Frank H. Taylor's wash and watercolor originals for his "Old Philadelphia" prints,
are listed here.  Most dated between 1895 to 1926 and served as the direct basis for the photolithographs in his Ever-Changing Philadelphia and Old Philadelphia series, published in 1915-27.
This is a incremental catalogue with links to images of most originals.

Notes: The largest proportion of these were photographed when they were offered at Freeman's Auctions in Philadelphia in November 2008, some 70 wash and watercolor originals. Other sets of these range from a couple of dozen to single items, including collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Atwater Kent Museum, Free Library of Philadelphia, the Duane-Morris law firm, Bryn Mawr College, University of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Print Shop; some others are in indvidual hands.

In the table below, print number is that in Taylor's "Old Philadelphia" series that these drawings relate to most closely. Those numbers are sometimes inscribed on the originals, but more consistently they appear on the typeset labels, in the print image, in sales lists, in ink inscriptions on the print backing, or are inferred from the subject; title is taken from labels or inscriptions in the print image: i.e. "xx", from a sales list: i.e. ("xx"), or supplied i.e. [xx]; date is offered in the image, usually nearby Taylor's signature, or occasionally mentioned on a label.  The general locations are rough indications of parts of the city (Center City E or W, breaking at Broad Street; West Philadelphia N or S breaking at Market Street; North and South Philadelphia, above Vine St. or below South St.; NE Philadelphia breaking off the NP grid, and same for NW, with the Wissahickon as a general boundary between NWN and NWS; and a few in Fairmount Park itself, FP); locations beyond the city and indicated by "sub" and county name or NJ), and subjects for less specifically topographic images, such as marine views, objects, or transportation apparatus, are rendered as "mar," trans," or "obj"; the street locations given in the next column have been entered only occasionally so far, mainly derived from the label copy where the title or image was particularly unclear as to general district; original wash drawings that appear to have served as the direct basis for nearly half the prints have been identified in various collections, public and private; alternative versions by Taylor treat some of the same subjects, bu appear not to have been the drawing shot for the photolithographs; special notes are offered to the right. The linked images will pop up in a second window, which may not come to the front, but may be reflected in a second tab at top or bottom of the browser window. One needn't hit the back button to get back from the images to the list; it will stay loaded in the first window or the first tab.

The digital photographs themselves were quickly acquired shots in available room-lighting, barely manipulated or enhanced, meant mainly to identify each view. Again, our special thanks to Freeman's and to all the cooperating collections.

At bottom in this table are some additional wash drawings by Taylor (here called x01, x02, etc.) that seem precisely the sort prepared for his print series, but that may not appear to correspond to the prints or lists of print titles seen to date. Not listed here are a few dozen other Taylor watercolors of Philadelphia-area scenes that may not appear to be connected with the print series. Several of these originals appear in a webpage compiled by Adam Levine, "Frank Taylor Watercolors of West Philadelphia Scenes," which offers digital images of nearly two dozen watercolors in the Castner Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia.

[link to intro, more about F. H. Taylor and his "Old Philadelphia" print series] [F. H. Taylor's "Old Philadelphia" prints ] [return to Places in Time]

[link to intro, more about F. H. Taylor and his "Old Philadelphia" print series] [list of F. H. Taylor's "Old Philadelphia" prints] [return to Places in Time]