Antique & Vintage Philadelphia History Library Collection With Historic Bookplates — Set of 11

Details

Description

An assembled collection of eleven antique and vintage hardcover books exploring Philadelphia’s people, institutions, cultural collections, and civic history, complemented … Read more An assembled collection of eleven antique and vintage hardcover books exploring Philadelphia’s people, institutions, cultural collections, and civic history, complemented by an early study of Boston’s South End. Illustrated biographies, city histories, a Depression-era WPA guide, and institutional publications give this collection both literary substance and a distinctive library presence.

The bindings offer a richly layered palette of forest green, navy, black, brick red, and warm neutral tones, accented by gilt lettering, decorative spine motifs, and illustrated dust jackets. Portrait engravings, historical photographs, scenic endpapers, and surviving ownership bookplates invite closer examination.

Highlights include Henry Simpson’s The Lives of Eminent Philadelphians, with a title page dated 1859; the explicitly stated first edition of the 1937 Philadelphia: A Guide to the Nation’s Birthplace; and the illustrated 1922 centennial history of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. Selected volumes retain institutional ownership markings associated with the Franklin Institute Library, Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, and University of Michigan Libraries.

Offered together as an assembled collection of eleven distinct titles.

Individual Books Included

1. The Lives of Eminent Philadelphians, Now Deceased
Henry Simpson
Philadelphia: William Brotherhead, 1859
A substantial biographical reference devoted to Philadelphia’s historical figures, collected, as its title states, from original and authentic sources. The title page advertises forty-four engravings, with portrait examples visible in the accompanying photographs.
Presented in a black binding with gilt spine lettering that appears to be a later rebinding. Its broad proportions provide a substantial visual anchor for the collection. The photographed title page bears the date 1859; the complete engraving count has not been verified.

2. Proceedings of the Dedication of the New Buildings of the Central High School, Philadelphia
Edited by Franklin Spencer Edmonds
Published under the authority of the Board of Public Education, First School District of Pennsylvania, 1910
A commemorative record of the school’s dedication ceremonies held November 22, 24, 25, and 26, 1902. The volume preserves a chapter of Philadelphia’s educational and civic history in red cloth with gilt cover and spine lettering.
Retains a Franklin Institute Library reference bookplate, accession number 84168, recording the book as a gift from Dr. Joseph Hepburn. An accompanying presentation slip reads “Compliments of the Board of Public Education, Philadelphia” and bears his handwritten name. Institutional stamps are also present.

3. The First Century of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 1821–1921
Joseph W. England, editor
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, 1922
An illustrated centennial history documenting the college’s development through portraits, historical buildings, institutional records, and related material. Bound in dark cloth with gilt spine lettering.
The front endpaper retains a presentation label from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and an illustrated ex-libris bookplate from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Additional library markings include a withdrawal stamp dated May 23, 1989. These surviving details document the individual volume’s institutional associations.

4. William Penn: Quaker and Pioneer
Bonamy Dobrée
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1932
An illustrated biography of Pennsylvania’s founder, with a portrait frontispiece. Pale cloth and understated lettering introduce a lighter tone to the collection’s darker bindings.
University of Michigan Libraries ownership markings and a withdrawal stamp remain visible, preserving evidence of its former library use.

5. Philadelphia Folks: Ways and Institutions in and About the Quaker City
Cornelius Weygandt
New York and London: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1938
An illustrated account of the people, customs, and institutions that shaped Philadelphia’s identity. The photographed frontispiece depicts the museum on the Parkway.
Orange cloth is accompanied by an illustrated dust jacket featuring a historic city view, adding color and pictorial interest to the group.

6. Philadelphia: Holy Experiment
Struthers Burt
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1945
An illustrated history of Philadelphia with scenic endpapers. The green cloth binding features decorative gilt spine motifs and a blind-stamped sailing ship on the front cover.
Its combination of pictorial decoration, historical subject matter, and textured cloth makes it particularly attractive for display with the collection’s other green and navy volumes.

7. The City Wilderness: A Settlement Study
Edited by Robert A. Woods
Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1899
A study by residents and associates of South End House in Boston, bringing a broader American urban-history perspective to this predominantly Philadelphia-focused collection.
Bound in navy cloth with gilt lettering. The photographed title page is dated 1899; this copy is not represented as the earlier 1898 first edition.

8. Philadelphia: A Guide to the Nation’s Birthplace
Compiled by the Federal Writers’ Project, Works Progress Administration for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
William Penn Association of Philadelphia, 1937
Stated First Edition
An illustrated volume from the American Guide Series, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical Commission. The title page explicitly identifies this copy as a first edition.
Bound in green cloth with gilt lettering, with pictorial map endpapers. A personal ownership bookplate reads “The Book of Henry Castor.” The guide adds a distinctive Depression-era publishing chapter to the collection.

9. The Perennial Philadelphians: The Anatomy of an American Aristocracy
Nathaniel Burt
Little, Brown and Company
Title originally published in 1963; exact printing of this copy unconfirmed
A social history of Philadelphia’s established families and institutions. Retains its recognizable striped dust jacket, introducing a graphic element among the cloth bindings.
Included as a vintage Little, Brown hardcover copy; first-edition status is not claimed.

10. Cultural Connections: Museums and Libraries of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley
Morris J. Vogel
Temple University Press
1991 publication; exact printing of this copy unconfirmed
Design by Katz Wheeler
An illustrated exploration of the region’s museums, libraries, and cultural collections. Photographed interior spreads feature color images of historic interiors and works of art.
Retains a black pictorial dust jacket. This later volume extends the collection into Philadelphia’s modern interpretation and preservation of its cultural heritage.

11. Philadelphia: Portrait of an American City
Edwin Wolf 2nd
Stackpole Books
1975 publication; exact printing of this copy unconfirmed
An illustrated city history drawing on material from the Library Company of Philadelphia. The title page credits illustrations selected and edited by the author from its collections.
A white dust jacket with a historic waterfront scene gives the collection a lighter visual counterpoint and connects its earlier historical publications with a later pictorial survey.

Provenance

Selected volumes retain evidence of former institutional and personal ownership:

- Franklin Institute Library bookplate and donor notation for Dr. Joseph Hepburn in the Central High School proceedings.

- Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science presentation label and Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania bookplate in the pharmacy history.

- University of Michigan Libraries ownership and withdrawal markings in the William Penn biography.

- Henry Castor personal bookplate in the 1937 Philadelphia WPA guide.

These markings relate to the individual books. The collection is offered as an assembled group; a shared original ownership history is not established.

Designer Notes

A thoughtful addition to a traditional library, paneled study, or collected living room. The varied heights, textured cloth, gilt lettering, and illustrated jackets create depth when arranged upright between bookends or divided into smaller horizontal stacks.
Pair with a brass reading lamp, dark wood furniture, framed architectural prints, or a small bronze object for a layered library setting. Its regional focus also makes the collection particularly suited to a Philadelphia home, office, or historically minded interior.

Quantity: Set of 11 books
Materials: Paper, cloth, hardcover boards; paper dust jackets on selected volumes
Language: English
Period: Mixed nineteenth- and twentieth-century publications
Styles: Traditional, American, English Country
Colors: Green, navy, black, red, cream, tan, and gold See less