Progress Report: August 2008

This April, Philadelphia on Stone Project Director Erika Piola started the survey of lithographic prints in the Print and Photograph Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia. From preliminary conversations with Curator Karen Lightner, it became evident that the evaluation of the materials would be quite a time-consuming undertaking.  In addition to reviewing the twenty prints already known to be unique to the Free Library, Ms. Piola has discovered almost eighty additional items that, because of their content, print style, or provenance, fall within the scope of the project.

The Free Library’s graphics collection proved to be very fertile ground for our project on the first fifty years of Philadelphia commercial lithography.

 

An Accurate Sketch from Nature, of the Exterior and Interior of the House No. 39, Nth. Fourth St. Philadelphia, Where the Atrocious Murder of Mrs. Rademacher was Committed on the Night of the 23d, March 1848, her Wounds, and Exact Position When Discovered. (Philadelphia, 1848). Lithograph, hand-colored. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

This horrid scene captured on stone documents the sensational murder in 1848 of Catherine Rademacher, sister-in-law of lithographer Augustus Kollner.

 

Otto Knirsch, Henry Miller's Concert Garden. Nos. 720 & 722 Vine Str. Philadelphia  (Philadelphia: Una & Wagner Printg., ca. 1861), Lithograph, tinted with one stone. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

The concert hall and theater operated by Henry Miller at 720 and 722 Vine Street comes to life in this circa 1861 sheet music cover.

 

Standard Tip Shoes. T.M. Harris & Co. (Philadelphia, ca. 1885). Chromolithograph. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

This chromolithograph, typical of later 19th-century advertising, utilizes a whimsical scene to promote T. M. Harris & Co.’s “Stand Tip Shoes.” The manufactory of the firm, formerly the factory building of the lighting company Cornelius & Baker, at 821 Chestnut Street, forms the background of the view.

The survey at the Free Library continues the successful collaboration among the seven regional institutions that have partnered for the Philadelphia on Stone project. The goal to expand upon the scholarship of Philadelphia lithography and its importance to the study of visual culture continues to be realized through the knowledge, cooperation, and assistance of our colleagues in the field of graphics research.

Ms. Piola will continue to reflect upon her Philadelphia on Stone experiences, this fall, at a panel at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, “Making History Local,” November 6-8, 2008.