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- Title
- Turning the tables on the overseer
- Description
- Bitter anti-slavery print depicting a group of slaves about to whip their white overseer, who has been bound to a tree on the plantation grounds. Before the overseer, the male slave holding the whipping lash boldly pulls up his sleeve as the slave next to him takes off his hat in a mock gesture of respect. Smiling men, women, and children of all ages stand, sit, and lean on a fence, surrounding the overseer in anticipation of his whipping., Illustration in New York Illustrated News, November 28, 1863, p. 73., Also published as a loose print by the African American press, Robert and Thomas Hamilton, possibly the first black press to publish separate prints., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Date
- [1863]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per D 8.5 1571.F Nov 28 1863 p 73, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2863
- Title
- A typical negro
- Description
- Three engravings accompanying the article "A Typical Negro." The text identifies them as "portraits" of Gordon, a fugitive Mississippi slave who joined the Union army in Baton Rouge. According to the unnamed author, the engravings were taken from photographs by McPherson and Oliver. The engraving on the left bears the title "Gordon as he entered our lines." It shows Gordon sitting on a stool with his hands folded on his lap and one leg crossed over the other. His clothing is frayed and tattered, and he wears no shoes. As the author explains, Gordon "entered our lines, with clothes torn and covered with mud and dirt from his long race through the swamps and bayous, chased as he had been for days and nights by his master with several neighbors and a pack of blood-hounds; . . . ." The middle engraving is titled "Gordon under medical inspection." Here, Gordon is seated on a stool with his bare back facing the viewer. The image offers a detailed view of the wounds and scars that cover his back. As the author commented, the engraving "shows him as he underwent the surgical examinations previous to being mustered into the service -- his back furrowed and scarred with the traces of a whipping administered on Christmas day." The portrait on the right is titled "Gordon in his uniform as a U.S. soldier." It shows Gordon in full military uniform, with all of his gear and his musket. This engraving, the author notes, "represents him in United States uniform, bearing the musket and prepared for duty.", Illustration in Harper's Weekly, vol. 7, no. 340 (July 4, 1863), p 429., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Date
- [July 1863]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per H 1529.F v 7 n 340 July 4 1863 p 429, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2877
- Title
- Scenes on a cotton plantation
- Description
- According to the accompanying commentary (p. 69), these scenes show the Buena Vista plantation in Clarke County, Alabama. As the text suggests, "The four sketches in the centre [i.e., sowing, ploughing, hoeing, and picking] show the principal operations of the cotton culture; and around figure other scenes appropriate to a cotton plantation." Moving clockwise from the upper right, the outer scenes are titled: the cotton gin, the planter and his overseer, prayer meeting, Saturday evening dance, plantation graveyard, the call to labor, and the cotton press. The text describes these scenes as follows: "The cotton-gin; the picturesque cotton-press, to whose long lever the mules are harnessed to create the power which compresses the ginned staple into bales; the morning call, performed upon a cow-horn; the owner and his overseer, figure here; as well as the weekly distribution of rations; the dance which closes the week's labor, and the plantation burying-ground. Here the defunct negroes are buried, a rail-fence being raised above the graves to keep off marauding hogs, calves, etc.", Double-page illustration in Harper's Weekly, vol. XI, no. 527 (February 2, 1867), p. 72., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- [February 1867]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per H 1529.F v XI n 527 February 2 1867 p 72, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2879
- Title
- Emancipated slaves
- Description
- From left to right, the group portrait shows: Wilson Chinn, a man of about sixty, whose forehead was branded with the initials V.B.M.; Charles Taylor, an eight year-old boy identified in the accompanying text as white; August Broujey, a nine year-old girl whose mother was "almost white;" Mary Johnson, an adult woman; Isaac Watts, a black boy of nine; Rebecca Huger, an eleven year-old, who "to all appearance . . . is perfectly white;" the Reverend Robert Whitehead, an ordained preacher; and Rosina Downs, a "fair child" of "not quite seven years." In addition to the group portrait, cartes de visite of the individual sitters were made. As the accompanying text explains, both could be purchased through the New York-based National Freeman's Relief Association; the proceeds went to support Louisiana schools., Full-page illustration in Harper's Weekly (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1864), vol. 8, no. 370 (January 30, 1864), p. 69., Small caption underneath the image reads: "Emancipated slaves, white and colored. -- The children are from the schools established in New Orleans, by order of Major-General Banes.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [January 1864]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per H 1529.F v 8 n 370 Jan 30 1864 p 69, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2878
- Title
- Civil War Illustrations. 1859-1865 (inclusive)
- Description
- The collection consists of illustrations, primarily wood and line engravings, which were cut from serials published in Philadelphia and New York, such as Harper's Weekly, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, the New York Picayune, and The Phunny Phellow; very few of the pieces have dates, source citations or explanatory text beyond the published captions. Included are camp and battle scenes, basic maps meant to help readers understand military strategies, and caricature portraits of generals and politicians. The material was formerly housed in two folio scrapbooks (one for each of the existing series) but was not arranged in any chronological or subject order within the albums. Most of the illustrations remain fixed to the album pages, which have been disbound, foldered and boxed. Material absent from the pages has been incorporated into the Library Company's print department and cataloged separately., Some parts of this collection were previously assigned accession numbers 5779.F and 5780.F., John A. McAllister was an antiquarian collector living in Philadelphia.
