Visual Culture Collections

The Library Company’s strong collections of visual materials support the mission of the Visual Culture Program, which in turn supports the Library Company’s other academic programs and collecting strengths. These visual materials range from stunning hand-colored plates in books to deceptively simple pieces of ephemera, from oil paintings to early paper photographs. More information about our holdings of visual materials in specific subject areas can be found by clicking on the images.

Collections Policy

The Visual Culture Program adds to the Library Company’s existing holdings through an active acquisitions component. The overarching guidelines in place for the development of our book and graphics collections apply to the Visual Culture Program, with certain added emphases outlined here.

  • Visual materials documenting the technology of the production of graphics.
  • Graphic ephemera that complement the more national collecting strengths of the library, including African American History, popular medicine, and economy and society.
  • Separately-issued graphics pertaining to late 19th- and early 20th-century popular culture.
  • Printed material that is heavily illustrated, with a particular interest in innovative illustration processes.
  • Works that can help us understand the visual significance of non-illustrative material such as typography and book decoration.
  • Material that refers to optics and vision.
African American History
19th-century silhouette of Black man artist Moses Williams facing left wearing bows on ponytail and collar.
19th-century silhouette of Black man artist Moses Williams facing left wearing bows on ponytail and collar.
19th-century cover illustration of barefoot Black family including two children, man reading book, and woman holding infant.
19th-century cover illustration of barefoot Black family including two children, man reading book, and woman holding infant.
Late 18th-century Almanac cover illustrated with woodcut portrait of Black man Benjamin Banneker.
Late 18th-century Almanac cover illustrated with woodcut portrait of Black man Benjamin Banneker.

The African American History Collection ranges in date from the mid 16th century to the early 20th century, and is one of the strongest collections in the Library Company, both in terms of content and documentation. Visual materials pertaining to African American history include photographs, prints, and paintings of African American society and culture, portraits of prominent abolitionists, Civil War–era and anti-abolitionist caricatures and cartoons, and book illustrations and broadsides portraying African and African American life during slavery.

Civil War
Rows of white tents surrounding American flags. Men in blue uniforms stand and lounge nearby.
Rows of white tents surrounding American flags. Men in blue uniforms stand and lounge nearby.
Hospital filled with rows of beds and one white man and one Black man attending three white soldiers with different injuries.
Hospital filled with rows of beds and one white man and one Black man attending three white soldiers with different injuries.
Satan stands behind John Wilkes Booth, pointing to seated Lincoln, and gesturing to the gun Booth clutches in his right hand.
Satan stands behind John Wilkes Booth, pointing to seated Lincoln, and gesturing to the gun Booth clutches in his right hand.
White woman weeps into handkerchief as white soldier holds her in right arm while holding rifle in left hand.
White woman weeps into handkerchief as white soldier holds her in right arm while holding rifle in left hand.
Black Union soldier holds flag, framed by scenes of Free Black domestic life, the freeing of enslaved people, and marching troops.
Black Union soldier holds flag, framed by scenes of Free Black domestic life, the freeing of enslaved people, and marching troops.

Comprising some of the most diverse and visually informative materials in the collection, our Civil War-related holdings include recruiting posters, photographs, comic valentines, song sheets, playbills, pictorial envelopes, lottery tickets, paper money, leaflets, handbills, fans, humorous moveable “transformation” cards, ribbons, buttons, tickets, trade cards, and much more.

Economies
18th-century advertising print for furniture maker. Eagle, furniture, and ornaments around lines of text.
18th-century advertising print for furniture maker. Eagle, furniture, and ornaments around lines of text.
Photograph advertisement of different sized sponges arranged in a garland decorating a table filled with boxes and bottles.
Photograph advertisement of different sized sponges arranged in a garland decorating a table filled with boxes and bottles.
Well-dressed white woman and girl standing in a candy shop, talking in front of a white woman clerk weighing merchandise.
Well-dressed white woman and girl standing in a candy shop, talking in front of a white woman clerk weighing merchandise.
Four white men seated around a table smoking pipes. Speech bubbles extend from their mouths.
Four white men seated around a table smoking pipes. Speech bubbles extend from their mouths.
Advertising print. Docked and gliding boats on body of water near buildings and trees, advertising text, and a map.
Advertising print. Docked and gliding boats on body of water near buildings and trees, advertising text, and a map.

