back of the canvas, “Benjamin Franklin a copy by Miss Anne Leslie from the original by the French artist J.S. Duplessis when Franklin was in Paris. The first proprietor of Gruese’s picture of Franklin was Thomas Jefferson, by whose grand-daughter, Mrs. Coolidge, it was presented to the Boston Athenaeum.”, LCP Minutes vol. 7, April 29, 1858, p. 121: “A letter was received from Mrs. Haven stating that she had authority from Major Leslie to say that a portrait in oil of Dr. Franklin copied by Anna Leslie from the original by Greuze in the Boston Athenaeum and deposited by the late Miss Eliza Leslie in this Library was intended by Miss Leslie as a gift to this Institution. The Librarian was directed to return thanks.”, Gift of Eliza Leslie, c. 1858.
On the back of the frame: "Albert Rosenthal, 1903.", Staake was a lawyer who became Judge of the Court of Common Pleas No. 5 for the County of Philadelphia in 1906.
Gift of David Doret and Linda G. Mitchell, 2021., Landscape of a field showing green grass, bushes, and trees with a wooden fence running along the center. Dated, 1871, in red in the lower left corner. Title from manuscript label on the reverse of the frame (now photographed and pasted on the back). Montgomery Avenue and 27th Street are east of the Schuylkill River and Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.
Gift of David Doret and Linda G. Mitchell, 2022., Label on the verso from Montclair Art Museum (Montclair, N.J.) (Double Head Study), Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ethan D. Alyea. 1964.51., Bust-length, forward-facing portrait study of two white women. In the left, shows an older woman with brown ringlet curls framing her forehead and attired in a white lace day cap tied in a bow under her chin and a dark-colored dress with a white lace collar. In the right, shows a young woman with her dark brown hair parted in the middle and tied back and attired in dress with a white neckline. There is an additional portrait of a woman on the verso of the canvas. A cut out in the frame reveals the eyes of the portrait. A photocopy reproduction is taped to the back. Bust-length portrait of a white woman with her blonde hair tied back and attired in drop earrings, a multi-stranded necklace, and a light blue dress.
Portrait of Benjamin Franklin set into a gold frame with ribbon surmount, the foliate pierced and enameled border set with enameled urns and basket decorated with seed pearls, the reverse glazed to reveal the counter-enamel. The portrait is one of five extant versions and the jeweled setting is most likely contemporary and commissioned so that the image could be worn as a pendant. Weyler painted this portrait as a part of a series of miniatures he called “Panthéon Iconographique,” which included famous men he wanted to preserve for posterity in enamel. Franklin was the most popular of the series’ subjects. The original portrait for which the enamel was based on has not been traced, but it is believed to be a pastel taken from life., See accession file for more information about provenance., Purchase of the Library Company, 2013.
