Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Good Things Come in Small Packages

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Despite their small size, the visual content of vignettes often provides narratives equal to those of large-format prints.  The advertisements of Philadelphia wood engraver Hugo Sebald (1825-1903), given by longtime donor David Doret,…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Exploring Ephemera

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As an intern in the Print and Photograph Department, I work frequently with the Library Company’s ephemera collection. Ephemera – a term first defined by Maurice Rickards in 1988 as the “minor transient documents of everyday life” –…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Marking African American History Month

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In 1926, Carter G. Woodson initiated Negro History Week, which during the bicentennial was expanded to Black History Month. Created to celebrate the achievements of African Americans, Black History Month also recognizes the central role played…
Detail of gilt birds from book cover.

Angry Birds

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This book cover has such interesting gold stamping. The unusual design of the four corner brasses incorporates images of animals in the swirls and curlicues. The birds look so determined as they fly under the ornaments!   I…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Mr. Rementer’s South Philly Pear Orchard

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I was recently contacted by James Rementer, a descendent of a South Philadelphia family that owned a pear orchard on Irish Tract Lane for more than a century before it was covered with landfill in the late 1800s. Though long gone, Irish…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

The Mourner’s Gift (1837)

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Connie King writes: Much as we send sympathy cards today, Americans gave small volumes of consolation literature to people who were in mourning during the early decades of the 19th century. In recent years, the Library Company has been able…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Things that Make You Go “Hmmm”

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When I first began working at the Library Company more than a decade ago, one of the first Print Department treasures I handled was the silhouette attributed to Raphaelle Peale showing the noted African American silhouettist Moses Williams.…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Library Company Collections on Flickr

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I’m an intern at the Library Company, working here for the first two weeks of January in the Print Department, doing various tasks relating to the Library Company’s collections of lithographs, drawings, cartoons, photographs, and other…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Six Degrees of Shellenberger

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Do you remember the game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?" I’ll bet you do, and I’ll bet you did not always need six steps to trace a relationship to this Philly native. I often make similar connections between historical figures in my work…
Four rare books in need of boxing.

The Ubiquitous Corrugated Clamshell Box – An Anniversary

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Not many people realize that the corrugated clamshell box (as shown above) was actually developed here at the Library Company. As many of you know, these boxes are very useful in rare book libraries because they are an efficient way to protect…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

James Rush and the Siamese Twins

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Recently, I was preparing a display of materials for a visitor who had a particular interest in Shakespeare.  Library Company benefactor James Rush (1786-1869), son of Declaration of Independence signer and famed doctor Benjamin Rush (1746-1813),…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Traipsing Through the Woods of Tacony

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Researcher Joseph Jones recently approached us looking for images of several estates once located in the present-day Tacony section of Northeast Philadelphia.  We were able to locate an image of the Lardner family farmhouse, shedding…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Large Pages into Small Spaces

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The three conservators in the McLean Conservation Department (Jennifer Rosner, Andrea Krupp, and Alice Austin) are all active members of the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers.  On November 5 and 6, 2011, they hosted a…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

A Bond by Any Other Name….

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“What a striking street scene!” was my first thought on seeing the Philadelphia Traction Company bond sent to me on approval from the New England ephemera dealer George LeBarre Galleries. Given my interests as a print curator, I hardly…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

“Ireland, America, and the Worlds of Mathew Carey”

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A conference sponsored by The McNeil Center for Early American Studies, The Library Company of Philadelphia, the Program in Early American Economy and Society, and the University of Pennsylvania Libraries The first half of the Mathew…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

Auction Success

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I just returned from bidding on a few lots at a sale at Freeman’s Auction, and my heart is still pounding. The adrenaline really gets going when there is bidding happening on the floor, on the phones, and on the internet and you don’t…
Sampler book laid out to show unique folding pattern.

LCP Collections on Loan

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We recently had a few items that were on loan to other institutions returned to us and it got me thinking about where else people can see Library Company collections outside of our building. If anyone is going to be in New York City, be sure…