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(33,451 - 33,500 of 33,674)
- Title
- Knights of Pythias [membership certificate]
- Description
- Membership certificate containing vignettes of scenes representing the tenets of the order (i.e., friendship, benevolence, and charity) composed within a border designed as a monument. Scenes include figures attired in Roman costume during acts of intervention from persecution and imprisonment. Also contains bust-length portraits of Roman soldiers, allegorical female figures, and emblems of the order, including a sword laid on an open Bible; crossed swords; a sprig of myrtle; and spikes. Knight of Pythias was an international, non sectarian, fraternal order established in 1864 on the principles of "toleration in religion, obedience to law, and loyalty to government.", Text printed with blue ink., Not in Wainwright., Copyrighted by S.S. Davis Supreme Chancellor., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 130, Library of Congress: PAGA 7, no. 2006e (E size) Knights of Pythias
- Date
- c1873
- Location
- Library of Congress | Prints and Photographs Division LOC PAGA 7, no. 2006e (E size) Knights of Pythias
- Title
- Compliments of Ketterlinus Printing House. Philadelphia
- Description
- Series of captioned, trade cards depicting a comical, theatrical scenario promoting the Ketterlinus Printing House established by Eugene Ketterlinus in 1842. Act 1st shows a dandy wooing a pretty peasant girl under the scornful eye of an older, plain milk maid and her riled cat in the foreground and a hunter in the background. Act 2d shows the peasant girl pleading with the milk maid as the dandy skulks away as the hunter watches from the background. Act 3d shows the girl and dandy pleading with the surprised-looking hunter, his gun and dog at his feet, as the "old maid" with her cat walks away. Act 4th shows the hunter wooing the coy milkmaid as the dandy and peasant girl walk away hand in hand., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POSA 13, Smithsonian Institution: NMAH Archives Center – Warshaw Collection - Printers & Printing - Vertical Box 2 - Ketterlinus - Act 3, Smithsonian Institution: NMAH Archives Center – Warshaw Collection - Printers & Printing - Box 2 Folder 3 - Ketterlinus - Act 1 - Act 4, "Act 3d" trade card housed Printers & Printing Box 2 Folder 3 Printers: General., Kettterlinus Printing House began to advertise under that name ca. 1875.
- Creator
- Ketterlinus Printing House
- Date
- [ca. 1875]
- Location
- Smithsonian Institution | Archives Center Warshaw Collection SI NMAH Archives Center – Warshaw Collection - Printers & Printing - Vertical Box 2 - Ketterlinus - Act 3, Smithsonian Institution | Archives Center Warshaw Collection SI NMAH Archives Center – Warshaw Collection - Printers & Printing - Box 2 Folder 3 - Ketterlinus - Act 1 - Act 4
- Title
- [Geo. S. Harris & Sons.] Printers & lithographers. Nos. 718, 720, 722, 724 Arch St. Philadelphia
- Description
- Advertisement calendar for the year 1883 containing a sentimental, genre scene for the firm renamed Geo. S. Harris & Sons in 1876. Scene shows a woman attired in a diaphanous dress, with plunging neckline and a high-rimmed bonnet, seated under a branch of an apple tree. A cluster of flowers, a butterfly, and a paper fan dominate the foreground and in the background, a farmhouse on a hillside completes the scene. Also includes decorative trim in the upper edge. Harris, first listed as a printer in 1847, operated one of the largest Philadelphia lithographic studios in the later 19th-century. The firm specialized in cigar box labels and stock trade cards., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POSA 36, Smithsonian Institution: NMAH Archives Center - Warshaw Collection - Printers & Printing - Box 10 Folder 2 - Geo S. Harris, Smithsonian copy of print displayed., LCP holds copy in Helen Beitler Graphic Ephemera Collection. [P.2011.10.164]. LCP copy manuscript note on verso: Eva Allen, 1603 Summer Street, Phila, Pa.
- Creator
- Geo. S. Harris & Sons
- Date
- 1883
- Location
- Smithsonian Institution | NMAH Archives Center Warshaw Collection SI NMAH Archives Center - Warshaw Collection - Printers & Printing - Box 10 Folder 2 - Geo S. Harris, Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Helen Beitler Graphic Ephemera Collection - Calendars - George S. Harris [P.2011.10.164]
- Title
- Fire Association of Philadelphia Insure from loss by fire buildings. Furniture and merchandise generally
- Description
- Tradecard containing a view of the Fairmount Waterworks. View looking from the west bank of the Schuylkill River showing the waterworks originally built between 1812 and 1822 after the designs of Frederick Graff. Shows the engine house, mill house, mound dam, and Reservoir Hill. Also shows individuals fishing from and on a boat near the Schuylkill Canal lock in the foreground. Also contains the pictorial detail of a running hose entwined around a fire hydrant., Names of Trenton and Plainfield, N.J. agents stamped in blue ink on recto., Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 251, Smithsonian Institution: NMAH Archives Center - Warshaw Collection - Fires & Firefighting - Box 2 Folder 23 - Fire Association
- Creator
- Major & Knapp Engraving, Manufacturing & Lithographic Co.
- Date
- [ca. 1868]
- Location
- Smithsonian Institution | NMAH Archives Center Warshaw Collection SI NMAH Archives Center - Warshaw Collection - Fires & Firefighting - Box 2 Folder 23 - Fire Association
- Title
- The Prospect Brewing Co. Eleventh, Oxford & Marvine Sts. Philadelphia, Pa
- Description
- Advertisement showing angels delivering a crate of "The Prospect Brewing Co.'s Beer" to a well-mannered woman at her doorway. A cat holds a bottle of beer in its paw at her feet and the angels fly above the porch lined by shrubery in front of the house. Also shows a placard above the head of the "lady of the house" that reads "Purity and Perfection Uphold The Fame of Our Beer.", Not in Wainwright., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 192, Smithsonian Institution: NMAH Archives Center - Warshaw Collection - Beer - Box 3 Folder 22 - Prospect Brewing Co.
- Date
- [ca. 1890]
- Location
- Smithsonian Institution | NMAH Archives Center Warshaw Collection SI NMAH Archives Center - Warshaw Collection - Beer - Box 3 Folder 22 - Prospect Brewing Co.
