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Title: The Africans of the slave bark "Wildfire"
Description: Engraving shows the manner in which hundreds of African slaves were crowded on the deck of the "Wildfire," an American vessel captured off the northern coast of Cuba in April 1860. According to the accompanying text, the ship had left the Congo River thirty-six days before her capture, and had roughly five hundred Africans on board. The capture of the "Wildfire" was led by Lieutenant Craven of the United States steamer Mohawk. His experience was recounted in Harper's Weekly as follows: "Soon after the bark was anchored we repaired on boad, and on passing over the side saw, on the deck of the vessel, about four hundred and fifty native Africans, in a state of entire nudity, in a sitting or squatting posture, the most of them having their knees elevated so as to from a resting place for their head and arms. They sat very close together, mostly on either side of the vessel, forward and aft, leaving a narrow open space along the line of the centre for the crew of the vessel to pass to and fro. About fifty of them were full-grown young men, and about four hundred were boys aged from ten to sixteen years. It is said by persons acquainted with the slave-trade and who saw them, that they were generally in a very good condition of health and flesh, as compared with other similar cargoes, owing to the fact that they had not been so much crowded together on board as is common in slave voyages, and had been better fed than usual." (p. 344), Illustration in Harper's Weekly, vol. IV, no. 179 (June 2, 1860), p. 344., Caption underneath the image reads: "The slave deck of the bark 'Wildfire,' brought into Key West on April 30, 1860. -- [From a Daguerrotype.]", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from the Slave Trade.
Date: [June 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per H 1529.F v IV n 179 June 2 1860 p 344, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2651

Title: Aunt Winnie
Description: As the title suggests, the engraving is a portrait of Aunt Winnie, whom Strother's described as an "aged domestic" of "much importance" on a large Virginia estate. "Aunt Winnie," he explained, "was supposed to be upward of a hundred years old, and could count among her descendants children of the fifth generation" (one of whom stands at her side). According to Crayon, Aunt Winnie's cabin, a portion of which is visible in the portrait, "was fitted up with due regard to the comfort of the aged occupant, not forgetting the ornamental, in the shape of highly-colored lithographs and white fringed curtains." (p. 309), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 13, no. 75 (August 1856), p. 310., Engraving accompanies Porte Crayon's [i.e., David Hunter Strother's] "Virginia illustrated. Adventures of Porte Crayon and his cousins," which was published in book form in 1857 by Harper & Brothers of New York., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
Creator: Orr, John William, 1815-1887, engraver
Date: [August 1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 13 n 75 August 1856 p 310, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2872

Title: The banks of the River James
Description: Image is set Lynchburg, Virginia, where a party of African American men rest on the bank of the River James. A row-boat and two oars are visible in the left foreground; a wagon occupies the background., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 12, no. 68 (January 1856), p. 174., Engraving accompanies Porte Crayon's [i.e., David Hunter Srother's] "Virginia Illustrated. Adventures of Porte Crayon and his Cousins," which was published in book form in 1857. See David Hunter Strother, Virginia Illustrated (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
Date: [January 1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 12 n 68 January 1856 p 174, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2869

Title: Carrying cotton to the gin
Description: Engraving is one of several accompanying T.B. Thorpe's article "Cotton and its Cultivation." It shows seven African American plantation hands walking with large baskets of cotton on their heads. The men and women walk in a perfect line, leaving three or four paces between them. The illustration corresponds with the following passage, "Among the most characteristic scenes of plantation life is the returning of the hands at nightfall from the field, with their well-filled baskets of cotton upon their heads. Falling unconsciously "into line," the stoutest leading the way, they move along in the dim twilight of a winter day with the quietness of spirits rather than human beings." (p. 455-56), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 8, no. 46 (March 1854), p. 457., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
Creator: Orr, John William, 1815-1887, engraver
Date: [January 1854]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 8 n 46 March 1854 p 457, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2865

