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- Title
- The new theatre in Chesnut [sic] Street Philadelphia
- Description
- View of the third edifice of the Chestnut Street Theater, erected in 1822 after the designs of William Strickland at the location of the second building, razed by fire in 1820, on Chestnut Street above Sixth Street. Depicts couples strolling passed the theater, built with corinthian columns with niches containing the salvaged William Rush statues of Comedy and Tragedy. The theater, razed in 1855, was rebuilt on Chestnut Street above Twelfth Street in 1863., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
- Creator
- Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834
- Date
- [1823, [1828]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 40a/P.8705.9]
- Title
- First plate of four subjects for Birch's Philadelphia
- Description
- Montage of four titled vignette views showing the Philadelphia landmarks: "Franklin Library in 1800" (Library Hall) at Fifth and Library streets; "Pennsylvania Hospital in 1800" on Pine Street between Eighth and Ninth streets; "Swedes Church Southwark" (Gloria Dei); and "High St. Market House in 1800" above Second Street. Depicts the exterior of the library, hospital, and church, and the interior of the busy market shed., Proof copy., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
- Creator
- Birch, William Russell, 1755-1834
- Date
- [1828]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 41a/P.2276.76]
- Title
- Charles C. Watson & Sons, 92 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
- Description
- Advertisement for the tailor containing the numbered front and back of a male figure corresponding to a key of directions on taking measurements. Also includes text requesting "the height of the person to be sent" and the"length & widths to be stated in inches.", Variant published in Joseph Shaw's United States directory for the use of travellers and merchants...: (Philadelphia: Printed by James Maxwell, 1822)., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Civil War miscellany.
- Date
- [ca. 1822]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr - 8x10 - Advertisements - W [5786.F.166a]
- Title
- Town & plantation of the Fulahs
- Description
- Engraving shows an aerial view of a Fulah town and plantation. According to the text, villages of the Fulahs differed in their arrangement from those of other West African nations: "Their streets are broad and regular, and their houses, though only of clay, and roofed with straw, are always kept very clean and neat by the women. These villages are surrounded by lofty palisades, within which they grow the cotton that they manufacture themselves into cloth. On the outside of these enclosures are, on the one hand, the plantations of maize, and other kinds of grain; and on the other, the cattle, driven from the rich pastures where they graze in the day, are penned, for security, during the night. In the centre of this space stands a watch house, which enables their keepers the more easily to perceive the approach of robbers, or rapacious beasts. The whole is encompassed by a thick fence of strong thorny shrubs, through which there are two entrances, closed with posts and cross-bars, instead of gates. . . . No where do we meet with any building or monument designed to transmit the memory of any remarkable person or event to posterity." (p. 104-106), Fold-out plate in Africa: Containing a Description of the Manners and Customs, with Some Historical Particulars of the Moors of the Zahara and of the Negro Nations between the Rivers Senegal and Gambia (London: Printed for R. Ackermann, 101, Strand, and to be had of all booksellers), vol. 3, p. 104., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1821]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Gen Shob 92251.D v 3 p 104, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2953
- Title
- Le Hottentot
- Description
- Portrait image of Klaas, a young Hottentot (i.e., Khoikhoi), who accompanied Le Vaillant during parts of his voyage. According to the text, the engraving was done after a sketch by Vaillant. Klass is dressed in the typical Khoikhoi fashion: he wears a fur loin-cloth, a cape made from sheep or badger's skin (with the woolly side inward), and a lamb-skin cap. It appears that he also wears animal innards around his neck and legs, as was customary among the Khoikhoin. A good description of their dress can be found in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an Accurate Description of the Regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid (London: 1670), p. 590-591., Plate in François Le Vaillant's Voyage de Monsieur Le Vaillant dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance: dans les Années 1780, 81, 82, 83, 84 & 85 (A Paris: Chez Leroy, Libraire, rue Saint-Jacques; vis-à-vis celle de la Parcheminerie, no. 15, M.DCC.LXXXX [1790]), vol. 1, p. 212., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1790]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Leva 1790 9861.O v 1 p 212, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2923
- Title
- Hottentote
- Description
- Image of a young Hottentot (i.e., Khoikhoi) woman whom Le Vaillant met during his travels. The woman wears typical Khoikhoi dress: namely, a cape made from sheep or badger's skin. She does not, however, wear the customary fur loin-cloth -- an oversight allowing the illustrator to show her genitalia. Like many Khoikhoi women (including Saarti Baartman, the so-called "Hottentot Venus," who was crudely "exhibited" to European audiences in the early nineteenth century), the woman shown here has a "vagina dentata," which Le Vaillant described as a "natural apron." (See the English translation of Le Vaillant, Travels into the Interior Parts of Africa [London: Printed for G.G. and J. Robinson, Paternoster-Row, 1796], vol. 2, p. 353), Plate in François Le Vaillant's Voyage de Monsieur Le Vaillant dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance: dans les Années 1780, 81, 82, 83, 84 & 85 (A Paris: Chez Leroy, Libraire, rue Saint-Jacques; vis-à-vis celle de la Parcheminerie, no. 15, M.DCC.LXXXX [1790]), vol. 2, p. 346., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1790]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Leva 1790 9861.O v 2 p 346, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2924
