BIRCH, William R. (1755-1834); Thomas BIRCH (1779-1851)

Alms House in Spruce Street Philadelphia

Pennsylvania: W. Birch, Springland Cot, near Neshaminy Bridge on the Bristol Road, c. 1800. Hand-coloured copper engraving on laid paper. Sheet size: 13 7/8 x 17 inches.

Plate 25 from the very rare first American colour-plate book, with views that are "uniquely valuable among American historical prints" (Martin Snyder).

This hand-coloured engraving depicts the Philadelphia Almshouse and House of Employment, commonly known as the Bettering House. Birch animates the foreground with a cart carrying swine and three men attempting to catch an escaped pig, a small urban incident that gives the scene much of its immediacy. The complex was built in 1766-67 after designs by Robert Smith and demolished in 1834-35. It occupied the block bounded by Tenth, Eleventh, Spruce, and Pine Streets, replacing the earlier almshouse near Third, Fourth, Spruce, and Pine. Its dual function, poor relief and enforced work, placed it at the center of late eighteenth century debates over poverty, discipline, civic order, and public responsibility. This plate is taken from the first and one of the most important of all American color plate books, the first book to be entirely produced and published in the United States. William Russell Birch, who conceived this splendid celebration of the city of Philadelphia, then the largest city in the United States, was a native of England. When he arrived in America in 1794, he brought with him a strong academic training in art which he used to found an engraving firm. Birch hoped that his carefully planned and executed portfolio would serve as an advertisement "by which an idea of the improvements of the country could be conveyed to Europe, to promote and encourage settlers to the establishment of trade and commerce."

Martin P. Snyder, "William Birch: His Philadelphia Views," in Pennsylvania Magazine of History, Vol. 73, No. 3, July 1949 (Snyder 25).

Item #42955

Price: $1,750.00