Title: Chew's House, Germantown
Description: Exterior view of the colonial residence built 1763-1767 by master carpenter Jacob Knor for Philadelphia attorney Benjamin Chew at 6401 Germantown Avenue. In the foreground, a white man and two white women stand and converse on the walkway in front of the house. Chew House, also known as Cliveden, was the site of the turning point in the Battle of Germantown in 1777. The Chew family enslaved people of African descent in the city of Philadelphia and in Germantown during the 18th and 19th centuries. The estate was the Chew family residence until 1972 when it was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation., Title from item., Published in Ballou's pictorial drawing - room companion, Jan. 27, 1855, vol. 8, no. 4, p. 57., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of views of Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
Date: [1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr - 8x10 - Residences - C [(7)1322.F.12a]

Title: Collections from fugitive sources only, illustrative of the antiquities, progress & c. of the city Philadelphia
Description: Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings and prints, predominantly dated between 1850 and 1855, pertaining to the history and built environment, and social, cultural, and economic climate of Philadelphia. Subject matter mainly relates to improvements to the cityscape, transportation, businesses and industry; historical articles (some illustrated) about the evolution of the city, including notices of destruction of former landmarks; daily, yearly, and seasonal accounts about the weather; and reports (and prices lists) for mortality, election returns, real estate sales, city permits, taxables, debt, stock, trade, exports, and cattle, domestic, and produce markets. Articles about city improvements (some illustrated) describe new construction of churches, storefronts and factories, residences, and places of amusement, on major Center City streets and outerlying neighborhoods, including Arch Street, North Second Street, Market Street, Chestnut Street, Belmont district, Bush Hill, Germantown, Moyamensing, North Philadelphia, Penn District, the Seventh Ward, Southwark, West Philadelphia, and the “vicinity of the Navy Yard.”, Properties referenced include the American Sunday School Union (1100 block Chestnut); Bulletin Building (Third Street below Chestnut); New Presbyterian and Tabernacle Baptist churches; Major Eastwick’s estate at Bartram’s Gardens, Newlin’s Brewery (100 block N. Second), the Farquhar Building (opp. Merchant’s Exchange); Girard Buildings (Chestnut and Third); Matthew T. Miller & Co. (Third and Chestnut); New Masonic Temple (713-721 Chestnut); Stoddart & Co. (278-282 N. Second); M. Thomas & Sons (100 block S. Fourth); Cornelius, Baker & Co. (800 block Cherry Street); Caleb, Cope & Co. (429 Market); the Concert Hall; City Museum; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Philadelphia Gas Works; Farmer & Mechanics Bank; Howell Evans, printing establishment (130 S. Fourth); New Iron Building (600 Arch); Xavier Bazin, perfumer (Seventh and Chestnut); T.W. Evans & Co., mantle and silk store (214-216 Chestnut); and the New Assembly Building (Tenth and Chestnut)., Also contains columns from the series “Benevolent Institutions of Philadelphia” (1849); “Churches and their Pastors” (1849); “Philadelphia in Olden times” (1853); “Reminiscences” (Sunday Dispatch, 1853); “The Progress of Philadelphia”; local historian Thompson Westcott’s “Street Scenes: Philadelphia in 1798, 1799 and 1800” (Sunday Dispatch, 1853); and "Revolutionary Relics" (1854). Topics of historical pieces include Cathedral Cemetery; several churches, including Assumption, Swedes, Tabernacle Baptist and Associate Presbyterian; Videll’s Alley; Market and Chestnut streets; Centre Square; the Pennsylvania Hospitals, including for the Insane in West Philadelphia; Naval Asylum; Commissioner’s Hall, Spring Garden; Robert Morris Mansion; the "libraries of Philadelphia," including the Library Company; and the city police, Quakers and Odd Fellows., Other articles report about the consolidation of the city (including a satiric piece criticizing the grand consolidation ball); Girard College; Philadelphia medical schools, including the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania; auctions conducted by