The collections of the American Philosophical Society Library include approximately 50,000 prints, photographs, paintings, and original works of art from the 16th through the 20th centuries. Often closely associated with collections of manuscripts or printed materials, the graphics holdings are particularly strong in images of natural history, botany, and ornithology, scientists, the iconography of Benjamin Franklin, and the APS and its members.
The range of illustrations available is greatly enhanced by the presence of numerous color plate and illustrated books. The APS was among the original subscribers to Audubon's Birds of North America and was an early purchaser of his Vivarous Quadrupeds of North America, but the collections have grown to include landmark works on Native Americans (e.g. McKenney and Hall's History of the Indian tribes of North America, George Catlin's North American Indian portfolio), natural history (Mark Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands and Hortus Europae-Americanus, Maria Sybilla Merian's Dissertation sur la génération et les transformations des insects de Surinam, and scientific exploration (Maximilian von Wied's Reise in das innere Nord-America in den Jahren 1832 bis 1834, and the expeditions of James Cook, Charles Wilkes, Matthew Calbraith Perry, and the Wheeler and Hayden Surveys). Among the lesser known gems are such esoterica as Wilhelm Gleichen-Russwurm's Das neueste aus dem reiche der pflanzen, oder Mikroskopische untersuchungen (Nuremberg, 1764).
Digital Collections
The APS has digitized a significant amount of its graphics materials. These images are available for viewing in the Library's Digital Collections [1].
Notable Image Collections
The following collections have particularly rich selections of images. Many of the finding aids to these collections have direct links to digital representations.
- Genetics and Eugenics
- American Eugenics Society Scrapbook, 1925-1930 [2]
Images of Fitter Family contests and other educational endeavors undertaken by the American Eugenics Society in the late 1920s. A second volume assembled by the Secretary of the AES, Leon Whitney, documents mental institutions in New York State. Additional images are located in the Eugenics Record Office Records [3]. - Curt Stern Collection, ca.1885-1960 [4]
Photographs of geneticists and genetics laboratories assembled by Curt Stern. Many other images are housed in the papers of Milislav Demerec, Theodosius Dobzhansky, the Columbia University Department of Genetics, and Bronson Price.
- American Eugenics Society Scrapbook, 1925-1930 [2]
- Anthropology and Native Americans
- Abbot-Charnay Collection, 1859-1882 [5]
Photographs of Mexican archaeological sites, Lacandon, Mayan, Mixtec, and Yucatec "racial types" taken by the French photographer Désiré Charnay during his expeditions of 1858-1860 and 1880-1882. - Franz Boas Papers, ca.1875-1942 [6]
Photographs and some original artwork relating to the anthropologist Franz Boas. Included are studio portraits of Boas from childhood through his later years and photographs and a scrapbook documenting his arctic expedition in 1883. - William N. Fenton Papers, ca.1935-1980 [7]
Approximately 300 photographs of Iroquois Indians from New York state and Canada, ca.1930s-1960s. - Alfred I. Hallowell Papers, 1919-1971 [8]
Several hundred photographs of Abnaki and Ojibwa Indians of Canada and Wisconsin (Berens River, Lake Winnepeg, Manitoba, and Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin areas) taken mostly during the 1930s and 1940s. - H. O. Hanson Collection [9]
34 large format (8x10") black and white prints, including sixteen images of the Inter-Tribal Ceremonial at Gallup, N.M., 1953 and 1954, four images of the Jemez Pueblo, and nine images of the Santa Fe Fiesta, 1952 and 1953. - John Alden Mason Papers, ca.1875-1942 [10]
Photographs taken by the archaeologist, John Alden Mason, including images of Pima Bajo, Papago, Northern Tepehuan, Southern Tepehuan, and Tepecano Indians. - Zeno Shindler Collection, 1858-1868 [11]
95 photographs of members of American Indian delegations to Washington, D.C., 1858-1868, taken by the photographer A. Zeno Shindler. - Frank Speck Collection, ca.1870-1942 [12]
Hundreds of photographs of Native Americans taken or collected by the anthropologist Frank Speck, primarily between 1910 and 1930. - Speck-Choate Collection [13]
27 photographs taken by J. N. Choate, a local commercial photographer in Carlisle, Pa., of the Indian Training School at Carlisle Barracks, with a number of images of visiting chiefs in traditional dress, including the Lakota chief Spotted Tail, and the Cheyennes Man on Cloud and Mad Wolf. One photograph depicts Richard Henry Pratt seated with Quaker supporters. Among the tribes represented are the Lakota, Laguna, Cheyenne, Creek, Lipan, and Pueblo.
- Abbot-Charnay Collection, 1859-1882 [5]
- Biomedical research
- Simon Flexner Papers, 1891-1946 [14]
Images associated with Flexner and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research - Victor Heiser Papers
Hundreds of images relating to Heiser's research on infectious diseases, with a majority relating to his work in Philippines, 1903-1914.
- Simon Flexner Papers, 1891-1946 [14]
- Maps
Selected maps from the APS collection described in Murphy smith's Realms of Gold: A Catalogue of Maps in the Library of the American Philosophical Society [15]. The maps are presented in JPEG2000 format, a new compression standard that allows for greater resolution with smaller file sizes. - Natural History and Scientific Exploration
- Barton-Delafield Collection, ca.1790-1815 [16]
Prints and original artwork depicting natural historical subjects assembled by the botanist Benjamin Smith Barton before 1815. The collection includes numerous works by William Bartram, Frederick Pursh, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Pierre Redouté, and Pierre Turpin, among others. - John E. LeConte Entomological Drawings, ca.1850s
Over 3,500 drawings of beetles, flies, and other insects. - Peale Family Collections, ca.1779-1880
Original art work, prints, and engravings by Charles Willson Peale, and his sons James, Titian Ramsay, and others. Among the more important works are Charles Willson Peale's Hudson River Sketchbook and his four drawings of specimens collected by Lewis and Clark; a James Peale Sketchbook; two books containing silhouettes made at Peale's Museum; and nearly 500 pieces by Titian Ramsay Peale [17], including over 100 made when he was a naturalist on the Stephen Harriman Long Expedition, 1819-1821.
- Barton-Delafield Collection, ca.1790-1815 [16]
- Other collections
- Col. Richard Gimbel Collection of Thomas Paine [18]
An outstanding collection that includes dozens of late 18th century caricatures and satirical cartoons by Gilray, and other artists relating to Paine and Painite radicalism. - Garvan Collection [19]
Portraits of scientists and notable figures. - Rosengarten Collection, ca.1750-1876 [20]
Prints and engravings depicting Philadelphia and its environs from the 18th to the late 19th centuries. The Library also possesses a fine set of the Philadelphia views by William Birch 1799-1800, as well as C. G. Childs' Views in Philadelphia, and its vicinity (1830) and J. C. Wild's Panorama and views of Philadelphia and its vicinity (1838).
- Col. Richard Gimbel Collection of Thomas Paine [18]
Image Search
In addition to the many image galleries featured above, the APS also offers a keyword-searchable database of its graphics materials. While this database includes many hundreds of images, its development has been discontinued.
Click here [21] to search (limit the type to "Image" in the options).
Inquiries and reference requests
Requests for information about the graphics holdings of the APS may be directed to either the Manuscripts (manuscripts [at] amphilsoc [dot] org) or Printed Materials Departments (books [at] amphilsoc [dot] org). Inquiries may be also be addressed using surface mail.
Manuscripts Department Reference
American Philosophical Society Library
105 South Fifth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386