Marriott C. Morris captured this image of his friends Anne and Mary Emlen in August, 1885, while in Sea Girt, NJ. Notice the flower tucked in one of the sister’s buttonholes!

#MorrisMonday

Marriott Canby Morris. Anne & Mary Emlen sitting on beach, [Sea Girt, NJ] August 23, 1885. 1 photograph: glass negative; 4 x 5 in.         

For nearly two hundred years, researchers of Philadelphia history from all disciplines and backgrounds have turned to John Fanning Watson’s extensive Annals of Philadelphia to help uncover the stories of the city’s past. First published in 1830 and subtitled “A Collection of Memoirs, Anecdotes, & Incidents of the City and Its Inhabitants from the Days of the Pilgrim Founders,” Watson’s Annals has become an enduring and impactful source of knowledge on a range of Philadelphia’s legacies that includes information on everything from agriculture and apparel to transportation and military history.

Library Company Print and Photograph Department intern and Haverford College student, Allison Wise, has spent the last few months working with our extra-illustrated copy of Watson’s Annals. Read all about it on the Library Company blog.

Watson, John Fanning. Annals of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart, 1830.

William Birch, An Unfinished House, in Chesnut Street, Philadelphia (Philadelphia: William Birch, 1800). 

In 2018, the Print Department received an addition to the Morris Collection including envelopes like the one shown, filled with negatives ranging from the late 19th century through the mid 20th century. An amazing element of the Morris Collection is the amount of information that come with the photographs. Often collections come with a lot of guess work, where we can only attribute a date range or what we plainly see, versus accurate and detailed information about time and location, what buildings or what people are pictured. Marriott C. Morris was meticulous in his records, which has allowed this collection to be so robust, and we thank him for that!

This envelope is part of the most recent addition to the Morris Collection, currently in process. [P.2018.77]

This trade card is one of twenty-five in a series issued by W. Duke Sons & Co., gotta catch em’ all!

Donaldson Brothers (Firm), printer. Rolling cigarette. [graphic]. New York : Donaldson Brothers [ca. 1890] 1 print : chromolithograph ; 10 x 6 cm. (4 x 2.5 in.)

Exhibit A. Munchin.

Exhibit B. Food Coma.

This watercolor is from our Du Simitiere collection. Pierre Eugène Du Simitière (1737-1784) was a collector, artist, and historian, who opened the first public museum, the American Museum, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the American Musuem, Du Simitière presented his many materials collected during his travels and from his collections.

Marriott C. Morris captured this image of his sister, Bessie, and their friend, Alice Shipley, sketching beside a river in Sea Girt, NJ #OnThisDay in 1886. What a dreamy way to spend a summer afternoon! #MorrisMonday

Marriott Canby Morris. Alice & Bessie sketching below overflow, (Backs), [Sea Girt, NJ] July 22, 1886.       

#TFW it’s Monday….

Marriott C. Morris captured this image in July, 1888 on Mount Desert Island, the largest island off the coast of Maine. The island was popularized in the mid-19th century by Hudson River School painters as a nature retreat. From the late 19th century to around the 1930s the Island was a popular tourist destination. #MorrisMonday

Marriott Canby Morris. The girls are left behind us or “deserted at Mt. Desert.”[Mount Desert Island, ME]. July 23, 1888. 1 photograph: glass negative; 4 x 5 in.    

Looking for some summer travel inspiration? Head over to the Library Company blog to read Print and Photographs Department intern Emma O’Neill-Dietel’s post about Janet Morris’ two-volume travel diary, which chronicles a family trip from Philadelphia through the northwestern United States and Canada in July and August of 1921.

Diary of Janet Morris. Summer 1921. Trip West. 

And the prize for best hammer pants goes to… Marriott C. Morris, Jr! We can see the benefit of these bloomers and their built in cushion for newly mobile toddlers.

Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer. Elliston P. Morris Jr. and Marriott C. Morris Jr., 6706 Cresheim Rd [graphic]. [October] 1902. 1 photograph: gelatin silver print; 3 x 3.5 in.

It is the last week of the #PeakOfOurCollections challenge, and we want to stir those vacation vibes with a snapshot of the Morris family hanging out together in style on [more than a] Consolation Lake showing a gorgeous view of snow-capped mountains. 

 Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer. Boating on Consolation Lake, B[ritish] C[olumbia] Canada [graphic]. July 23, 1921. 1 photograph: gelatin silver print; 3.5 x 5.5 in.