M. Thomas & Sons and James A. Freeman; meteorological reviews, reports and bizarre weather lore, including the 1850 freshet on the Schuylkill; the gas industry in the city; various city water works, including Fairmount and Schuylkill; the number and improvements to omnibuses and their lines and other modes of transportation, including steam boats, ferries, and railroads; improvements to Camden; islands in the Delaware, including Windmill Island. Additional subject matter includes temporary housing of the Post Office in the Jayne Building on Dock Street; “haunts of vice and misery,” including raffling , i.e., gambling, and dance houses; the cleaning of streets through ordinances and sweeping machines; daguerreotypist M. A. Root as the first bidder of the auction of Jenny Lind Tickets in 1850; critical and satirical articles about the newest style of men’s striped pants, the 1855 city directory, the implementation of police hats, and artificial stone fronts on houses; an 1853 benefit at the Parisian Hippodrome; and a black book at the mayor’s office for the reception of “complaints of citizens.”, Scrapbook also contains wood engravings (several from newspaper and periodicals), engravings, cameo stamps, and lithographs. Graphics include predominantly advertisements and cameo stamps. Images show the various locations of the Charles Oakford hat manufactory, including his first shop on Lombard and the mulit-tenanted building on the 700 block of Chestnut; F.C. Kropff, chemical warehouse and laboratory (380 N. Sixth); Keen & Co., manufacturers of ranges and furnaces (Broad & Sansom); J. Smith Harris, merchant tailors (61 S. Fourth); Samuel Hart & Co., manufacturers of playing cards, mother o' pearl goods, and traveling bottles (236 S. Thirteenth); Thomas J. Dickson, brush manufacturer (66 S. Second); W.H. Maurice, blank book and stationery establishment (123 Chestnut); M. Thomas & Sons, auctioneers (67-69 S. Fourth); storefront and factory for Howell & Brothers, paper hangings; the storefront and Callowhill Street manufactory of Daniel Bohler & Co., essence of coffee; Horstmann’s Manufactory (Fifth and Cherry); James Moore’s Porter & Ale brewery (700 block S. Thirteenth); Inquirer Office Building (Third and Carter); interior view of George J. Henkels City Cabinet Warerooms (173 Chestnut); the New Hat Company’s Store (201 Chestnut); John H. Weaver & Co., grocers and tea dealers (Second and Pine); Homeopathic Medical College; J.W. McCurdy & Son, ladies boots and shoes (111 Chestnut); Pratt & Reath, watches & Jewelry (80 Market;) and "View of N.A. College of Health" (Fifth and Race)., Also includes views of benevolent and educational institutions and historical buildings; clipped vignettes showing “Parlors Stoves 1854,” "Newly invented chimney top ventilator," “Fashionable bonnet,” “Melodeons” (with descriptions and prices), spectacles, shoes dated 1832, a “Prize pianoforte,” and a “Washing Machine 1854”; and clipped images of street laborers, including a boy selling lozenges, a “pandy woman” holding a baby to her chest, a female “rag picker,” a girl selling fruit, an organ grinder, “itinerant news boy,” wood collector, and a street advertiser holding a picketed sign promoting "designer and engraver [David] "Scattergood." Latter annotated “a common method of advertising through the streets.”, Several of the clippings annotated by Poulson with dates and manuscript notes., Cut out designed as a monument-like edifice with ornamental pictorial details pasted on title page. Cut out frames title written in ink. Also includes vignette pen and ink sketch showing a beaver., Note by Poulson on verso of front free endpaper: "The dates affixed to the articles in this book, all generally, those of the newspapers from which they have been cut. CAP", Artists, engravers, and lithographers include J. H. Brightly, J. Cone, George T. Devereux, [ ] Farmelee, Alfred Hoffy, Francis Kearny, David Scattergood, R. Telfer, Wagner & McGuigan, and J. L. White., "Index to set in back part of vol. XI.", Volume 7 includes separate index to volume. Index detached and housed with original of volume., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator: Poulson, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1789-1866, compiler
Date: 1828-1855, bulk 1850-1855
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Poulson scrapbooks - vol. 7 [(7)2526.F]

