Snapshots of the Past

Front of Boston Library, Franklin place – Historic Reproduction

Front of Boston Library, Franklin place, [between 1803 and 1827] — historic drawing
Front of Boston Library, Franklin place, [between 1803 and 1827]. Historic drawing from the Boston collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic drawing of Front of Boston Library, Franklin place. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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Front of Boston Library, Franklin place

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Drawn in ink, graphite, and wash, this partial elevation shows the front of the Boston Library on Franklin Place, a subscription library of the early 1800s. Calculations and a provenance stamp on the reverse suggest it was a working document, not a presentation piece. The drawing is sometimes credited to Charles Bulfinch, the architect who shaped much of Boston's public building after the Revolution, but the attribution has not been settled. Urns that show faintly through the thin paper from the reverse side are a reminder of how decorative details were worked out in the drafting room.

Created / published[between 1803 and 1827]
Medium1 drawing : ink, graphite, and wash on paper.
GenreArchitectural drawings 1800-1830.Elevations 1800-1830.
NotesInscription on verso (page 6) includes calculations and provenance stamp. Drawing has not been definitively attributed to Bulfinch, but has sometimes been credited to him. In: The Bulfinch sketchbook. Title from item. Partial elevation. Copy negative of verso (page 6) shows near complete bleed-through of recto including urns covered by thin paper on recto.
SubjectsLibraries--Massachusetts--Boston--1800-1830.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,056 × 1,256 px · prints to 4 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-175933

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