Call Number:

Philadelphia History

Repository:

Bryn Mawr College

Extent:

1 linear ft.

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as History of Philadelphia Collection, Special Collections Department, Bryn Mawr College Library.

Date:

nineteenth century (inclusive)

Creator:

Adelman, Seymour, 1906-1985

Abstract:

This collection contains prints and photographs from 19th Century Philadelphia, mostly derived from the collection of Seymour Adelman. This collection will be useful as historical documentation of commerce and daily life in Philadelphia, as well as how the history of photography proliferated in East Coast cities in the mid-19th Century. the photographs are landscapes, rather than portraits or other genres. Few of the photographers are noted in the materials. The prints are also mostly landscapes or specific places.

Seymour Adelman was a Philadelphia based collector of prints, letters, and ephemera. Although he worked in real-estate – a family business – he is most well known for his extensive collecting habits. Adelman has no direct relation to Bryn Mawr, but was invited to visit by James Tanis, the director Canaday Library. The then newly build library offered Adelman an office and a space to house his collection, and this formed the relationship between Bryn Mawr College and Adelman.

Adelman's extensive collection contained material on Thomas Eakins, John Keats, Claude Lovat Fraser, and Laurence Hausman, as well as a large collection of letters. In addition to this work, Adelman also collected fine art prints, material related to the history of the book and publishing, and architectural history, among other interests. Most of this collection of historical prints and photographs from Philadelphia was originally part of Adelman's collection of prints and drawings.

This collection contains prints and photographs from 19th Century Philadelphia, mostly derived from the collection of Seymour Adelman. This collection will be useful as historical documentation of commerce and daily life in Philadelphia, as well as how the history of photography proliferated in East Coast cities in the mid-19th Century. the photographs are landscapes, rather than portraits or other genres. Few of the photographers are noted in the materials. The prints are also mostly landscapes or specific places.

Adelman Collection, Folder 1 - Photographs

(1) Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, 1861. (2) Five store-front photographs, c. 1860s. (3) Twelve street scene photographs pasted on board. (4) Badly damaged photograph on board.

Adelman Collection, Folder 2 - Prints

(1) Five illustrated title pages for musical scores of marches and polkas. (2) Four unrelated landscape engravings of Philadelphia. (3) Six small unrelated hand-colored landscape engravings of Philadelphia scenery. (4) Two maps of West Philadelphia. (5) Single hand-drawn and colored street-scene, "Bank of Philadelphia, Artist Unknown, c. 1835.