Title: A conservative philospher
Description: Crayon's "conservative philosopher" is a Virginia boot-black named Billy Devilburg, whose tendency to philosophize about boots and social class earned him this title. Devilburg is shown in his shop, where, surrounded by boots, he holds forth on this topic. According to Crayon, Devilburg was "a specimen of his race that merited more than a casual glance." As he wrote, "time had made strong marks upon his face, but good temper and full feeding had kept out the petty wrinkles which indicate decrepitude. His broad forehead, fringed with grizzled wool, imparted an air of dignity to his countenance, his one eye beamed with honesty, while his quiet, deferential manner inspired the respect it tendered." (p. 178), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 12, no. 68 (January 1856), p. 178., Engraving accompanies Porte Crayon's [i.e., David Hunter Srother's] "Virginia Illustrated. Adventures of Porte Crayon and his Cousins," which was published in book form in 1857. See David Hunter Strother, Virginia Illustrated (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
Date: [January 1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 12 n 68 January 1856 p 178, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2871

Title: The cook
Description: As the title suggests, the engraving is a portrait of a Virginia cook, whom Crayon described as "not merely a black woman, . . . but one bearing a patent stamp by the broad seal of Nature; the type of a class whose skill is not of books or training, but a gift both rich and rare -- who flourishes her spit as Amphitrite does her trident (or her husband's, which is all the same), whose ladle is as a royal sceptre in her hands, who has grown sleek and fat on the steam of her own genius, whose children have the first dip in all gravies, the exclusive right to all livers and gizzards, not to mention breasts of fried chickens -- who brazens her mistress, boxes her scullions, and scalds the dogs . . . ." (p. 176) Shown in her kitchen, the stout cook wears an apron and a kerchief, and is surrounded by bowls, buckets, a grill, and cooking utensils., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 12, no. 68 (January 1856), p. 177., Engraving accompanies Porte Crayon's [i.e., David Hunter Srother's] "Virginia Illustrated. Adventures of Porte Crayon and his Cousins," which was published in book form in 1857. See David Hunter Strother, Virginia Illustrated (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
Date: [January 1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 12 n 68 January 1856 p 177, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2870

Title: Cotton gin -- Ginning cotton
Description: Engraving is one of several accompanying T.B. Thorpe's article "Cotton and its Cultivation." Set in a gin-house, it shows two plantation hands working at a cotton gin. While a man pushes cotton out of the "packing-room" (a loft space) and down a chute, a woman uses a rake-like tool to guide it through the gin. Standing nearby, a woman with a bucket on her head watches the process, and a man peeks into the gin-house through an open window. Two large baskets used for carrying cotton can be seen in the left foreground., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 8, no. 46 (March 1854), p. 459., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
Date: [January 1854]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 8 n 46 March 1854 p 459, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2866

Title: Cotton pressing in Louisiana
Description: Engraving shows the pressing of cotton, which, according to the unnamed author of an accompanying article, represents "one of the most interesting of the various stages of preparation of cotton for the market." After being picked and harvested, the cotton was compressed into bales similar those shown in the left foreground. The press (center) was described as being "supported by a heavy frame of timber" and "about nine feet in depth." As the author explained, the work proceeded as follows: "Into this, the light, the fleecy substance is poured, and the capstan bar being set to work, it is gradually compressed to the required size, the cords are fastened round the bale, and it leaps out ready for transportation." Commenting on the slaves' labor, the author remarked, "In our sketch, a party is busily filling the press, and two stout hands are removing the bales under the direction of the overseer. But the life and soul of the party is at the capstan, in the person of the lively darky [third from right] engaged in extravagant imitations of the overseer, and jeers at the expense of the solemn figure next to him. This mercurial 'culled passion,' a fair specimen of his light-hearted race, by his jokes and high spirits, almost doubles the motive power at the bars. Though apparently solely occupied with attempts upon the facial muscles of his fellow-servants, yet at the exact moment, he will turn a somerset, kick the shins of his next neighbors, like a playful donkey, and run round with the bars, the loudest in singing the monotonous but not unmusical chant by which the black accompany their labor." (p. 236), Illustration in Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, vol. X, no. 15 (April 12, 1856), p. 236., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
Creator: Pierce, William J., engraver
Date: [1856]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Per B 1 5919.F v X n 15 April 12 1856 p 236, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2862