- Title
- The Rail candidate
- Description
- Political cartoon questioning candidate Abraham Lincoln's ability to succeed in the presidential election of 1860 with the controversial antislavery plank as a part of the Republican Party’s platform. Depicts Lincoln with an expression of discomfort on his face and straddling a wooden rail labeled, "Republican Platform." He complains, "it is true I have split Rails, but I begin to feel as if this Rail would split me, it's the hardest stick I ever straddled." Carrying the front end of the rail is an African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature, who says in the vernacular, "Dis Nigger strong and willin, but it's awful hard work to carry Old Massa Abe on nothing but dis ere rail!!" The back end of the rail is carried by New York Tribune editor, abolitionist, and Lincoln supporter, Horace Greeley, who ensures that they will prove Lincoln can split rails and be elected President., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1860, by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern Distc. of N.Y., Probably drawn by Louis Maurer., Stamp on verso: L.A. DeVries., Purchase 1960., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- 1860
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1860-31R [6419.F]
- Title
- "The Nigger" in the woodpile
- Description
- Racist political cartoon satirizing the Republican Party platform during the 1860 presidential election. In the right, shows Abraham Lincoln saying, “Little did I think when I split these rails, that they would be the means of elevating me to my present position" as he sits on top of a woodpile labeled, “Republican Platform.” An enslaved African American man, portrayed as a racist caricature with exaggerated features, sits within the intertwined rails of the platform. In the left, New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley is confronted by "Young America," depicted as a white man, who represents the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Greeley reassures him, "...you can safely vote our ticket, for we have no connection with the Abolitionist party, but our Platform is composed entirely of rails split by our candidate." "Young America" protests "It's no use old fellow! You can't pull that wool over my eyes, for I can see 'the Nigger' peeping through the rails," and he points his finger to the African American man in the woodpile., Title from item., Date from the copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1860, by Currier & Ives, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern Distt. of N.Y., Library Company, Annual report, 1967, p. 53., Accessioned 1999., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- 1860
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1860-30R [P.9677]
- Title
- Arms of ye confederacie
- Description
- Civil War print using the allegory of a coat of arms to criticize slavery and Southern culture. Depicts the shield adorned with symbolic Southern imagery, including a mint julep, pistol, whip and manacles, and enslaved African Americans, including a woman with a baby, working in the field. The shield is flanked by a white man plantation owner, attired in spurs and smoking a pipe, and a bare-chested, barefooted, enslaved African American man in manacles. Above the shield stands a rooster between the Confederate flag and a flag with a skull, cross-bones, and the number 290. Above the rooster is a streamer inscribed "Servitudo Esto Perpetua." In the background, white men plantation owners play cards, two white men duel, and an auction of enslaved people is in progress., Title from item., Possible date of publication supplied by Reilly., RVCDC, Accessioned 1979., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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.
- Creator
- Tilley, H. H., engraver
- Date
- [1862?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1862-13R [P.2275.9]
- Title
- The ( Fort) Monroe doctrine
- Description
- Abolitionist cartoon depicting enslaved African Americans fleeing to Fort Monroe, which was occupied by Union General Benjamin F. Butler who had declared freedom seekers to be "contraband" of war. In the right, a white man Virginia enslaver brandishes a whip and says, "come back you black rascal." A bare-chested, barefooted, African American man attired in white shorts, responds in the vernacular, "can't come back nohow massa Dis chile's contraban." To the right of the enslaver, a barefooted African American man, attired in a brimmed hat, a white collared shirt, and striped pants with the cuffs rolled up, watches as he leans on a hoe. A number of other African American freedom seekers run toward the Fort, including a woman with a child., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., During the Civil War, the U.S. government declared African American freedom seekers as “contraband of war.”, Purchase 1986., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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
- [1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1861-3W [P.9127]
- Title
- Oh! Massa Jeff. dis sesesh fever will kill de nigger
- Description
- Cartoon depicting the ill effect of secession on enslaved people. In the dwelling of the enslaved African American men, Jefferson Davis, attired in a broad-brim hat and with the Union flag hanging from his pocket, checks the pulse of an emaciated, bedridden African American man with "Bond Plasters" on his chest. An angst-ridden enslaved African American man stands behind the bed and weeps as he holds a bottle of medicine. On the wall behind him are three posters advertising various medicines: "Dr. Jeffy's Celebrated Bond Plasters ...," "The Great Southern Remedies," "Dr. Jeffy's Celebrated Lettres du Marque A Radical Remedy for all Constitutional Afflictions.", Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1861 in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the Southern District of Ohio., Purchase 1961., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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
- 1861
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1861-22W [6449.F]
- Title
- John Bull makes a discovery
- Description
- Racist cartoon reflecting the Northern fear that Britain's economic ties with Southern cotton growers would cause the British government to relinquish its abolitionist stance in order to support the Confederacy. Depicts a plump John Bull, representing Great Britain, centered between a kneeling enslaved African American man and a bale of cotton in a storage shed. Bull touches the hair of the African American man with his right hand and holds a piece of the cotton from the bale in the other. He declares, "it is certain that Cotton is more useful to me than Wool!!" In the left background, two African American men stand and cry. In the right background, a Southern white man plantation owner looks on and smiles., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Possible publisher supplied by Murrell., McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- [1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1861-40R [5780.Fa]
- Title
- The house that Jeff built
- Description
- Cartoon attacking slavery and Jefferson Davis as the Confederate President. Contains twelve vignettes indicative of the inhumanity of the institution of slavery with accompanying verse following the frequently used cartoons scheme of the nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built." The vignettes starting with the house that Jeff built (a depiction of a "Slave Pen") continue to include images of bales of cotton; enslaved African Americans working in the cotton fields; an auction of enslaved African American men, women, and children; a white man auctioneer; shackles; a white man enslaver whipping an enslaved African American woman; and a portrait of "arch rebel" Davis. The vignettes end with the image of several smashed symbols of slavery, such as shackles and whips alongside a notice of Davis's execution. The accompanying verse predicts that "Jeffs infamous house is doom'd.", Title from item., Artist and publication information supplied by Reilly., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1863 by D.C. Johnson in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts., Purchase 1966., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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., David Claypoole Johnston (1779-1860), known as the "American Cruikshank," was a respected comic illustrator, engraver, and lithographer.
- Creator
- Johnston, David Claypoole, 1799-1865, artist
- Date
- 1863
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1863-9 [7549.F]
- Title
- The question settled
- Description
- Cartoon depicting Abraham Lincoln as "Old Abe," a white cat who drives "Jeff," (i.e., Jefferson Davis) depicted as a grey striped cat with a noose around his neck from the "United States" food dish. The black cat, "Contraband," (i.e., African American Civil War freedom seeker) makes his way into the dish from the other side. The plate rests upon the Union flag and a map depicting the lower Southern States blockaded by figures of Union ships., Title from item., Possible date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., During the Civil War, the U.S government declared African American freedom seekers as "contraband of war.", Purchase 1970., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., 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
- [1862?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1862-12W [7870.F]
- Title
- The disappointed abolitionists
- Description
- Anti-abolition print distortedly portraying the events of the New York freedom seeker episode, "The Darg Case." The case involved a freedom seeker of enslaver John Darg who stole $7000 from him, fled, and was harbored and assisted by African American abolitionist and writer David Ruggle, Quaker arbitrator Barney Corse, and Quaker abolitionist Isaac T. Hopper. Corse had arbitrated a deal with Darg that in exchange for the return of Darg's stolen money, the enslaved man's freedom would be granted, and a small stipend would be paid to Corse. The arbitration was discovered and annulled by the New York police who then arrested Ruggles and Corse. Depicts Darg's sitting room where Hopper is requesting a reward. Ruggles says, "I don't like the looks of this affair. I'm afraid my pickings will not amount to much!" Corse replies, "Yea verily I was but thy instrument Brother Hopper as Brother Ruggles here knoweth!" They are threatened by Darg with a chair to whom they have returned "$6908" of his stolen money, and who bitterly exclaims that they deserve prison., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entd accordd to Act of Congress in the year 1838 by H.R. Robinson, in the Clerk's office of the Distt Court of the U. States, for the southern District of New York., Purchase 1968., 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., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, lithographer, and engraver who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which satirized middle-class African American Philadelphians in the late 1820s and early 1830s.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1838
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1838-40W [7779.F]
- Title
- Senate chamber U.S.A. Conclusion of Clay's speech in defense of slavery
- Description
- Cartoon satirizing an 1839 anti-abolition speech by the congressional orator Henry Clay focusing on his conflicting views on the abolition of slavery. Clay, despite deploring the institution of slavery, was an enslaver who was against immediate national abolition. Depicts Clay, in front of the Mason-Dixon line, coming to an agreement with John Calhoun, his chief congressional rival and leading senatorial supporter of slavery, about the issue of slavery. They both stand on past abolitionist resolutions and a prostrate enslaved African American man who quotes a verse from the Bible's book of Micah 7:8 that he will "arise." Clay's remarks "North" of the line reflect his abolitionist rhetoric; those "South" of the line refer to him being an enslaver. Calhoun states his pleasure in Clay's awakening to the societal benefits of slavery., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Accessioned 1979., 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.
