Book with ring-shaped stain.

Hot Town, Summer in the City…of Philadelphia

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While I enjoy my internship at the Library Company’s Print Department and work days are never dull, there is something special about the mythic summer weekend, the fleeting two-day space of freedom immortalized in film and song.  Every Thursday…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

My First Weeks as the LCP Print Department Intern

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Returning my tomes on medieval medicine to the library, clearing my computer of the multiple drafts of papers and paragraphs cluttering Word document folders, and having taken my last trip to the Quaker and Special Collections at Haverford…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Let’s Get the Lead Out, or Why Paints and Drugs Do Mix

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Philadelphia was home to many early chemical and paint companies. The nineteenth century found these two industries to be integrally related by virtue of the fact that alcohol was a prime ingredient in both. One paint company, the John Lucas…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Off to the Fair

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As Co-Director of the Visual Culture Program, I am always on the lookout for new materials to add to the library’s visual culture collections. Ephemera has become a particular focus of my treasure hunting in the last year. Although online…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Abolitionist Women at Pennsylvania Hall

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As noted in a previous post, this year marks the 175th anniversary of the dedication of Pennsylvania Hall. Constructed as a forum for free discussion of abolitionism and other reform movements, the building was inaugurated on May 14,…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Commemorating Abolitionism in 1830s Philadelphia

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On April 23rd, Beverly Tomek, a former Library Company fellow, took part in a panel discussion on her upcoming publication on the Pennsylvania Hall entitled Pennsylvania Hall: A ‘Legal Lynching’ in the Shadow of the Liberty Bell,…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

The Philadelphia Cartoonist Society meets the Ephemera Collection

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As part of all things ephemera at the Library Company, I was asked to curate a mini-exhibition in collaboration with the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society. Nine artists will be making work inspired by the Ephemera Collection to be put on display…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Who Are These Beautiful Women?

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Recently, the Library Company acquired a fifth copy of The American Book of Beauty, or, Token of Friendship (Hartford: Silas Andrus & Son, 1847). The first four copies (three given by Todd and Sharon Pattison and one by Michael Zinman)…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

If the foot fits…

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One of the original feet to the secretary desk owned by William Penn has been found! This wonderful discovery is due to the help of a number of people. It all began when Laura Keim, curator of the Germantown Historical Society’s…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

The Mysterious and Humorous Signor Blitz

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Princeton University’s Curator of Graphic Arts, Julie Mellby, wrote a blog post on the 19th-century performer Signor Antonio Blitz (1810-1877), inspiring me to delve deeper into our collection to see what we might have related to this…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

PBS Documentary Host Visits the Library Company

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On December 10, 2012, the Library Company received a surprise visit from Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr., Harvard University professor, author, and documentary host. Although he still has in his possession a much-used copy of our 1973 printed…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Textiles and silver and chairs! Oh, my!

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I recently returned from having spent two weeks participating in the Winterthur Institute, which is an intensive course on decorative arts. Winterthur, the former residence of Henry Francis du Pont, is a museum of 175 rooms which house a collection…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Factory Portrait Complete!

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I recently posted on artist Adrienne Langer’s visit to our collection to research a local factory in order to create a “factory portrait” of the exterior.  The Main Belting Factory, located on Carpenter Street in South Philadelphia,…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Revisiting the Past

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Over the summer the Print Department hosted a half-day orientation for teachers attending a Library of Congress “Teaching with Primary Sources” seminar about the history of photography in relation to identity. In preparing for the presentation,…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Portrait of Once-Thriving South Philadelphia Factory Building

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The Print and Photograph Department was recently visited by artist Adrienne Langer, who was looking for information about the Main Belting Company factory located at 1217-37 Carpenter Street in South Philadelphia.  Langer has studio…
Book with ring-shaped stain.

Outtakes

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Inspired by my visit to the Library Company this spring, I have spent the summer as a Visual Culture Program Intern happily creating new works based on the Schoenhut circus toy catalog from 1917 and the other toy-related materials in…