Title: A Negro funeral
Description: Engraving accompanies T. Addison Richard's narrative, "The Rice Lands of the South," which, among other topics, describes slave life on southern rice plantations. It shows a slave funeral, set in a heavily wooded grove, in which numerous mourners take part. A preacher with raised, out-streched arms leads the service; mourners kneel, pray, and weep. Engraving corresponds with the following passage: "The state of excitement and exaltation to which their [i.e, the plantation slaves'] impressionable natures are so easily wrought, especially in religious matters, is manifest in their singing even more strangely than in their preaching and praying. These performances though, are, with all their grotesqueness and absurdity, often very effective and beautiful. Not seldom has it been our pleasure to listen to impromptu music, wondrously sweet and wild and weird, which, well counterfeited on the lyric stage, would bring fame and fortune. Perhaps the most remarkable of these exhibtions are those which are wont to occur on occasions of funeral solemnities, celebrated, as they generally are, in the deep night-darkness of some dense old wood, made doubly dismal by the ghostly light of the pine torches and the phantom-like figures of the scarcely visible mourners." (p. 735), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 19, no. 114 (November 1859), p. 731., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
Date: [November 1859]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 19 n 114 November 1859 p 731, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2876

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: Picking cotton
Description: Engraving is one of several accompanying T.B. Thorpe's article "Cotton and its Cultivation." It shows several black field hands picking cotton, and corresponds with the following passage: "The season of cotton picking commences in the latter part of July, and continues without intermission to the Christmas holidays. The work is not heavy, but becomes tedious from its sameness. The field hands are each supplied with a basket and a bag. The basket is left at the head of the 'cotton-rows;' the bag is suspended from the 'picker's' neck by a strap, and is used to hold the cotton as it is taken from the boll. When the bag is filled it is emptied into the basket, and this routine is continued through the day." (p. 455), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 8, no. 46 (March 1854), p. 456., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
Creator: Orr, John William, 1815-1887, engraver
Date: [January 1854]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 8 n 46 March 1854 p 456, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2864

Title: Rev. Francis Burns Missionary bishop of the M.E. Church in Western Africa
Description: Bust-length portrait of the African American deacon and missionary bishop to Liberia. Burns, attired in a white collared shirt, a white bowtie, a black waistcoat, and a black jacket, sits slightly facing right. The African coastline, depicting buildings on the shoreline and boats in the water, is visible in the background., Title from item., Published in The Ladies repository (March 1859), frontispiece., See biography of sitter in The Ladies repository (March 1859), p. 129-132., Accessioned 1879., 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., Brady produced ambrotypes in his New York studio from 1855 until 1856, ceasing production following a lawsuit over the patent.
Creator: Buttre, John Chester, 1821-1893, engraver
Date: [March 1859]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait Prints-B [5017.F.45]