- Date
- [1839]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1839-24w [P.2275.18]
- Title
- Handicap race presidential stakes 1844
- Description
- Satire of the presidential election of 1844 depicting the potential candidates; Whig Henry Clay, and Democrats Martin Van Buren, Lewis Cass, John Calhoun, Richard M. Johnson, and John Tyler on various mounts racing for the White House. Clay riding a racoon leads the pack claiming that no one can overtake him. Van Buren follows riding a fox and holding a weather vane labeled "N" (North) and "S" (South) with the slogans "Free Trade Texas" and "Abolition Oregon" attached. He acknowledges that Lewis Cass is closing in. Cass on his hound gloats that he has finally overtaken the "old fox." Calhoun, positioned fourth, rides a lion with an enslaved African American man and child, portrayed in racist caricature, on his shoulders and bemoans his extra weight. Johnson, on foot and holding a hook, follows Calhoun stating he will "hook on" to whomever gets in. Last is Tyler, who switched political parties, trying to ride the two mounts of the "Loco Foco" (radical Democrats) donkey and the "Whig" horse., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in year 1844 by J. Childs in the Clerk's Office in the District Court of the Southern District of N.Y., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1977., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1977, p. 51-52., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Clay, born in Philadelphia, was a prominent caricaturist, engraver, and lithographer who created the "Life in Philadelphia" series which satirized middle-class African Americans of the late 1820s and early 1830s.
- Creator
- Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
- Date
- 1844
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1844-55W [8366.F.36]
- Title
- The slavery question. Great prize-fight of the American eagle against the wolf and the alligator
- Description
- Cartoon portraying the extension of slavery as dependent upon the United States' successful annexation of California and Texas. Depicts the American eagle on a mound protecting her nest of hatchlings labeled "Texas" and "California" from a wolf and an alligator. The wolf dressed as a sheep is being restrained by John Bull who represents England and states, "I bet Canada" (a proposed U.S. annexation). The alligator is being restrained by Don Quixote who represents Spain and states, "I bet Cuba!" (another proposed U.S. annexation). In front of the nest sits a barefooted enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in torn and worn clothes. He holds his head in hands with the unbroken pot of slavery on his left and the broken pot of liberty, under the foot of John Bull, on his right. Behind the nest stands a bowery B'hoy figure holding a banner inscribed, "The Union Forever" and George Washington stating, "Go it, my boy you will beat them all.", Title from item., Publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., Inscribed: Pl. 4., Purchase 1975., 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.
- Date
- [1844]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political cartoons - 1844-75W [8138.F]
- Title
- The Clay compromise - a settler
- Description
- Racist cartoon satirizing the Clay Compromise of 1850 concerning the extension of slavery to the territories. Depicts a prostrate enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, who is being pulled by ropes from each end by a Northerner and Southerner. The Northerner states, "We are content with the Compromise," and the Southerner states, "An equal division is fair." Standing over the enslaved man is Henry Clay, who is poised with a sword to cut him in two. William Lloyd Garrison rushes to stop Clay, stating "let the Union go; but spare the man!" A Quaker man confers with a minister about the compromise, saying "Well I'm very glad that Friend Clay has interfered." The minister responds that he hopes the question is settled because his parishioners have been quarreling so long that they almost forgot to pay him. A white man overseer about to whip a group of enslaved men, attired in yellow sarongs, exclaims, "Damn the niggers! Their hides are so used to the whip that they mind it no more than a horse.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., RVCDC, Purchase 1991., 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
- [1850]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1850 - Cla [P.9314.3]
- Title
- The resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia Who escaped from Richmond Va. in a box 3 feet long 2 1/2 ft. deep and 2 ft. wide
- Description
- Antislavery print celebrating the moment freedom seeker Henry Box Brown emerged from his crate in Philadelphia. Brown, with the assistance of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, escaped slavery by having himself shipped to Philadelphia where he emerged in the presence of abolitionists Professor Charles D. Cleveland, J. Miller M'Kim, William Still, and printer Lewis Thompson. Depicts Brown just emerging from his box with Still holding the crate's lid labeled, "Wm. Johnson, Arch St. Philadelphia, This side up with Care;" Cleveland with a saw in his right hand; M'Kim with a hatchet in one hand and using his other hand to help Still hold the lid; and Thompson pointing to Brown with his right hand as he holds in his free hand a walking stick., Title from item., Date inferred from variant described in Reilly and LCP copy described by Jeffrey Ruggles, The unboxing of Henry Box Brown (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 2003), 114. Ruggles notes copies of the print had been received and advertised by the "Anti-Slavery Bugle" of Ohio before March 8, 1851., Variant reproduced in William Still, The underground railroad (1872) p.70. [LCP Am 1872 Still, 56405.O]., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1975, p. 59-60., Purchase 1975., 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., Call number in location based on Reilly entry., Kramer was a German born painter and lithographer who worked with the Rosenthals, a prominent Philadelphia family of lithographers, by 1850 and through the early 1850s.
- Creator
- Kramer, Peter, 1823-1907, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1850 - ca. 1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1850-4R variant [8183.F]
- Title
- 'Conquering prejudice,' or 'fulfilling a constitutional duty with alacrity.'
- Description
- Antislavery print depicting the pursuit of a freedom seeker in accordance with the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Shows a barefooted, enslaved African American woman, portrayed with exaggerated features, and attired in a head kerchief and a short-sleeved dress. She runs holding her child and screams for help, "My God! My child! Will no one help! Is there no mercy!" Chasing her are Daniel Webster admiring himself for performing a "disagreeable duty," a marshal holding a gun and handcuffs and exclaiming a sense of relief over Webster's interpretation of the Constitution, and two dogs. In the background is a church and courthouse., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1978, p. 54-5., Purchase 1978., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Kramer was a German born painter and lithographer who worked with the Rosenthals, a prominent Philadelphia family of lithographers from 1850 and through the early 1850s.