The collections of the Library Company document the country’s economic shifts into the 20th century as they permeated and transformed all aspects of life. In particular, these shifts are illustrated in visuals that document idealized and actual changes in the economy, in trade catalogs, advertisements, political cartoons, and depictions of both domestic and public economies.

Ephemera
Photograph advertisement of different sized sponges arranged in a garland decorating a table filled with boxes and bottles.
Photograph advertisement of different sized sponges arranged in a garland decorating a table filled with boxes and bottles.
Print of multiple pieces of furniture from different perspectives.
Print of multiple pieces of furniture from different perspectives.
Print of five white children playing with blocks with a rocking horse behind them.
Print of five white children playing with blocks with a rocking horse behind them.
Paper toy of Washington Crossing the Delaware. Some figures separated and displayed apart from the others with rectangular tabs.
Paper toy of Washington Crossing the Delaware. Some figures separated and displayed apart from the others with rectangular tabs.
1883 color-printed calendar showing white woman in sleeveless dress and bonnet sitting in a garden.
1883 color-printed calendar showing white woman in sleeveless dress and bonnet sitting in a garden.

The Library Company began collecting ephemera in 1785, when it acquired the Pierre Eugène Du Simitière Collection of Revolutionary War-era pamphlets and broadsides, and has been a pioneer in the emergent research uses of early American printed ephemera. With the purchase of the Joe Freedman Collection of Philadelphia Ephemera in fall 2013, the Library Company’s printed and graphic ephemera collections number nearly 40,000 items and comprise diverse holdings of material related to popular and visual culture, with particular strengths in the history of women, medicine, African-Americana, German-Americana, and economics. Almost 30,000 pieces as well as over 7,000 representative digital files of these holdings are available in the Library’s online catalogs, many thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities completed in 2012.

Natural History, Science, and Medicine
Open book. Crowded outdoor scene and classical-style architecture on left. Title page on right.
Open book. Crowded outdoor scene and classical-style architecture on left. Title page on right.
Cluster of spheres in varying sizes and with rays of light inside.
Cluster of spheres in varying sizes and with rays of light inside.
Bison leaning against tree stump and a plant with oval shaped leaves and pink blossoms.
Bison leaning against tree stump and a plant with oval shaped leaves and pink blossoms.
Branch of tightly packed globe shaped gooseberries.
Branch of tightly packed globe shaped gooseberries.
Trade cards depicting a butterfly, a little white girl holding a large bottle, a peach with arms and legs, a white baby, and a bird.
Trade cards depicting a butterfly, a little white girl holding a large bottle, a peach with arms and legs, a white baby, and a bird.

Natural history, scientific, technical, and medical works have been a collecting priority since the Library Company’s founding. Among them is the only known copy of the first American scientific illustrations (Jacob Taylor’s Tenebrae (New York, 1697); more than 7,000 medical trade cards; and visually stunning colorplate books by Catesby, Audubon, and Michaux among others.

Philadelphiana
Philadelphia street scene with several buildings, including a church, but no pedestrians.
Philadelphia street scene with several buildings, including a church, but no pedestrians.
19th-century white men and women browse books in the two-story Library Company building. Bookshelves line the walls. One man sits reading.
19th-century white men and women browse books in the two-story Library Company building. Bookshelves line the walls. One man sits reading.
Detail of late 18th-century, hand-colored print of busy Philadelphia street scene with man on horseback and several pedestrians.
Detail of late 18th-century, hand-colored print of busy Philadelphia street scene with man on horseback and several pedestrians.
Collage of images of The Benjamin Franklin Hotel: exterior, lobby, cocktail bar, Coral Cafe, and Crystal Ballroom.
Collage of images of The Benjamin Franklin Hotel: exterior, lobby, cocktail bar, Coral Cafe, and Crystal Ballroom.
Man walking in a storm while lighting strikes a brick building near trees bending in the wind.
Man walking in a storm while lighting strikes a brick building near trees bending in the wind.

A Philadelphia institution for almost 300 years, the Library Company has been able to collect a distinguished visual record of the city. Among the holdings are Peter Cooper’s circa 1718 South East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia, the oldest surviving oil painting of any North American city; Philadelphia’s earliest “news photograph,” by premier early photographers W. & F. Langenheim, depicting the anti-Catholic riots of 1844; and an extra-illustrated manuscript of John Fanning Watson’s seminal city history Annals of Philadelphia, presented to the Library Company in 1830.