- Creator
- McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1880
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts MSS McA 5779.F
- Title
- Portrait of Abraham Lincoln, President elect of the United States of America, with scenes and incidents in his life
- Description
- Periodical illustration containing a central bust-length, profile portrait of a beardless Lincoln and a decorative border comprised of vignettes representative of the 16th president's life. Also contains the text, "President Elect Abraham Lincoln," and the image of a rail, ax, and chain below the portrait., Title from item., Clippings pasted on verso., Published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated newspaper (v. 11, no. 276), March 9, 1861, p. 247-248., Vignette captions: Lincoln's father killed by the Indians; Cap. Abr. Lincoln in the Black Hawk War; Law office; Springfield Capitol; Lincoln cropping corn in Indiana for Mr. Crawford; Lincoln splitting rails for Mr. Crawford; and Lincoln's residence., Originally from a McAllister scrapbook of Lincoln materials. 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [March 9, 1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **portrait prints- L [5792.F.16]
- Title
- Philadelphia, western & southern trade journal. Illustrated supplement Devoted to the commercial and manufacturing interests of Philadelphia
- Description
- Advertisement supplement containing 23 titled vignettes depicting and promoting prominent landmarks and businesses within Philadelphia. Landmarks include the State House; Girard College; U.S. Mint at Chestnut and Juniper streets; Merchants' Exchange; Chamber of Commerce at Dock and Walnut streets; Custom House at 420 Chestnut Street; Carpenters' Hall; the Navy Yard at Southwark; and Fairmount Water Works. Businesses include George W. Plumly, paper box manufacturer; Harrison, Havemeyer & Co.'s Franklin Steam Sugar Refinery; R. & G.A. Wright, manufacturers of fine perfumery; F. Gutekunst, photographer; Brooke, Colket & Co., commission merchants; McKeone VanHaagen & Co. Soap Works; Henry Disston's Keystone Saw, Tool & Steel works; Seyfert, McManus & Co.'s Reading Iron Works; Charles Magarge & Co., dealers in paper; Howsons' United States & Foreign Patent Offices; Wilson, Childs & Co., Philadelphia Plantation & Road Wagon Works; Dohan & Taitt, tobacco commission merchants; Lafourcades Brothers & Irwin, importers of cloths, cassimeres & vestings; and Lockwood's Paper Collar Factory. Also contains several passages of text recounting the history of the city and describing the depicted landmarks., Title from item., Various delineators and engravers, including Van Ingen & Snyder, Matthias Reiff Longacre, and Lauderbach & Schell., Accessioned 1992., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., 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.
- Date
- [ca. 1868]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***Ph Pr - Government Buildings [P.9384a-w]
- Title
- R. & G.A. Wright. Manufacturers of fine perfumery &c. 624 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa
- Description
- Exterior view of the storefront of the perfumery established in 1860. Building is adorned with an American flag. Also shows street and pedestrian traffic, including: clusters of men, women, and children pedestrians walking on the sidewalk; a horse-drawn carriage traveling down the street; and an African American paper boy running among the crowds., Vignette in the Philadelphia, western & southern trade journal. Illustrated supplement. (P.9384a-w), Accessioned 1992., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited., 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., Van Ingen & Snyder, a partnership between William H. Van Ingen and Henry M. Snyder, was active from about 1853 until 1871.
- Creator
- Van Ingen & Snyder, engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1868]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ***Ph Pr - Government Buildings [P.9384l]