- Creator
- Kramer, Peter, 1823-1907, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1851- Con [8433.F]
- Title
- Practical illustration of the fugitive slave law
- Description
- Antislavery print depicting a fight between Northern abolitionists and supporters of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. In the left, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and an African American man both raise guns to protect an enslaved African American woman who is attired in a head kerchief, earrings, a short-sleeved dress, and shoes. She raises both arms in the air and clutches a handkerchief in her right hand and exclaims “Oh Massa Garrison protect me!!!” Garrison wraps his right arm around her and says, “Don’t be alarmed, Susanna, you’re safe enough.” In the right, the white man mercenary, attired in a top hat with a star on it, who may represent the federal marshals or commissioners authorized by the act (and paid) to apprehend freedom seekers, carries a noose and shackles. He sits astride Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who is on his hands and knees clutching the Constitution and bemoaning, "This, though constitutional, is extremely disagreeable." Behind them a white man, possibly John C. Calhoun, declares "We will give these fellows a touch of Old South Carolina" and carries two volumes labeled "Law and Gospel." Another white man carries a quill and ledger and says "I goes in for Law & Order." In the background, a number of men on both sides fight. A white man lies on the ground on his back. An African American man grabs a white man enslaver by the head and holds a whip while saying “It’s my turn now Old Slave Driver.” A "Temple of Liberty" stands in the background with two flags flying which read, "A day, an hour, of virtuous Liberty is worth an age of Servitude," and "All men are created free and equal.", Title from item., Probable place and date of publication supplied by Reilly., Weitenkampf attributed this cartoon to the New York artist Edward Williams Clay, but Reilly refutes this attribution on the grounds that the draftsmanship, signature, and political opinions are atypical of Clay., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1850 or 1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1851-6 [5760.F.104]
- Title
- A grand slave hunt, or trial of speed for the presidency, between celebrated nags Black Dan, Lewis Cass, and Haynau
- Description
- Cartoon criticizing presidential candidates Daniel Webster (i.e., Black Dan) and Lewis Cass's avid support for the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law during the election of 1852. Shows Webster, carrying a copy of the Fugitive Slave Law and a flag, leading a group of white men, including the lagging Michigan Senator Lewis Cass; the infamously cruel Hungarian General Baron Haynau with a pitcher of "Barclay Best" on his head (a symbolic reference to the brewery workers who attacked him in England); and President Millard Fillmore holding a Fugitive Slave Bill. They pursue an enslaved African American woman who runs clutching a baby in her arms and holding the hand of her young son. Additional figures in the background include Horace Mann, Massachusetts Congressman and opponent of the Compromise of 1850; an orator resembling Webster bombasting Mann before a group of kneeling white men admirers; a preaching white man minister with Bible in hand; and an African American woman freedom seeker with her child being tugged between a yelling man and a white man mercenary carrying handcuffs., Title from item., Date of publication supplied by Weitenkampf., Purchase 1967., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1852]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1852-7W [P.9676]
- Title
- The Cincinnati platform, or the way to make a new state in 1856
- Description
- Antislavery cartoon criticizing presidential nominees James Buchanan and John C. Breckenridge's support of pro-slavery forces over freesoilers in the violent political struggle in "Bleeding Kansas" during the Democratic Convention of 1856 in Cincinnati. Depicts a pro-slavery militia, carrying a flag labeled "Kansas and Liberty," that has marshalled a group of shackled, enslaved African American men who wear loin-cloths. Several of them clasp their hands together and look with pleading expressions at the white militiaman, behind them, and who carries a whip in his left hand and drives them forward. They march toward a settlement, which has a "Free Soil and Fremont" flag where homes burn and settlers and cattle lay wounded or dead. In the right is the corpse of an assaulted, white mother, who lies on the ground with her breasts exposed. Her naked, dead baby lies face down over her left arm. In the upper left, Buchanan and Breckenridge, standing in front of seated convention delegates on a platform, oversee the violence and comment about the freesoilers being a curse to the country who would surely leave if forced to work for "10 cents a day.", Title from item., Date inferred from content., Copyright statement printed on recto: Entered in according to act of congress in the Clerk’s Office of the district Court for the Eastern District of Penna. By I. [sic.] Childs., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1856-10W [5760.F.95]
- Title
- The great presidential race of 1856
- Description
- Cartoon ridiculing the Democratic and American (Know-Nothings) Party presidential candidates James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore by depicting them in a race to win the election of 1856. Depicts Buchanan having crashed his mount (i.e, running mate John C. Breckenridge depicted as a buck) into a rickety platform marked "Democratic Platform," Slavery," and "Cuba." An enslaved African American man, portrayed with racistly caricaturized features, and wearing shackles on his ankles and worn and torn clothes, shoes, and a hat, stands upon and ridicules the "Democratic Platform." Buchanan angrily replies, "You infernal Black Scoundrel, if it had not been for you and that cursed Slavery Plank that Scared and upset my Buck, I should have won this race certain." Following Buchanan is Fillmore using his running mate Andrew Jackson Donelson, depicted as a goose, as his mount. Fillmore, the American Party candidate, carries a "Know-Nothing" lamp and fears his loss will dissolve the Union. In the distance, the Republican candidate John C. Fremont pulls ahead to the cheers of many of the spectators. Brother Jonathan, (predecessor of Uncle Sam), stands on an observation or judging deck and carries a timer’s watch. Additional spectators include white men belittling Fillmore as "spineless" and a "goose," and a white boy holding a sign inscribed, "We Po'ked Em in 44; We Pierced Em in 52; and We'll 'Buck Em' in 56." He is being hoisted by two African American men, portrayed with racistly caricaturized features, upon the back of a gruff and annoyed-looking, bearded, white man asking him if he's a "Fre'mounter.", Title from item., Artist and publication information supplied by Reilly., Political cartoon Horse sassengers! A free lunch lithographed on recto. (political cartoons - 1858 Hor, P.2275.18b)., Accessioned 1979., 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., Magee was a New York cartoonist and lithographer who eventually established his own lithographic firm in Philadelphia in 1850.
- Creator
- Magee, John L., artist
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1858 Hor (verso) [P.2275.18a]
- Title
- The Democratic platform
- Description
- Cartoon satirizing politicians' support of James Buchanan and the Democratic platform of 1856. Depicts Buchanan as "the platform" of his party prostrate across the backs of the kneeling antislavery advocate Senator Thomas Benton ("Old Bullion"), President Franklin Pierce ("Franklin the last"), and son of Martin Van Buren, John Van Buren ("Prince John"). An enslaved African American man, portrayed in racist caricature, sits atop Buchanan’s legs with his arms crossed. Sitting opposite him atop Buchanan’s chest is a white man enslaver, armed with a whip, knives, and a pistol, who declares, “I don’t care anything about the Supporters of the platform as long as the platform supports me and my Nigger.” Underneath Buchanan, Benton replies to Pierce's question of how he can be against his administration yet for "this platform" by stating that he supports Buchanan because his motto is "Men - not principles." (This is a reversal of the Democratic motto: "Principles, not men.") Simultaneously, Van Buren talks with his father "Martin the first," depicted as a fox in his "Kinderhook" burrow, about the changing policies of the great Democratic Party and the plunder to be had. Standing in the left, "Brother Jonathan" (predecessor of Uncle Sam) notes the unreliability of the "platform supporters.", Title from item., Date supplied by Weitenkampf., Purchase 1971., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1856-16W [7996.F]
- Title
- The chivalry at the English court
- Description
- Cartoon mocking Southern secessionists who sought foreign aid for the Southern Confederacy by depicting white men emissaries from the "Gentlemen colony of South Carolina" asking Queen Victoria if she can spare a King. The South Carolinians stand before the throne and present bales of “Cotton” to the Queen. Behind them a contingent of enslaved African American children, portrayed as racist caricatures, carry an umbrella, a fan, a serving tray of “julips,” and hold the tail of the emissary’s jacket. In the right, Queen Victoria sits on her throne surrounded by white boys and flanked by a lion and a unicorn. She responds that her family is small but possibly a "Coburg" relation may satisfy their needs., Title from item., Publication date supplied by Weitenkampf., Text printed below image: May it please Your Majesty, We, the Republicans of the Gentlemen Colony of South Carolina are desirous of having a Royal Master; would You graciously please to spare us a King out of your illustrious house? Her Majesty. Thank you Gentlemen, but my Family is small, you know; -- perhaps one of my Coburg Relations may accommodate you, I can recommend them, they give Satisfaction in every Place., Accessioned 1899., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1860]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1860-6W [5780.F]
- Title
- Speech of Andrew Johnson Governor Andrew Johnson's speech to the colored people of Nashville on the 24th ultimo, already noticed, is fully reported by a correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, who says
- Description
- Broadside contains extracts from Johnson's speech with commentary; Johnson made the "Moses speech" on October 24, 1864., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War.
- Date
- [1864?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | BOOKS RARE sm# Am 1864 Joh 71708.O
- Title
- Fixing a block-head to the Constitution or putting a wart on the nose of old ironsides
- Description
- Satire of President Andrew Jackson who is represented as a figurehead that is being placed on "Old Ironsides" (i.e. the ship "Constitution") by African American sailors. The white commander, attired in uniform with his back to the viewer, stands beside a bucket of grog and offers the sailors a "double allowance of grog." To the right, eight African American sailors, portrayed in racist caricature and speaking in the vernacular, hoist the figurehead up with ropes. In the left, two African American sailors steady the base of the figurehead with rope and one remarks, "...dey'd better run him up to the yard arm like dey do de pirate." The figurehead of Jackson, who was often criticized for his broad interpretation of the constitutional powers of the executive branch, holds a paper inscribed "My interpretation of the Constitution." In the right, a white man military fifer and a white man drummer play the "rogue's march" instead of "Hail Columbia." Cartoon references the event in July 2, 1834, when mariner Samuel W. Dewey decapitated the figurehead in the middle of the night. The figurehead of Andrew Jackson was added to the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) in March/April 1834., Title from item., Incorrect publication date of 1832 supplied by Weitenkampf., 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 2023., 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., Imbert, a pioneer of lithography in New York City, printed city views and also painted marinescapes.
- Creator
- Imbert, Anthony, 1794 or 5-1834, lithographer
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1834 Fix [5760.F.73]
- Title
- Slave emancipation; or, John Bull gulled out of twenty millions
- Description
- Anti-abolitionist satire of the indemnification expenses to be paid as a result of the abolition of slavery in the British colonies in 1833. Depicts William Wilberforce, a prominent British abolitionist, leading a tour group comprised of a white man enslaver, a white man Whig, and "John Bull" through the dwellings of enslaved people. As the tour passes, a group of happy and celebrating Black men, attired in yellow, blue, or green pants and shoes and portrayed in racist caricature, dance and smoke from pipes. One man sits with his back to the viewer and smokes a pipe beside a jug labeled, "Rum." Wilberforce preaches about the necessary expense of emancipation and the wretched condition of the enslaved to which Bull laments about "our poor innocent factory children, for whom you haven't one small spark of pity." The white men comment about the personal effect of emancipation on them., Title from item., Date and place of publication inferred from content., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1978, p. 55., Purchase 1978., 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.
- Date
- [ca. 1833?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1833 - Sla [8392.F]
- Title
- Immediate emancipation illustrated
- Description
- Critical satire of the American Anti-Slavery Society, which was founded on the principle of immediate abolition by Arthur Tappan and William Lloyd Garrison, who are depicted discussing the society's principles with an unnamed abolitionist, possibly Lewis Tappan. Above their heads is the banner "Anti Slavery Society Founded Anno Domini MDCCCXXXIII." The seated Garrison comments on the origin of the bundle of Italian linen at his feet, which is to be used for his newspaper "the Emancipator." In the right, the figure of a leopard rests upon a pedestal marked "Fanaticism. Brought the Inquisition upon Spain. Beggary upon Italy. And may drench America in blood!!" (an allusion to the idiom a leopard cannot change its spots and to the Spain and the Iberian War, 1807-1814). In the left, a Black man, labeled "Emancipated Slave," is portrayed in racist caricature and is naked except for a leaves wrapped around his waist. He chases an insect calling, "Food," while carrying a knife. In the background, a scene labeled "Insurection (sic) in St. Domingo! Cruelty, Lust, and blood!" depicts Black people using swords and axes to kill white people, including a white woman on the ground. A building burns behind them., Title from item., Date supplied by Weitenkampf., Probably the "A Caricature" cited in the Emancipator (New York, N.Y.), October 19, 1833 and Liberator (Boston, Mass.), November 2, 1833., The "Emancipated Slave" figure is similar to the figure depicted in the lithograph by Alfred Ducôte, "An Emancipated Negro" ([London]: Thomas McLean, 1833). Copies in the collections of National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London., Purchase 1986., 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.
- Date
- [1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1833 - 27W [P.9140]
- Title
- Lapsley Family Business Records. 1805-1817 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Lapsley Family Business Records span the period from 1805 to 1817, and contain correspondence, shipping, and financial documents relating to the textile manufacturers and dry goods firms in England and America with whom the family was involved in commerce., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., David Lapsley and his four sons were carpet and dry goods merchants in Philadelphia from the 1780s through the mid-nineteenth century, and importers of textiles from England to the United States.
- Date
- 1805
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 008, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64584#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Peter S. Du Ponceau Papers. 1787-1844 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Peter S. Du Ponceau Papers holds both incoming and outgoing correspondence with friends and business associates. Most of the letters in the collection, however, are in the second subseries: twenty-six letters written to Du Ponceau by the Marquis de Lafayette, and two by his secretary Auguste Levasseur. They range in date from January 1825, during their tour of America, until just prior to Lafayette's death in 1834. Lafayette's correspondence deals partly with personal and family topics, but also raises contemporary political issues., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., A noted linguist, Peter Stephen Du Ponceau was born in St Martin de Ré, France, on June 3, 1760. In 1777 he came to the American colonies as secretary to Prussian military officer Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus, Baron von Steuben, during the American Revolution. Du Ponceau served as a captain in the American army until 1781 when illness forced him to resign; afterward, he remained in America, eventually settling in Philadelphia and becoming a lawyer. He was an active member of Philadelphia's cultural organizations, serving as president of the American Philosophical Society (elected to membership in 1791), the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He was a founding member of the French Benevolent Society of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Bar Association.
