A Selection of our special collections
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Costume Collection Within the circulating collection we have files on costume from around the globe. Armenian Lady, published by T. H. Lacy, Strand, London |
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Edmunds Collection Over 2000 images of Philadelphia schools and other images from Philadelphia taken by Franklin D. Edmunds. Blue Anchor Tavern, Philadelphia, December 6, 1908 |
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WPA Collection The WPA (Works Progress Administration, 1935-1943) Collection contains about 1,400 prints, drawings and posters created by artists hired by the federal government to work in the Philadelphia Graphic Arts Workshop during the Great Depression. Among the artists represented are Julius Block, Sam Brown, Claude Clark, Mildred Elfman, Michael Gallagher, Hubert Mesibov, Raymond Steth and Roswell Weidner. Claude Clark, In the Groove, Lithograph |
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Augustus Kollner Collection of watercolors by Augustus Kollner. German-born Kollner (1813-1906) moved to Philadelphia in 1840, where he had a small lithography shop. Schuylkill River Below Philadelphia |
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Lewis Portrait Collection The large scope of The Lewis Portrait Collection makes it one of our most important special collections. It's also among the earliest to be received by the library. Established by John Frederick Lewis in 1928, it contains more than 200,000 portrait prints in all media. Among these prints are numerous works of art by such artists as Van Dyck, Nanteuil and Holbein. Highlights include a photograph of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt attending their son Elliott's wedding in Bryn Mawr in 1932, an engraving of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, and dozens of engraved portraits of Benjamin Franklin. Author Victoria Sackville-West by W.G. Krieghoff |
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Aerial Collection The Print Department has areial views by Aero Service Company. Areial view of Benjamin Franklin Parkway |
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Benton Spruance Benton Spruance (1904-1967) was one of the most important American lithographers of the 20th century. He lived and worked in the Philadelphia area, teaching printmaking at the Philadelphia College of Art and Beaver College. The Free Library is fortunate to have one of the largest collections of Benton Spruance in the country. His lithographs chronicle the city and the world from the 1930's through the 1960's. You'll find scenes of urban life, dramatic images of football players, pictures depicting great stories from the Bible set in modern times, and illustrations for Moby Dick. Benton Spruance, Winter, Home for the Holidays, Lithograph |
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Centennial Exposition Collection The Centennial Exhibition Digital Collection and web site were developed by the Free Library of Philadelphia with a National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The one-year project is the first whole-collection digitization effort by the Library. It is intended to serve as a model for future digitization projects within the Library and for other institutions embarking on similar projects Interior of Memorial Hall |
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Book Arts Collection A small but growing collection of artist's books is available for study. Artists represented in this collection include, Alice Austin, Eugene Feldman, Enid Mark, Claire Owens and Maddy Rosenberg. Sample of Artist Books from the Collection |
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Photography Collection The Photograph collection includes thousands of images. Some of the photographers include Ansel Adams, Bernice Abbott, Ray Metzker, Eadweard Muybridge and Aaron Siskind. Eugene Atget, Bakery Cart |
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Old Master Prints Spanning the graphic arts from 1493 to the present time, the Free Library's Fine Art Prints collection initially represented only Philadelphia artists, but now the collection has been extended to include early masters as well as renowned modern printmakers. You can view prints by such artists as Dürer, Rembrandt, Warhol and Dali. Rembrandt, Rembrandt's Father, etching 1630 |
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John Gibbs Smith John Gibbs Smith donated a collection of photographs of trolley cars in Philadelphia. Street Car, 1940's |
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Postcard Collection It became fashionable to save postcards as souvenirs in the early 1900's. Postcards, because of their cheaper postal rate and the fact that they were relatively inexpensive and easy to produce, became a major way to promote tourism around the United States. Even small towns could have postcards of unique attractions or important buildings. Market Street |
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Rosenthal Collection An art collection of great importance, the Rosenthal Collection of Drawing by American Artists was donated by Albert Rosenthal over a period of several years beginning in 1927. The collection contains 846 drawings by artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A. S. Teck, Ballet Dancer |
