About Ann McShane
This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Ann McShane contributed 65 entries already.
Entries by Ann McShane
Belles Lettres at the Library Company
In the early years, the Library Company acquired works of literature through purchases from London booksellers made by agents on our behalf or through gifts. The 1741 catalog, published on […]
Treasures from the Library Company of Philadelphia
The minutes of the Library Company Board of Directors meeting of April 4, 1886, relate that “a communication was received from Mr. John A. McAllister offering to give the company […]
Treasures from the Library Company of Philadelphia
During the years of the Civil War–with money scarce, prices high, and many of the Library Company’s members in the army–it took all of Librarian Lloyd Pearsall Smith’s ingenuity to […]
Treasures from the Library Company of Philadelphia
In 1774, Thomas Jefferson drafted a set of instructions for a Virginia delegation to an extralegal congress of the representatives of other colonies. Taken ill, Jefferson did not accompany the […]
Treasures from the Library Company of Philadelphia
One of the most popular poets in colonial America, Phillis Wheatley became the first person of African descent to publish in America. The enslaved Wheatley earned international fame for an […]
Treasures from the Library Company of Philadelphia
By the time he died in 1751, James Logan—who came to Pennsylvania as William Penn’s secretary in 1699 and went on to occupy many of the highest political and judicial […]
Treasures from the Library Company of Philadelphia
Women, want to know if you are fertile? Here’s what Aristotle prescribes. “Make a fumigation of red storax, myrhh, cassiawood, nutmeg, cinnamon, and letting her receive the fume into her […]
Treasures from the Library Company of Philadelphia
How many people realize that the stirring preamble to the Constitution, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…,” was a late emendation? […]
Treasures from the Library Company of Philadelphia
Eighteenth-century antiquarian Pierre Eugène Du Simitière (ca. 1736-1784) collected all manner of material, including sketches, pamphlets, broadsides, political cartoons, and other “combustibles,” such as embossed tax stamp paper, with an […]
Discover the Library Company’s Art & Artifacts Collection
The South East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia is one the Library Company’s treasures; this view of the Delaware Riverfront of Philadelphia is the oldest surviving painting of a […]
Treasures at the Library Company of Philadelphia
As we enter the final two months of the seemingly endless presidential election season, politics is on nearly everyone’s mind. Political visuals, whether appearing as newspaper cartoons, television commercials, or […]
Treasures at the Library Company of Philadelphia
During the winter of 1777-78, the American army starved and froze at Valley Forge, while the British enjoyed the comparative comforts of city quarters in Philadelphia. By spring the do-nothing […]
Treasures at the Library Company of Philadelphia
In 1731, Philadelphia was North America’s most important city. It was also the canvas for many of the young Benjamin Franklin’s inspirations for voluntary association and civic betterment. Soon after […]