William Birch. “Landsdown the Seat of the late Wm. Bingham Esq. Pennsylvania. Built by John Penn, Governor of Penn 1763-1776.” [near Memorial Hall, West Philadelphia]. From Country Seats.
Philadelphia: William Birch, 1809-[27?]. Re-strike by Desilver ca. 1840. 5 7/8” x 7 3/8” (Plate mark). Copper etching.
An elegant image from William Birch’s series of twenty prints illustrating the stately country seats in the early nineteenth century. Birch’s project was national in scope, but most of the sites illustrated were in the Philadelphia area. Many of the impressive country estates around Philadelphia were located on the wooded banks of the Schuylkill River. As Birch’s prints of Philadelphia were the first to encompass the entire city, his prints of country seats were the first to illustrate this development along the river. This print shows the house built by John Penn on the west side of the Schuylkill River not far from Memorial Hall. The house was destroyed by a fire in the mid 19th century.
Other prints by William Birch:
State House Garden. Philadelphia
Library & Surgeons Hall, 5th St Philadelphia
Theatre in Chesnut [sic] Street Philadelphia
Destroy'd by Fire in 1820. The Late Theatre in Chestnut Street ...
New Theatre in Chesnut [sic] Street Philadelphia
The New Theatre in Chestnut Street Philadelphia Built 1822. Taken down 1856...
Girard's Bank, late the Bank of the United States ...
Philadelphia Bank in Fourth Street Philadelphia
Arch Street, with the Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia
New Market, in South Second Street Philadelphia
Back of the State House, Philadelphia
Second Street North from Market St. with Christ Church Philadelphia
High Street, with the First Presbyterian Church. Taken down in 1820. Philadelphia
An Unfinished House, in Chestnut Street Philadelphia
The Water Works in Centre Square Philadelphia
Bath, Near Bristol, Pennsylvania