- Title
- Camp de Pampoen-Kraal
- Description
- Depiction of Le Vaillant's camp at Pampoen-Kraal, where, according to his account, he and his party repaired their wagons and carriages, and dried their goods, which had become wet during the course of their travels. (In the engraving, however, it appears that Africans do much of the work for them.) "The hill of Pampoen-Kraal, . . . ," Le Vaillant wrote, "pleased me much." As he then recalled, "Nor far from my tent [right] stood a small eminence, crowned by a thicket of thirty or thirty-five feet in diameter. The trees and shrubs of which it was composed, in growing had so interwoven their branches, that the whole appeared as one very thick and bushy body. Having imagined that I might convert it into a little palace, I ordered a path to be traced out to its centre, and the branches to be lopped off on each side to the height of a man, so as to afford an easy passage. In the middle of the thicket, by the force of labour and employing the hatchet, we were able to cut out two chambers perfectly square; in one of which I placed my table and chair; this was my study. The second I ornamented with my kitchen utensils: but this did not prevent me from using it at the same time as a dining room. These two apartments, naturally covered with branches and leaves impenetrably thick, afforded me a delightful and cool retreat, when harassed and covered with sweat and dust, after my hunted excursion in the morning, I retired from the heat of the day, and the scorching rays of the sun. (See the English translation of Le Vaillant, Travels into the Interior Parts of Africa [London: Printed for G.G. and J. Robinson, Paternoster-Row, 1796], vol. 1, p. 164-165.), Fold-out plate in François Le Vaillant's Voyage de Monsieur Le Vaillant dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance: dans les Années 1780, 81, 82, 83, 84 & 85 (A Paris: Chez Leroy, Libraire, rue Saint-Jacques; vis-à-vis celle de la Parcheminerie, no. 15, M.DCC.LXXXX [1790]), vol. 1, p. 166., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1790]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Leva 1790 9861.O v 1 p 166, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2922
- Title
- Negro bridge over the Senegal
- Description
- Various aspects of the scene correspond with observations raised in Myer's text. For instance, in the lower left-hand corner of the image, a man kills a crocodile in a way that Myers described as typical in West Africa: by wrapping his arm in a piece of strong dried skin and plunging it as far as possible into the crocodile's mouth. With the aid of a flexible wooden hoop, another figure climbs a tree in order to procure sap for palm-wine, a popular beverage. In the center of the scene, several slaves march in single file over a bridge. Led by two European colonizers, they are bound together by collars connected to a pole that rests on their shoulders., Plate in Thomas Myer's New and Comprehensive System of Modern Geography, Mathematical, Physical, Political, and Commercial (London: Printed for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, Paternoster-Row, 1822), p. 436., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Creator
- Storer, engraver
- Date
- July 1, 1820
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Am 1822 Myer 1820.Q p 436, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2725
- Title
- [Scenes from Guinea]
- Description
- Three illustrations accompanying Taylor's discussion of Guinea. In figure 34, two Europeans try to kidnap an African family to sell them into slavery. Of this practice, Taylor wrote: "they [the Europeans] lie in wait near a village during the day, and catch any stragglers; but at night they come and set fire to their huts in several places; when the poor creatures run out in terror and confusion, then the soldiers seize upon all they can catch, and hurry them away to the sea-side, to sell them." (p. 62) Figure 35 shows the plan of a slave ship. Taylor described the conditions on board as follows, "only sixteen inches each, in width, are allowed for the men, and less still for women and children. There they lie, so close, that it is impossible to walk among them, without treading upon them." (p. 63) Figure 36 depicts slaves being sold at auction. Each slave, Taylor explained, was forced to stand on a hogshead, for easier inspection, while the planters offered their bids., Page of illustrations in Isaac Taylor's Scenes in Africa , for the Amusement and Instruction of Little Tarry-at-Home Travellers (New York: W.B. Gilley, 94 Broadway, 1827), p. 60., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Images from the Slave Trade.
- Date
- [1827]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1827 Taylor 101580.D p 60, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2729
- Title
- The Rev. Richard Allen, Bishop of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, in the U. States
- Description
- Half-length portrait of the African American bishop, seated, and holding the Holy Bible upright in his lap with his right hand. Allen is depicted with gray curly hair and is attired in a shirt with a high neck collar, a vest, and a jacket. A geometric border frames the portrait. Allen, born into slavery in Philadelphia, founded and was ordained the first bishop of the denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1816., Original painting attributed to Raphaelle Peale., Title from item., 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., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Purchase 2006.
