Strickland, William “Residence of the late Anthony Benezet No. 115 Chestnut Street Philadelphia. Drawn from the original for Roberts Vaux by William Strickland.”

William Strickland.  “Residence of the late Anthony Benezet No. 115 Chestnut Street Philadelphia.  Drawn from the original for Roberts Vaux by William Strickland.”  

Philadelphia: The Port Folio, October, 1818.  6 ¾ x 4 5/8 (image).  Engraving.  Narrow margins left and right hand sides.  Very good condition.

Anthony Benezet (1713-1784) was one of the most important abolitionists in the Atlantic world during the eighteenth century. Born in 1713 to French Hugenot parents, he came to Philadelphia in the 1730s and joined the Society of Friends. A longtime educator in Quaker schools, Benezet also became a fierce advocate of abolitionism during the 1750s and 1760s. In 1775, he organized the Pennsylvania Abolition Society -- the world’s first antislavery organization. Benezet published several important abolitionist essays and ran a school for African Americans. 

The Port Folio was a new type of American magazine, “Devoted to Useful Science, the Liberal Arts, Legitimate Criticism, and Polite Literature.”   It was a product of the new century, appearing first in January 1801.  It began as a weekly issue until 1809, when it became monthly until its demise at the end of 1827.  As with the many magazines that followed it, The Port Folio included numerous illustrations.