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Photo, Print, Drawing The State Penitentiary, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The state penitentiary, for the eastern district of Pennsylvania

About this Item

Title

  • The State Penitentiary, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Other Title

  • The state penitentiary, for the eastern district of Pennsylvania

Summary

  • This print is a bird's eye view of the prison built in 1823--36 at 2101--99 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, after the designs of John Haviland. It shows the prison designed with radial corridors, courtyards, and a Gothic-style entranceway and outer wall. It was also known as Cherry Hill State Prison and was one of the largest and most expensive structures of its day. It was most unusual in having flush toilets and heating in the cells. A horse-drawn wagon is visible within, and another, probably a paddy wagon, arrives in front of the prison complex. Men on horseback, possibly guards, accompany the arriving wagon and a few pedestrians walk nearby in the street and on the sidewalk. A cityscape, including Girard College, is visible in the background. The print was copyrighted by Richard Vaux, president of the prison's Board of Inspectors and the author of a brief sketch of the origin and history of the state penitentiary written for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1872. Samuel Cowperthwaite, a prison convict, created this lithograph in about 1855.

Names

  • Cowperthwaite, Samuel Artist.
  • Vaux, Richard, 1816-1895 Copyright Holder.

Created / Published

  • Philadelphia : P.S. Duval & Company Lithography, 1855.

Headings

  • -  United States of America--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
  • -  1836 to 1855
  • -  Eastern State Penitentiary of Pennsylvania
  • -  Lithographs
  • -  Prisons
  • -  Wagons

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "Digital catalog number: POS 750"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 print : lithograph ; 17 x 25 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: The Library Company of Philadelphia.
  • -  Content in English.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Philadelphia on Stone

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021670376

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Cowperthwaite, Samuel Artist, and Richard Vaux. The State Penitentiary, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania United States of America Philadelphia, 1855. Philadelphia: P.S. Duval & Company Lithography. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670376/.

APA citation style:

Cowperthwaite, S. A. & Vaux, R. (1855) The State Penitentiary, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania United States of America Philadelphia, 1855. Philadelphia: P.S. Duval & Company Lithography. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670376/.

MLA citation style:

Cowperthwaite, Samuel Artist, and Richard Vaux. The State Penitentiary, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: P.S. Duval & Company Lithography. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021670376/>.