Library Company of Philadelphia
This beautifully compiled memory album shows paintings of colorful interiors of Lewis’ home including this view highlighting furniture pieces.
See this plate and more in the upcoming exhibition Stylish Books : Designing Philadelphia Books opening November 2nd! For more information please visit us HERE.
The Library Company Celebrates Gay History Month!
The Library Company’s Gay History Month event—a highlight of the fall calendar—featured University of Tulsa professor Don James Brown, who made the case that Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1885 novel A Marsh Island was the first gay American novel. Jewett—herself in a same-sex relationship when the novel appeared— is often hailed as a local colorist for her portrayals of Maine communities. In A Marsh Island, the main character, a painter from New York City, spends extended time with a rural family while he recuperates from an injury. Dr. Brown noted the multitude of elements which would have signaled to the late 19th-century reader that the young man is gay, starting with his incompatibility with rural living (“queer metronormativity”). We are intrigued, and happy to have a copy of the book on our shelves.
We had a full house for the event. Among the many people who attended was Todd Snovel, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs. Mr. Snovel brought greetings from Harrisburg and at the beginning of the program read, in part, Governor Wolf’s proclamation designating October 2018 as LGBTQ History Month.
Thanks to our partnership with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Library Company’s new Charlotte Cushman Society, we can look forward to planning Gay History Month events in future years. To support our ongoing work encouraging the study of LGBT history, please become a member of the Charlotte Cushman Society. Contact Raechel Hammer, Chief of Development, at rhammer@librarycompany.org or 215-546-3181 x142 to learn more.
Philadelphia not only was a center for fashion but for fashionable furniture that was made locally. Join us November 2, 2018 for the opening Stylish Books : Designing Philadelphia Furniture to learn more about how Philadelphia furniture met form and function in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Stylish Books : Designing Philadelphia Furniture - on display November 2, 2018 - April 26, 2019. Opening reception, November 2, 5pm - 7pm. To learn more visit HERE.
Exhibition Opening TODAY:
William Birch, Ingenious Artist : His Life, His Philadelphia Views, and His Legacy
When William Russell Birch (1755-1834) moved to Philadelphia in 1794, he was already well-known in his native England as an ingenious artist, producing both landscape prints and enamel portraits. The project that established his reputation in America was The City of Philadelphia in the Year 1800. It was the first color plate book produced in the United States, and it was enormously successful, in part because it caught the spirit of the city when it was both the political and the cultural capital of the new nation.
To learn more visit : http://librarycompany.org/birch2018/ and watch this space for more posts about the exhibition.
Our wallpaper is filling up with hearts! Which one will you choose?
The opening reception for #GiltyPleasures : Sharing Special Collections through Social Media is TONIGHT! If you live in the Philly area we’d love to see you. Stop on by and see your favorite posts in person. This exhibit couldn’t have happened without you, our followers. <3
For more info visit: http://www.librarycompany.org/giltypleasures
The fourth annual Library Company lecture in honor of John C. Van Horne is happening TONIGHT!
The Library Company houses a large collection of Civil War ephemera, books, broadsides and prints illustrating the Union and Confederate politics, military, and families during the war. This includes a multitude of portraits showing one of the most famous faces of the Civil War, Union General Ulysses S. Grant, who led the North to victory and later became our 18th president.
Dr. Ronald C. White will be digging deeper into Grant’s legacy and how his life and values fit into the 21st century.
You can learn more about this event HERE.
We hope to see you at the Union League!
Illustrations on trade cards often had nothing to do with what businesses sold. However, they were highly coveted as collectors’ keepsakes. This trade card advertising LeMaistre’s embroideries, lace and fine accessories shows Gen. Ulysses S. Grant on the top of the world!
[J.W. LeMaistre trade cards] [graphic]. [United States], [ca. 1880]
Dr. Ronald C. White will be
highlighting Gen. Grant and his context in the 21st century at the Library Company’s 4th Annual John Van Horne Lecture on June 22, 2017. You can learn more about the event HERE.
Tomorrow is the annual Juneteenth Freedom Seminar, one of the oldest known seminars that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Our own Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Director of the Program in African American History, will be speaking on her new book Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge.
You can register for the event HERE.
The Library Company houses a large collection of Civil War ephemera, books, broadsides and prints illustrating the Union and Confederate politics, military, and families during the war. This includes a multitude of portraits showing one of the most famous faces of the Civil War, Union General Ulysses S. Grant, who led the North to victory and later became our 18th president.
On June 22, Dr. Ronald C. White will be digging deeper into Grant’s legacy and how his life and values fit into the 21st century. You can learn more about this event and register HERE.
Orr, J. W. Lieut. Gen. U. S. Grant. Portrait Prints. 8005.F.2
This delicate incire paper-cutting lives inside our copy of Leisure Hours (1844), right where the reader placed it. Come check out this and other items found in books on view now in our main gallery as part of our current exhibition, The Living Book: New Perspective on Form and Function.