- Creator
- Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen, 1760-1844
- Date
- 1787
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 019, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64517#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Godfrey Weber Papers. 1802-1844 (inclusive)
- Description
- Series I, Correspondence (1842-1843) holds letters that relate to Weber's business interests. There are three letters from Pennsylvania representative Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868), one of which replied to Weber's letter regarding silk duties. One letter is unsigned and unattributed; written in December 1842, it is addressed to President John Tyler and recommends the appointment of Henry Mahler of New York to the position of United States Consul in Zurich. It is filed with the Weber material based on a letter from Ingersoll to Weber saying that he had forwarded Weber's recommendation to the secretary of state along with an endorsement of Weber's character as a reference. Mahler was appointed to the post as the country's first consul to Zurich, and served from 1843-1844., Series II, Documents (1802-1844) mostly pertains to the estate of a doctor and druggist, Peter Anthony Blénon (1759-1836), for which Godfrey Weber was an executor. A native of Sens in the Burgundy region of France, Pierre Antoine Blénon became an American citizen in 1798, and was a resident of Hamilton Village in West Philadelphia. He left a large part of his estate to “Institutions of Charity and Benifence” in the city of Philadelphia. Included in the Weber papers is a set of refunding bonds signed by each of the thirty-two organizations, which bear a collection of beautiful institutional seals. Other documents in the series are a receipt book that records payments made from the Blénon estate between July 1836 and February 1844, two of Weber's French passports and two of his French military conscription forms., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Godfrey Weber (1780 or 1-1862) was a merchant in Philadelphia. Born Christian Godfrey Weber in Strasbourg, France, he first appeared in the Philadelphia directories in 1820 as Godfrey Weber, a merchant at 160 1/2 South Second St. In 1833 his description and location changed to an importer of French goods at 68 South Third St. The compendium Memoirs and Auto-biography of some of the Wealthy Citizens of Philadelphia (1846) describes Weber & Co. as “Importers of French and other goods. Adopted citizens.” with a net worth of $50,000. At the end of his life, Weber was listed in the Philadelphia directories as a dry goods merchant living at 635 Pine Street. The donor of the papers, John A. McAllister, was an antiquarian collector living in Philadelphia. Family history and census documents suggest that Weber was related to McAllister's wife Annette Steinbrenner (d. 1926); the McAllisters are buried with the Weber and Steinbrenner families in Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia.
- Creator
- Weber, Godfrey, d. 1862
- Date
- 1802
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 028, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64407#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Oswald Family Papers. 1792-1816 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Oswald Family Papers relate to William Hunter Oswald, a merchant living and working in Malta and Italy in early nineteenth century, his father Eleazer, and his brother John. Primarily William Hunter's incoming and outgoing correspondence, the papers also include his diary covering eighteen months during 1809 and 1810, when he was traveling from Philadelphia to Malta, and around Mediterranean area. Other materials in the collection are documents that Eleazer Oswald assembled to request payments due him from the French government for his military service, records of a ship owned and sold by John Oswald, and passports for the two brothers., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., William Hunter Oswald (b. 1787) was the son of the printer Eleazer Oswald (1755-1795), a printer who served in the French military in the 1790s. A merchant by trade, Willilam Oswald lived and worked in Malta and Italy during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. John Holt Oswald (1777?-1810), his brother, was also a merchant involved in international trade.
- Creator
- Oswald family
- Date
- 1792
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS MSS McA MSS 009, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64716#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Albert Newsam Papers. 1833-1864 (inclusive)
- Description
- The Albert Newsam Papers holds correspondence and documents sent to, written by, and about the artist. Some of the material relates to the Gallaudet Monument Association, which was organized to collect funds from the deaf community nationwide to raise a monument to Thomas H. Gallaudet (1787-1851) on the grounds of the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb (now the American School for the Deaf) in Hartford, Connecticut. Newsam designed the monument, and was vice president for fundraising in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. The collection also holds a circa 1835 folio album, titled “Principles of Perspective,” which is thought to be in Newsam's hand and functioned as his workbook on the subject., Letters from Albert Newsam to John A. McAllister are in the Library Company's John A. McAllister Papers (McA MSS 001); in those letters, Newsam writes accounts of his life at the Living Home and the work he is pursuing while there. The Library Company's Print Department holds several portrait prints by Newsam., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Albert Newsam (1809-1864), was a deaf artist who was born in Steubenville, Ohio, and orphaned at an early age. Through devious means he was taken to Philadelphia where, by good fortune, he was admitted in 1820 to the recently established Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. Newsam had exhibited great talent as an artist while young man, and became an apprentice with Philadelphia lithographer Col. Cephas G. Childs (1793-1871) in 1827, after which he became the principal artist with the noted printer Peter S. Duval (1804 or 05-1886). A master copyist, portraitist, and chromiste, Newsam is generally credited with helping to elevate the art of lithography in the United States. His career ended suddenly in 1859 when he suffered a stroke that affected his vision and coordination; he spent his final years at Dr. John A. Brown's Living Home for the Sick and Well, near Wilmington, Delaware, a situation arranged for him and funded by a committee of friends that included John A. McAllister.
- Creator
- McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1861
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 003, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64707#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Watson & Paul Business Records, 1792-1807
- Description
- The Watson & Paul Business Records contains correspondence and financial documents relating to the firm's trade arrangements with a variety of local and national vendors and merchants, as well as those in Europe and the West and East Indies. The material describes business agreements, details of the goods and specifics of their transportation and value, and occasional news of the growing and harvesting conditions, states of the market, local politics, and weather., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Watson & Paul was a Philadelphia firm formed by two merchants and brothers-in-law, James Paul (1770-1839) and John Watson (died 1811). They were in business from 1797 to 1811.
- Creator
- Watson & Paul
- Date
- 1792
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 004, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64760#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- Civil War Manuscripts, 1854-1868 (inclusive)
- Description
- The collection holds disparate letters and documents pertaining to both military and naval officials, and civilians, active during the Civil War. There are small groups of material relating to the careers of five Union men who functioned at various levels in the war: an army colonel, William Watts Hart Davis; a navy surgeon, James McClelland; a soldier from Philadelphia, J. Ridgway Moore; an army general, Lovell Harrison Rousseau; and a Union spy, Richard Wilcox. There are also ten prisoner-of-war letters written by Confederate soldiers being held in Indianapolis, IN, and Columbus, OH. Much of the material was removed from military office files during the war and sent to the collector, John A. McAllister in Philadelphia., Additional Civil War-related autographs, clipped from letters and documents, are in the McAllister Autograph Collection (McA MSS 022)., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., Some of the items in this collection were previously assigned accession numbers 5786.F, 5787.F, and 5795.F., John A. McAllister was an antiquarian collector living in Philadelphia.
- Creator
- McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1854
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 024, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64502#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- John B. Budd Business Records, 1820-1846 (inclusive)
- Description
- The John B. Budd Business Records span the dates 1820 to 1846, and describe the workings of a Philadelphia commission merchant who was importing and exporting goods between Philadelphia and England, the American South, and the Caribbean. Many of his contacts were merchants in New Orleans., On deposit at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For service, please contact the Historical Society at 215-732-6200 or http://www.hsp.org., John Britton Budd was born in Philadelphia, and was a merchant/grocer and a commission merchant in the city for more than forty years.
- Creator
- Budd, John B., d. 1868
- Date
- 1820
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | MSS McA MSS 005, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A64459#page/1/mode/1up
- Title
- [George Washington crossing the Delaware]
- Description
- Commemorative print after the 1851 painting by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze depicting General Washington's famous campaign across the icy Delaware River above Trenton on Christmas Eve 1776. A stoic Washington stands at the head of the lead rowboat surrounded by several of his dedicated men, including a white man soldier holding the American flag and the African American oarsman Prince Whipple, enslaved man and bodyguard to Washington Aide, General William Whipple. In the background, boats with the remaining troops and horses are visible., Copyrighted by M. Knoedler., Proof copy., Title from original painting in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York., Gift of Anthony N.B. Garvan, 1981., 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
- Giradet, Paul, engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1853]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - American Revolution [P.8646.1]
- Title
- Rebecca A slave girl from New Orleans
- Description
- Full-length, abolitionist portrait of the propagandized fair-skinned child emancipated from enslavement, Rebecca Huger. Depicts Huger, attired in a long-sleeved dress with decorative stripes, standing between scenery props of a stone window adorned with ivy and a full-length mirror, which reflects her profile. Freed by Union General Butler in New Orleans, the child toured through the North with other people emancipated from enslavement to raise funds for the schools of Louisiana for the formerly enslaved established by Philip Bacon, Assistant Superintendent of Freedmen. Huger, daughter of her enslaver, was one of three touring children denied entrance to a Philadelphia hotel in December 1863., Title from item., Attributed to Charles Paxson., Date from copyright information and content. Copyrighted by S. Tackaberry., Distributor's imprint stamped on verso: N.B. - All orders must be addressed to H.N. Bent, [National Freedman's Relief Association], Box 809, P.O. Boston, Mass., Stamped on verso: The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted to the education of Colored people in the department of the Gulf, now under the command of Major General Banks., Contains cancelled 2 cents revenue stamp on verso., See Harper's weekly, January 30, 1864, p. 71. (LCP **Per H, 1864)., See Kathleen Collin's "Portraits of slave children," History of photography 9 (July-September 1985), p. 187-210., Purchase 2001., 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.
- Creator
- Paxson, Chas. (Charles), -1880, photographer
- Date
- 1864
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - Huger (sitter) [P.9971]
- Title
- A Virginia slave child in 1863
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of five-year old child emancipated from enslavement, Fannie Virginia Casseopia Lawrence, with her adoptive mother Catherine S. Lawrence. Freed in Virginia by Lawrence, a military nurse, Fannie was publicized as the "redeemed slave child" baptized by Henry Ward Beecher at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn in May 1863. Depicts the fair-skinned Fannie, attired in a straw hat, a cape, and a dress, standing and holding the gloved hand of the seated Catherine Lawrence, attired in a bonnet with a black lace veil and a bow under her chin, a dark-colored dress, and a cape., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1863, by T.C. Fanning, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Manuscript note on verso: Plymouth Church., Copyrighted by T.C. Fanning. Possibly New York publisher, Thomas C. Fanning., See Kathleen Collin's "Portraits of slave children" History of photography 9 (July-September, 1985), p. 187-210., Purchase 2002., 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.
- Creator
- Van Dorn, photographer
- Date
- 1863
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Lawrence [P.9995]
- Title
- Afro-American historical family record
- Description
- Blank African American genealogical certificate containing a family tree surrounded by portraits of the first twenty-four U.S. presidents; portraits of prominent African American men and women religious, political, and educational leaders; and eleven vignettes contrasting life in the South of the enslaved versus the free. African American portraits include Frederick Douglass flanked by Washington and Lincoln; Judson W. Lyons, Register of the Treasury; Miss Lucy C. Laney, Founder of the Haines Institute; Booker T. Washington; H.M. Turner, Bishop of the A.M.E. Church; T. Thomas Fortune, editor New York Age; Hon. John M. Langston, diplomat; Madam Sissiretta Jones, performer and singer; Miss Hallie Q. Brown, educator and African American women's rights activist; Prof. Mary V. Cook, Principal of the State University, Louisville, KY; Miss Ida B. Wells, editor and author; Hon. John R. Lynch, U.S. Paymaster and ex-Congressman; Dr. Henry Fitzbutler, founder of the Louisville National Medical College; and L.H. Holsey, Bishop of the C.M.E. Church. Vignettes depicting slavery include the last auction of enslaved people in Savannah; enslaved cotton pickers working the field; enslaved people dancing and playing instruments "as children were taught in the dark days of slavery"; and an enslaved family in front of their “hut.” Contrasting post-emancipation scenes include a view of Tuskegee Institute; a view of "progressive farming as taught at Tuskegee Institute"; a group portrait in front of a "school house erected by a Tuskegee graduate"; the Victorian house of R.R. Church, a free man; and Spanish-American War battle scenes of African American regiments assisting the Rough Riders, including at San Juan Hill. Also contains the white eye of Providence below the title., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1899, by J.M. Vickroy, Terre Haute, Ind., Printed on recto: Branch Office Terre Haute, Ind., Purchase 2002., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., 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., Vickroy, a prominent Indiana fine arts publisher, specialized in genealogical and fraternal order certificates.
- Date
- 1899
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - African American Heroes [P.2002.16]
- Title
- Specimen sheet Union, patriotic and humorous designs upon envelopes
- Description
- Advertisement containing twenty-five examples of Civil War envelope vignettes published by King & Baird. Majority of the vignettes include titles and slogans. Designs depict the American flag; liberty, the American eagle; soldiers (including the martyred Colonel Ellsworth); caricatures of Brigadier General Henry A. Wise (former governor of Virginia), Jefferson Davis, and the Southern gentry; a portrait of Washington; an abolitionist scene showing the whipping of an African American man entitled "The persuasive eloquence of the Sunny South"; and a racist caricature of an African American man on all fours carrying a whip and asking in the vernacular, "Whar's Jeff Davis?" Also contains a description of the envelopes and shipping information, as well as the scale of prices ranging from "25 Assorted Envelopes, (25 kinds)" at 25 cents to 1000 at 5 dollars., Title from item., Text printed on recto: Single copies of this sheet will be mailed free of postage, upon receipt of six cents, by King & Baird, Book and Job Printers, 607 Sansom St., Philadelphia., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of miscellaneous Civil War prints. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886 [5786.F.161a]. Accessioned 2002 [P.2002.45]., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- King & Baird
- Date
- [ca. 1863]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Civil War [5786.F.161a; P.2002.45]
- Title
- Proclamation of Emancipation. By the President of the United States of America
- Description
- Print commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation. Contains a portrait of Lincoln surrounded by American flags and a bald eagle with the text of the proclamation below. In the left are three vignettes within an ornamental border that depict the horror of Southern slavery, including enslaved African Americans working at a cotton plantation, a scene of an African American man being auctioned, and African American men being attacked by dogs. In the right are three vignettes within an ornamental border that depict the industriousness of the free North, including a scene with a large house and estate, African American children in school, and a dock with a steamboat. In the bottom is an allegorical scene contrasting the war savaged Confederacy with the prosperous Union., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1864 by R.A. Dimmick in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook. 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
- Roberts, William, approximately 1829-, engraver
- Date
- 1864
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Emancipation [5792.F.27]
- Title
- Diorama - Washington at Yorktown
- Description
- View of the diorama with mannequin figures and a painted backdrop exhibited during the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 recreating a scene from the Battle at Yorktown in October 1781. Shows troops marching and parading before officers, including Washington, on horseback. An African American man stands beside a horse, who is possibly a portrayal of Washington's enslaved valet William Lee. The diorama by Colonel F. Lienard was displayed within a skating rink at Twenty-Third and Chestnut Streets. Figures of Generals Lafayette and Rochambeau were also portrayed., Title from item., Publisher's imprint printed on verso., Buff mount with rounded corners., 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., See "Washington at Yorktown," Philadelphia inquirer, December 13, 1875., See related print [Philadelphia roller skating rink, Twenty-third and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia] (trade card - Philadelphia [P.9839])., Purchase 2001.
- Creator
- Centennial Photographic Co.
- Date
- Centennial Photographic Company
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Centennial Photographic Company [P.9982.2]
- Title
- Centennial commemoration at Philadelphia [ticket] Three millions of colonists on a strip by the sea. Now forty millions of freemen ruling from ocean to ocean
- Description
- Ticket to the "Grand Mass Demonstration in favor of the Centennial Commemoration of American Independence, February 22, 1873" at the Academy of Music containing scenes contrasting life in Philadelphia in 1776 with life in 1876. Scene of 1776 shows white men colonists, including one attired as a backwoodsman, in front of a log cabin and standing near a barefooted, enslaved African American man, attired in torn and worn clothing, sitting on a pile of sticks. Scene of 1876 shows a white man soldier talking to a white man artisan near an African American man laborer seated next to an anvil and machinery gears. Cityscape is visible in the background. Also includes an eagle holding an American flag crest adorned with a portrait of Washington. Contains text printed on the verso soliciting subscriptions to make the Centennial a success as well as to make Pennsylvania the representative to the world of the "power of the Republic.", Title from item., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Centennial and Columbian Exposition views. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [1873]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr -8 x 10 - Events [5758.F.26c]
- Title
- The happy negro
- Description
- Satiric print depicting a "happy" enslaved family in a tropical setting, probably the West Indies. Shows an enslaved man strumming his banjo seated next to his wife and child near palm trees and a flower bush. A dog sleeps near its bowl at their feet and grass-roofed huts are visible in the background. Also contains prose below the image comparing and contrasting the white man's and enslaved person's joys and cares. The white man "full of care, has heart no light, he great deal want, he little get, he sorry, so he fret" whereas the negro 'hub no care, heart is light, me tink not what tomorrow bring, me happy so me sing.", Holland published a series of cartoons critical of the decadence of the West Indies plantation society of the early 19th century., 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., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2005, p. 62-65., Purchase 2005., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., RVCDC
- Date
- [August] 1 1810
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1808-Hap [P.2005.28.3]
- Title
- West India fashionables On a visit in style. Taking a ride
- Description
- Satiric print mocking the decadent state of West Indian plantation society containing two views depicting enslaved people performing gratuitous tasks for traveling white enslavers. "On a Visit in Style" shows an enslaver, his wife, and her white lady's maid seated in the cab and rear of a horse-drawn gig. The gig displays a crest comprised of a goblet and whips. One enslaved man guides and another steers the horse that is adorned in netting to protect it from flies. An enslaved man and woman follow the carriage. They carry the enslaver's trunks on their heads. Also shows a windmill and sugar refinery in the background. "Taking a Ride" shows a white couple riding on horses, which are adorned with protective netting, past a sugar refinery and enslaved men and women working in a field. The white woman wears a huge bonnet obscuring her face. An enslaved man guides her horse while another holds its tail and uses a branch to fend off flies. The white man who wears an extremely wide-brimmed hat also has an enslaved man fending away flies from his horse's tail. George suggests that the enslaved people are to be assumed as the progeny of the enslaver as they all have the same unusually shaped nose., Publisher's advertisement printed below image: Of Mr. Holland may be had the following West India Prints, Johnny Newcome in the Island of Jamaica_ A Grand Jamaica Ball_ Martial Law in Jamaica_The Blessings of Jamaica_and a Segar Smoking Society in Jamaica. 5s each_A large portrait of Rachel Pringle of Barbadoes 7s. 6_Likewise Gillray's sale of English Beauties in the East Indies 7s 6d., 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., Purchase 2005., RVCDC., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2005, p. 62-65.
- Date
- November 1, 1807
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1807-Wes [P.2005.28.2]
- Title
- A West India sportsman Make haste with the sangaree Quashie and tell Quaco to drive the birds up to me - I'm ready
- Description
- Satiric print mocking the decadent state of West Indian plantation society showing enslaved people catering to a white enslaver on a hunting trip. Shows the white man, seated under an umbrella, his feet up, his gun in his hand, as he is fanned by a long-sleeved shirt and sarong-clad enslaved man behind him. Other enslaved people (a woman, young men, and a child) keep flies away from platters of meat displayed on a table and a basket of tropical fruit; butler a large glass of sangaree; and drive birds from a field. Also shows jugs of liquor, including royal punch, sangaree, and rum, lined near the grinning "sportsman." The rum jug has toppled over near empty bottles strewn on the ground near a broken jug of water. In the distance, another white enslaver holds a gun and lies on a settee while an enslaved woman holds an umbrella over him. All the figures are depicted with exaggerated features., Publisher's advertisement printed below image: Of Mr. Holland may be had the following West India Prints, Johnny Newcome in the Island of Jamaica_ A Grand Jamaica Ball_ Martial Law in Jamaica_The Blessings of Jamaica_and a Segar Smoking Society in Jamaica. 5s each_A large portrait of Rachel Pringle of Barbadoes 7s. 6_Likewise Gillray's sale of English Beauties in the East Indies 7s 6d., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC., Purchase 2005., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2005, p. 62-65., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
- Date
- November 1, 1807
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department political cartoons - 1807- Wes [P.2005.28.1]
- Title
- Rev. Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in the United States of America, 1779
- Description
- Half-length portrait of the African American bishop, seated, and holding a book, possibly the Bible, in front of a curtain. He looks slightly to the left and points to an open page of the book with his right hand and clasps the upper edge of the other side of the book with his left hand. Allen is attired in a collared shirt, a vest, and a jacket. Allen was the first African American bishop as well as founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was born in Philadelphia and was enslaved by Benjamin Chew. He worked as a wood-cutter during his ordination. A full-length portrait of the white Quaker abolitionist and little person Benjamin Lay is on the verso. Lay is attired in a tricorn hat, a long shirt and jacket, britches, and boots. He holds a cane and book in his right hand., Manuscript note on border: "The curiosity of the portrait below is that it was made for the first Black Bishop in the UStates and perhaps the world! He is indeed a self created Bishop; nevertheless, as such he has now, in his 65 years, in 1824, probably created 100 ministers, by his ordination! He was born & bred in Philada. He was originally a slave of Benjn Chew's Esqre & learnd the trade of a Shoemaker; & like St. Paul, 'labored with his own hands,' while he ordained-", Title from item., Date form item., In John Fanning Watson's Extra-illustrated autograph manuscript of "Annals of Philadelphia", p. 276., Gift of John F Watson, June 1830., 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
- 1813
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Watson's Annals manuscript [Yi2 1069.F.276]