The Free Library of Philadelphia – Historic Reproduction
![The Free Library of Philadelphia, [no date recorded on caption card] — historic photograph](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/ca/cabe78698c09-L.webp)
(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 photograph of The Free Library of Philadelphia. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.
Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
The Free Library of Philadelphia
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The Free Library of Philadelphia gives this print its name, and the institution dates to 1891, when the city began offering open reading rooms and lending to residents who could not otherwise afford books. The caption card records no date, so the exact year of the photograph is unknown. Its subject tags point to library shelving, which suggests the view centers on the book stacks and how the collection was arranged for public use. Viewers interested in the period can read the shelves and surrounding space as evidence of how the library organized its holdings for readers.
| Created / published | [no date recorded on caption card] |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 photographic print. |
| Subjects | This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: PA-Phila.--Free Library; Libraries; Shelf. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,218 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-139228 |
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