Item 1: A Lithograph of “Allentown, Pa. Situated on the Lehigh River at the junction of the East Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley Rail Roads,” by James [Fuller] Queen after an Ambrotype by H.P. Osborne, (Removed to Print Box #5) , [1860]
Item — Box: 21, Folder: 1
Dates
- Created: [1860]
Creator
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Ambrotype Print
Condition Note:
Fair.
Measurements:
15 ½ in. x 7 ½ in.
Title:
Allentown. Pa.
Description:
A lithograph print by James Fuller Queen of Allentown with a horse and four cows in the foreground and the city in the background. The lithograph is produced from a previous ambrotype of the valley scene by H.P Osborne, which Queen gives credit for by the phrase, “Ambrotype of H. P. Osborne,” below the image depicted. Much of the foreground is farmland. James Queen began his trade as a lithographic artist at the age of 15, apprenticing with Lehman & Duval in 1835, where he would quickly rise as one of the country's most influential infographic artists by the words of the latter (Philadelphia Print Shop). It is here that he produced the manuscript in our collection, which depicts a scenic view of Allentown.
Allentown was founded in 1762 and has Pennsylvania Dutch origins. Located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, on the Lehigh River, it is the third-most-populous city in Pennsylvania. This area was first home to the Lenape Native American tribe until William Penn came to the area.
James Queen, known for his composition and attention to detail, was the premier Philadelphia artist, lithographer, and chromolithographer. He was born in Philadelphia in either 1820 or 1821, and was the son of William Queen. William was a cordwainer and apprenticed under George Lehman and P. S. Duval. He later began a career around the age of 14 years old.
Peter Stephen Duval, (also known as P. S. Duval) was born around 1804 or 1805 in France and was the most prominent Philadelphia lithographer in the 19th century. He began his career by accepting a job from the printing firm of Childs & Inman. He established his own lithographic print shop in 1837 and later retired in 1869. The firm was run by Duval’s son for a few years after. On February 9, 1886, Duval died due to an “enlargement of the heart.”
H. P. Osborne was a photographer who produced many of the original ambrotypes that Queen produced his lithographs from. An ambrotype is a positive photograph on glass made by a variant of the wet plate collodion process, by producing an image when the light reflects off the subject. It replaced the earlier daguerreotype forms.
Location:
Allentown, Pennsylvania (Setting), Philadelphia (Print Location)
Transcription:
J. Queen, del. Ambrotype of H.P. Osborn Bethlehem Lith. P. S. Duval & Son Phila.
ALLENTOWN. PA.
Situated on the Lehigh River at the junction of East Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley Rail Roads
Creator
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu