David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

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…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

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…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

Pilot Program with Lokadot

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The Library Company has been chosen as one of five Philadelphia non-profits to join with newly-formed software development company Lokadot to launch a pilot program for its new application. Lokadot (a mash-up of “location” and “anecdote”)…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

LCP in the New Yorker—Burma Shave Style!

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The Library Company has launched an advertising campaign in The New Yorker magazine modeled on the old Burma Shave signs that dotted the edges of America’s highways from the 1920s through the 1960s. Beginning with the ad pictured here, which…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

“Foreign Confidence” Conference

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The 12th annual conference of the Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) will bring together scholars from Europe and North America on October 11 and 12 to talk about a timely subject: “Foreign Confidence: International Investment…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

Celebrating Frank Furness

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On September 17, the Library Company will open its newest exhibition Frank Furness: Working on the Railroads. The exhibition is funded by the William Penn Foundation as part of a citywide festival celebrating the legacy and innovation of Philadelphia’s…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

A Playful Record: Victorian Photo Collage

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Recently, I was given the opportunity to design an event invitation for the Philadelphia on Stone book launch party on October 23 at The Library Company. As the party is an ode to the great lithography of the Victorian era, I played with styles…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

Lucy the Elephant Enjoys Seaside Views Year-Round

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If you’ve ever taken a trip to the New Jersey Shore, chances are you’ve encountered more than one peculiar roadside attraction.  If you happen to be heading north from Ocean City towards the Atlantic City Expressway, as I recently…
Back covers of Leavitt & Allen gift books with papier-mâché medallions.

Medallions on 19th-Century Bindings

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I have written previously about book bindings with papier-mâché elements.  (click here to read that post.) Now, I’d like to present a particularly interesting group of books that have papier-mâché medallions attached to the leather…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

Rare Books CSI

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Dealing with rare books, our job can seem a little bit like that of a detective and a little bit like a scientist. We have to track down clues and then piece together what information we can, while maintaining objectivity and without embellishing…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

Songs of the 19th Century

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As a Library Company intern, I am used to going into the stacks and seeing books such as copies of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and Dr. Benjamin Rush’s copy of the account of the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. I am also used…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

Reuse

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A big trend in the art world is found-object art, as is using trash to create new things. I find that because my upbringing involved shopping at thrift stores and reusing everything and anything, this is a natural way for me…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

21st Century Maps Inspired by Library Company Collections

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We were recently visited by Mark Adams and Jason Killinger of Eyes Habit, who were interested in viewing our map collections to gather inspirations for a map they were creating focusing on Philadelphia’s river wards.  In their words,…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

PEAES Conference on International Investment

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Join us for the twelfth annual PEAES conference conference, Foreign Confidence: International Investment in North America, 1700 to 1860.  During the colonial and early republic years in North America, various foreign networks of individuals…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

NEH Summer Seminar for School Teachers

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Thanks to generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) the Library Company is again the site of a Summer Seminar for School Teachers.  Sixteen teachers from around the country, chosen from a record number of applications,…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

Tin Toys and Pulley Animals: My First Month as a VCP Intern

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Toys inspire me. They always have, even back when I thought all their creators were probably dead. I like things that move and things that you can interact with as a viewer, whether they are in the fine art world or in a toy store. When…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

The Stuff of Everyday Life at the Library Company

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  After two years of dedicated work, the Library Company has completed an extensive National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)-funded project to catalog, conserve, and selectively digitize our uncataloged collections of 18th-…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

African Americana and Frank H. Taylor Collections Now on ImPAC

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Three of the rarest and most popular resources for African American research in the Print and Photograph Department are now accessible in our digital collections catalog.  The 19th-cenutry African American women's friendship albums by Amy…
David Heston, Manufacturer of Advertising Cards, Frankford, Phil'a. (Philadelphia, ca. 1880). Color wood engraving.

Welcome Krystal Appiah

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We are very pleased to announce that Krystal Appiah started as the Library Company's African Americana Specialist and Reference Librarian on June 11.  She comes to the Library Company from the Maryland State Archives, where she improved access…