- Creator
- Boyd, John, engraver
- Date
- cDecember 8th, 1823, December 10th, 1823
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *portrait prints - A [P.2006.29]
- Title
- A foot-race
- Description
- A satire of the 1824 presidential election showing the candidates; John Quincy Adams, William Crawford, Andrew Jackson, and Henry Clay engaged in a foot race to win the presidency. A crowd cheers them on and remarks about the candidates reflecting the regional and partisan views in the country. A Westerner attired in stovepipe hat with a powder horn exclaims, "Hurra for our Jacks-"son."" Former President John Adams cheers, "Hurra for our son "Jack."" An Irish man, portrayed in caricature and attired in torn and worn clothes, says, "Blast my eyes if I dont "venter" a "small" horn of rotgut on that "bald filly" in the middle [Adams]." A French man states, "Ah hah! Mon's Neddy I tink dat kick on de "back of you side" is worse den have no dinner de fourt of july." Two African American men, portrayed in racist caricature, look on and one remarks “Now old Hickory cuts dirt.” In the background is a "Presidential Chair" with a purse "$25,000 per Annum" and the White House., Title from item., Artist and publication date supplied by Reilly., NYPL copy copyrighted October 6, 1824., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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., Johnston, known as "the American Cruikshank" was a respected comic illustrator, engraver, and lithographer.
- Creator
- Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865, artist
- Date
- [1824]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1824-4 [5760.F.28]
- Title
- Revd. Jeremiah Gloucester Late pastor of the Second African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia
- Description
- Half-length portrait of the African American pastor, slightly facing left and holding a Bible in his right hand, surrounded by a decorative border containing an inset of the Bible inscribed with the verse Hebrews 4:16. Gloucester has curly hair and sideburns. He iis attired in a shirt with high neck collar, a jacket, and a top coat. The portrait, published by Jeremiah's brother, Stephen, to raise funds for his widow and children, sold for $1. Gloucester was the son of John Gloucester, pastor of the First African Presbyterian Church. He became pastor of the Second African Presbyterian Church when it formed in 1824 from dissenting members of the First African Presbyterian Church following the failure of Jeremiah to be nominated to assume the pulpit of his late father., Issued as a companion piece to a portrait of John Gloucester published August 1, 1823 by J. How of Philadelphia. (LCP P.8911.430), Title from item., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of portraits., Stephen formed a splinter church, the Central Presbyterian Church, after failing to be elected to the pulpit of his late brother's church, the Second African Presbyterian Church, in 1844., Advertisement for the portrait in the March 14, 1828 edition of the first black-written New York newspaper, Freedom's Journal., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1973 p. 43., 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.
- Creator
- Tiller, Robert, engraver
- Date
- July 4th 1828
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - G [(1)5750.F.190]
- Title
- Revd. John Gloucester Late pastor of the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia
- Description
- Half-length portrait of the first African American man ordained by the Presbyterian Church, seated and facing left, and with his right hand raised. Gloucester is attired in a shirt with a high neck collar, a vest, and a jacket. Contains decorative border with an inset of the Bible inscribed with the verse John I:29. Born and enslaved in Tennessee, Gloucester, initially a missionary, presided over the first African American Presbyterian church in the country., Title from item., See Lib. Company. Annual report, 1973, p. 43., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886. Accessioned 1973., 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
- B. Tanner & W.R. Jones, engraver
- Date
- August 1st 1823
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - G [P.8911.430]
- Title
- Flogging of the slave girl Juliana, about five or six years of age, in Jamaica, &c
- Description
- Image shows Juliana, a young West Indian slave girl, being flogged by her mistress, Eleanor Whitehead, with a cat of six tails. Juliana is streched out on the floor, and her mistress, dressed in voluminous skirts and elaborate finery, looms over her threateningly., Illustration in the pamphlet Flogging of the Slave Girl Juliana, about Five or Six Years of Age, in Jamaica &c. (London: Sold at the Depository; and by Harvey & Darton; Houlston and Son; Edmund Fry; E. Albright, London; and other booksellers, 1830?). (Bagster and Thomas, printers)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [1830?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1830 Flo 67062.D p 1, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2730
- Title
- Representation of the court of select audience -- Costume, and the ceremony of swearing fidelity to the British government
- Description
- Egraving depicts an event described in Chapter III, "Commencement of Negotiations," (p. 89-91). As the British envoy to Ashantee [i.e., Ashanti], Depuis participated in a ceremony in which the King of Ashantee, his principal officers, and chiefs took an "oath of friendship and alliance" to the British government. The ceremony took place in the royal palace, and Depuis is seated at the left. Standing next to him with a raised scimiter, the Ashantee King delivers "an energizing speech." (p. 89), Frontispiece for Joseph Dupuis's Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London: Printed for Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street: Shackell and Arrowsmith, Johnson's-Court, Fleet-Street, 1824)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- Williams, C., engraver
- Date
- [1824]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Dupui 1894.Q frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2902