This medal from the Washington Benevolent Society likely belonged to Samuel Copp (b. 1787) around 1808. The medal has an obverse image of the allegorical figure of Lady Liberty crowing a bust of George Washington with a laurel. The reverse is engraved “Benevolence” and depicts a man reaching down to help a fallen woman. The first Washington Benevolent Society was formed July 12th in New York as a charitable organization, but soon became a group mainly focused on supporting the Federalist Party. The group disbanded around 1820.
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
This small booklet contains A Remarkable and Surprising Account of the Abandoned Life, Happy Conversion, and Comfortable Death of Fanny Sidney published by Elihu Phinney of Canaan, New York in 1795. The conversion story is told as a letter from Fanny’s minister, Reverend Martin Madan, to his friend. He relates the discourse that passed between them as Fanny lay dying. Fanny had been seduced into pre-marital sex, had a child, and was abandoned by the child’s father. To make ends meet, Fanny became an actress, then a seamstress, and finally a prostitute. She becomes ill, but in her sickness finds Jesus. On her deathbed, she recounts the saving grace of Jesus to Reverend Madan, and dies in a state of grace.
The Copp Collection contains about 150 books of early American imprint and shows a wide range of reading matter typical of a New England Puritan family living in a port town. Literacy was expected of many New Englanders, as Puritan doctrine required everyone to read the Bible. The abundance of multiple Bibles, psalms, hymnodies, sermons, and morality tales reflects the Copp’s religious beliefs. Other highlights of the library include the works of Shakespeare, almanacs, historical and political texts, and travel narratives.
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Black and white print after an etching. Illustration from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow showing Ichabod Crane on horseback fleeing the "Headless Horseman" in terror through the woods.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a short story by celebrated American author Washington Irving, was first published in 1820 without illustrations in “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.” Best known for his popular stories of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving achieved acclaim in Europe and the U.S. over the course of his successful writing career. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was included in “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent” while Irving was living in Europe. Thus, he was one of the earliest American authors to survive merely on his writing. Irving’s stories have remained an emblem of American culture as they were some of the first short stories that aimed to entertain rather than educate. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow story inspired artists to create beautiful illustrations like the one included in this print.
The gothic story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells of a man named Ichabod Crane who comes to Tarrytown, New York, known in the story as Sleepy Hollow, as a teacher. As he tries to win the heart of the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, he ultimately finds himself being chased by the village’s feared legend, the Headless Horsemen. The story ends with a smashed pumpkin being found in the place where Ichabon disappeared, never to be seen again. This story is particularly popular around Halloween.
This print illustrates Ichabod Crane fleeing the Headless Horseman, whose body is angled in such a way to make him appear headless. Ichabod’s expression shows his fear, which matches the fear in his white horse’s eyes. The chase takes place in a dark and desolate wood. The Headless Horseman is just behind Ichabod, so it is clear that this takes place just before Ichabod was overtaken.
Sarony, Major, & Knapp was one of the largest lithographic firms at the end of the 19th and the early of the 20th centuries. However, before it achieved this success it started out small in 1843 when Napoleon Sarony and James P. Major joined together to start a business. Later in 1857, Joseph F. Knapp joined the company making it Sarony, Major, & Knapp. At the time that this was printed, Knapp was not a part of the business, so it was just Sarony & Major.
Felix O. C. Darley (1822-1888), the artist behind the twelve best-known illustrations for The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow, is considered one of America’s best illustrators. The publisher was the American Art Union, (1839-1857) a subscription organization created to educate the public about American art and artists while providing support for American artists. For $5.00 members would receive admissions to the gallery showing, a yearly report, and an engraving of an original work, as well as any benefits each chapter might provide. Two special editions of the story, each with a set of six of Darley’s illustrations were published; the special edition including this illustration was published in 1850. This print has been rebound with the five others at the back of the book and the cover is incorrectly from the earlier Rip Van Winkle edition published for the American Art Union, however the title page and text are of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The 1888 New England Almanac and Farmer’s Friend was published Charles Allyn of New London, Connecticut in 1887. The almanac shared valuable information during a time when newspapers were scarce. Their popularity with the public and low overhead made them attractive for publishers as well. While almanacs may be known for their farmer’s calendar or weather forecasts, they also served as calendars that marked holidays and all-saints days, and notable historic dates. The calendar also tracked the transit of celestial bodies and included the related astrological guidance. Additional materials included literary extracts, poetry, a list of roads and their mileage to major cities, medical advice, cooking recipes, patent notices, rates of interest, short histories, political discussions, schedules of courts, and practical advice. The diversity of topics made the almanac useful for every strata of society, creating an early form of mainstream culture.
The Copp Collection contains about 150 books of early American imprint and shows a wide range of reading matter typical of a New England Puritan family living in a port town. Literacy was expected of many New Englanders, as Puritan doctrine required everyone to read the Bible. The abundance of multiple Bibles, psalms, hymnodies, sermons, and morality tales reflects the Copp’s religious beliefs. Other highlights of the library include the works of Shakespeare, almanacs, historical and political texts, and travel narratives.
