The Library Company of Philadelphia

Monday, March 5, 2007, 1:49 pm EST

Vibrant color-plate images were produced in Britain and America from the 1760s to the 1890s. In Franklin’s youth, pictures in color were not widely available because color was an expensive luxury. Colored pictures were usually created by adding watercolor by hand to printed plates. “Living Color: Collecting Color-Plate Books at the Library Company of Philadelphia” exhibits some of the first color-plate books that went through this lavish and time-consuming process.

Date
Mon, Mar 5 2007, 1:49pm | 0 seconds
Winterberry

Prinos verticillatus, from William P. C. Barton, Medical Botany, 1817. From Web of Healing. Image courtesy of University of Pennsylvania Rare Book and Manuscripts.