Popular Culture
White couple faces each other on the dance floor. Staffs of music flow over their heads. Directional signs are swirled on the floor.
White couple faces each other on the dance floor. Staffs of music flow over their heads. Directional signs are swirled on the floor.
Large group of white women sit in a semicircle around a smaller group of standing white men.
Large group of white women sit in a semicircle around a smaller group of standing white men.
White woman in gown with knife standing over kneeling white man with goatee and in suit.
White woman in gown with knife standing over kneeling white man with goatee and in suit.
Caricature with a row of seven white women over a row of six white men each drinking different alcoholic beverages.
Caricature with a row of seven white women over a row of six white men each drinking different alcoholic beverages.
Circus scene. White attendees and performers surrounded by banners watch a pig run away and a man fall backwards near a man climbing a pole.
Circus scene. White attendees and performers surrounded by banners watch a pig run away and a man fall backwards near a man climbing a pole.

The graphic collections of the Library Company are rich for the study of American popular culture. Much of this material is ephemeral and often survives in only one copy. Holdings include everything from song sheets recounting boxing matches to playbills advertising baby beauty contests, as well as social satires, sensational crime dramas, and playing cards illustrated with portraits of celebrities.

Printing, Photography, & Book Arts
Bird's eye view of Cape May showing lots of land, buildings, trees, and ponds.
Bird's eye view of Cape May showing lots of land, buildings, trees, and ponds.
Flowers of different colors surrounding text with decorative border.
Flowers of different colors surrounding text with decorative border.
Rows of stylized text.
Rows of stylized text.
Mirrored view of different types of leaves.
Mirrored view of different types of leaves.
Charles Dickens with right hand in pocket and left hand resting on a small table.
Charles Dickens with right hand in pocket and left hand resting on a small table.

The Library Company’s holdings contain numerous resources to examine the conception, production, and dissemination of visual materials. The full spectrum of printmaking techniques, photographic processes, and bookbinding artistry can be found here, as can works describing the history of these arts.

Religion
Two white men converse and follow a group of white women and children into a building with the sign Sunday School.
Two white men converse and follow a group of white women and children into a building with the sign Sunday School.
Title page with facing illustration of Josephus Ben-Goron wearing robe, sandals and holding a baton.
Title page with facing illustration of Josephus Ben-Goron wearing robe, sandals and holding a baton.
Gothic-style text above a scene of horses pulling a wagon through a town with a human figure in the sky.
Gothic-style text above a scene of horses pulling a wagon through a town with a human figure in the sky.
White, robed angels surround a human-sized goblet above several lines of Gothic-style text.
White, robed angels surround a human-sized goblet above several lines of Gothic-style text.
German language baptism certificate with angels and scenes from the bible, and of a baptism.
German language baptism certificate with angels and scenes from the bible, and of a baptism.

Religion is a thread through all genres of early Americana, and is particularly suited to visual representation. The Library Company maintains one of the largest collections of German-Americana in the world, which includes many examples of highly decorated taufschein (birth and baptismal certificates) and other printed ephemera, much of it religious in nature.

Women’s History
Native American woman wearing a hat, jacket and skirt over a blouse and leggings, her elbow resting on a table.
Native American woman wearing a hat, jacket and skirt over a blouse and leggings, her elbow resting on a table.
Book open to title page with facing illustration of a kneeling, praying skeleton
Book open to title page with facing illustration of a kneeling, praying skeleton
Book illustration of a domestic scene of two women working in a kitchen. Scene bordered by decorative patterns.
Book illustration of a domestic scene of two women working in a kitchen. Scene bordered by decorative patterns.
Phillis Wheatley at her desk, one hand under her chin, the other with poised quill.
Phillis Wheatley at her desk, one hand under her chin, the other with poised quill.
Cover showing 1920’s white woman holding a parasol above text: How Phyllis Grew Thin.
Cover showing 1920’s white woman holding a parasol above text: How Phyllis Grew Thin.

The portrayal of women constitutes a core strength of the Library Company’s visual culture collections. Idealized, allegorical  imagery of women representing  nations; portraiture of historic female figures, writers, and thinkers; and caricatures reiterating negative stereotypes represent the wealth of imagery available to researchers of women’s history.