Title: [Scene from Northwood, or, life North and South]
Description: Set in a lush grove on the bank of a river, lake, or pond, the vignette features a black man (presumably a slave), who helps a young white boy (most likely the son of his master) steady a fishing pole. The well-dressed boy sits on the knee of the barefoot slave., Vignette in a full-page advertisement for Sarah Hale's Northwood; or, Life North and South (New York: H. Long & Brother, 43 Ann-Street, [1852]), printed in The Literary World: a Gazette for Authors, Readers, and Publishers, edited by C.F. Hoffmann (New York: Osgood & Co., 1852), vol. 11, no. 299 (October 23, 1852), p. 272., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life
Creator: Orr, John William, 1815-1887, engraver
Date: [October 1852]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Per L 49.7 2478.Q v 11 n 299 p 272, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2883

Title: The tango
Description: Engraving accompanies the lead article "The Carib Settlements." According to the unnamed author, it is set in the house of the "King of the Cannibal Islands" in Tulian, Honduras. In the center of the scene, a small group dances to the sound of the musicians' drums (right). As the author explained, "Our arrival was the signal for the commencement of the festivities. Such another exhibition of the Terpsichorean art I never had the pleasure of witnessing. Their instruments consisted of a couple of drums made of hollow logs with hide stretched over one end, and a Boston tin cracker-box, on which instruments a sort of running accompaniment was beaten with their hands. Wild songs were chanted during the progress of the dance, one of which, more moderate than the rest, and in English, was shouted for our benefit." In the next paragraph, he continued, "I am told their dancing is a perfect counterpart of similar proceedings on the western coast of Africa, from whence they originally came. They place the music in the centre of the room, and arranged themselves around it, and commenced a series of movements of the body, throwing in frequent twists and jerks by way of embellishment." (p. 149), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 15, no. 86 (July 1857), p. 149., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Daily Life.
Date: July 1857
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 15 n 86 July 1857 p 149, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2874

Title: Tobacco plantation
Description: Engraving accompanies the lead article "The History and Mystery of Tobacco." It is set on a tobacco plantation, and shows a large field of tobacco plants, as well as two surrounding buildings. In the foreground, three black men use hoes to break up the soil and pull the grass around the growing plants., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 11, no. 61 (June 1855), p. 8., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
Date: [June 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 11 n 61 June 1855 p 8, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2867

Title: Tuning up
Description: Engraving is one of several accompanying the story "A Winter in the South." It is set in Tennesse, and shows three black musicians, who, at the request of their master, played for him and his family on Christmas Day. According to the story's unnamed author, the master's rhetorical question " . . . because we have the misfortune to be white, shall we never forget our cares and troubles?" was followed by the decisive order, "Bring in the fiddlers!" As the author then wrote, "In came the joyful musicians, grinning from ear to ear, and bowing until they sweep the floor with their greasy hats, anticipating the extra drams and half-dollars for their holiday spendings." (p. 295) In the illustration, the musicians are show with their instruments (fiddles and a tamborine). The portrayal of their facial features adheres to negative racial stereotypes., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 17, no. 99 (August 1858), p. 295., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Daily Life.
Date: [August 1858]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 17 n 99 August 1858 p 295, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2875

Title: "Virginia hoe-down"
Description: Aboard a steamer on the Mississippi River, a black deck-hand and a fiddler hold their own "Virginia hoe-down." The engraving accompanies T.B. Thorpe's "Remembrances of the Mississippi," and corresponds with a passage in which he describes the festive, light-hearted, and "happy" nature of "the negroes of the Mississippi." "With professional boat-men," Thorpe wrote," they are always favorites, and at night, when the 'old ark' is tied up, their acme of human felicity is a game of 'old sledge,' enlivened by a fiddle. On such ocassions the master of the instrument will touch off the 'Arkansas traveler,' and then gradually sliding into a 'Virginia hoe-down,' he will be accompanied by a genuine darkie keeping time, on the light and fantastic heel-and-toe tap." (p. 37) As the deck-hand dances and the fiddler plays, two boatmen play cards and a third looks on., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 12, no. 67 (December 1855), p. 38., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
Date: [December 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 12 n 67 December 1855 p 38, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2868

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