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
This full length, hand-colored portrait print depicts a man wearing a badge on a ribbon. He is leaning on a pillar inscribed with a triangle labeled "PURITY","FIDELITY","LOVE", a temperance pledge and a list of founders. A swan fountain is depicted in the left background.
This print was produced by John H. Hall and Elisha Forbes. A native of Cooperstown, New York, John H. Hall worked as an engraving apprentice in Albany in 1825. Then he spent a year in New York City with Dr. Alexander Anderson learning wood engraving. He returned to Albany after a year and trained Nathaniel Orr in engraving. He worked until 1848 in Albany as a partner at Hall, Packard, and Cushman (1838) and Hall & Cushman (1839). He also was active in Lancaster, Massachusetts and Boston. He was a founder of the Boston Bewick Company in 1834 and is better known as an engraver and for his illustrations in Manual of Ornithology. He moved to California in 1849 to join the Gold Rush and died there. Elisha Forbes was a wood engraver who worked in New Orleans in 1830 before moving to New York City and working there from 1833-1846.
Roasting jack or spit engine consisting of a tall, slender, cylindrical shaft with hanging hook mounted on top of a larger cylinder containing a spring-powered mechanism; conical turning tip with small suspension hook extends through opening in the flat hexagonal base plate and rotates the suspended cast iron spit wheel with sliding hanging rings. Rectangular embossed nameplate for "CHESTERMAN'S / PATENT LEVER / ROAST-JACK / SHEFFIELD."
This black and white tinted print depicts one of eight scenes based on George Cruikshank's The Bottle. The series shows the progressive degeneration of a family due to the evils of drinking. This print depicts an interior scene of a family, now reduced to two children due to the starvation death of the toddler. Mother, father and son huddle near a meager fire, the mother holding a wine glass, the father holding a bottle. The daughter stands with her hand on the toddler's coffin. The mother and daughter are weeping. A fork is stuck in the wall and holds up a piece of fabric that is covering the window, and a candle is stuck in the wine bottle on the mantle.
This series of prints is by the English artist George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Cruikshank’s father, Isaac Cruikshank, was an artist who specialized in song sheets and caricatures and trained George and his brother Robert Cruikshank in these arts. George started as a caricaturist for magazines and children’s books. His most famous works included The Bottle and The Drunkard’s Children, designed and etched by Cruikshank to show the wickedness of alcohol. Cruikshank's father and brother were both alcoholics, and he himself drank heavily until he took a vow of abstinence in 1847. The prints were originally published by David Bogue, who published most of Cruikshank’s other works in the 1850s. David Bogue, (1807–1856) was born in Scotland and moved to London in 1836. He began working in Charles Tilt's bookshop as a publisher and bookseller in 1836 and became Tilt's partner in 1840. Bogue bought the shop in 1843. He was the principle publisher of Cruikshank’s short-lived periodicals, brief illustrated stories, and the Comic Almanack 1835-53. David Bogue published The Bottle series in 1847. He suffered from heart disease and died in 1856 at the age of 48.
This print was produced by Francis Michelin (1809/10-1878) and David William Moody. Francis Michelin was a lithographer who was active in Boston from 1840-1841 and soon after moved to New York City, where he continued to make lithographs with various partners. His partners included Michelin & Cuipers (1844-1845), Michelin & Leefe (1852-1853), Michelin & Shattuck (1853-1854) and Boel & Michelin (1856-1858). David William Moody was also a lithographer. He was active in New York City from 1844-1851. He lived in Williamsburg, New York.
Circular urn-shape teapot with incurved neck and double-flared hinged lid topped by an urn finial on a flared, circular pedestal with stepped, domed foot; engraved in script on one side of body "Mrs. Joanna L. Howard / From a Friend / Oct. 27\th 1858." Greek key band at shoulder and beading at neck, shoulder, top of pedestal and edge of foot. Sprigged S-curve spout with scalloped base. Sprigged and tapered S-curve handle with raised bands at ends, the lower end attached to body by a stepped oval plate. Body perforated at spout. No marks.
Part of a six-piece coffee and tea service, 2013.0193.01-.06, given to Joanna Louise (Turpin) Howard (1825-1872) of Boston. The Howards were among several socially prominent free black families living in the city's affluent West End in the 1850s. Although the reasons for this splendid gift from a mystery “Friend” are unknown, Mrs. Howard and her husband, Edward Frederick Howard (1813-1893), were active in the antislavery movement and fought to end segregation of Massachusetts public schools in 1855. Their two daughters, Adeline (b. 1845) and Joan Imogene (b. 1850), became distinguished educators, while their son, Edwin Clarence (1846-1912), was the first African-American graduate of Harvard Medical School.
Patent model (U.S. Patent No. 104,517) of a child's combination potty and rocking chair made by Abraham Henry Wehser of San Francisco, CA, and patented on June 21, 1870. Consists of an exposed-frame, balloon-back, open armchair upholstered in faded, ribbed fabric and nailed-on gimp trim; D-shaped seat with central circular opening is on an enclosed, conforming base painted "A. H. WEHSER." in white across front with hinged door at back. Two, inset, hinged pins on underside of base fit into the rockers; two flat braces are screwed into its back corners. Missing tray or toy holder that rested on the arms, seat hole cover and rockers. No patent tag.