Philadelphie

Title

Philadelphie

A view of Philadelphia with foreland sailing ships, USA.

ca. 1845

Artist

Payne (1812-1902)

Albert Henry Payne (1812-1902) was an English engraver, painter, illustrator, and publisher. Payne came to Germany at a young age. From 1839 he worked as a steel engraver, painter and illustrator in Leipzig. In 1845 he founded the publishing house Englische Kunstanstalt with E. T. Brain, which he took over alone in 1846. It was one of the first printing companies to settle in the graphic quarter of Leipzig.

Historical Description

Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the USA. It was planned by the city's founder William Penn in 1681 as the capital of the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania. In 1683, 13 German Quaker and Mennonite families from Krefeld arrived in Philadelphia on the ship ‘Concord’ and settled in the new suburb founded by Franz Daniel Pastorius called Germantown. After New York (1788-1790), Philadelphia was the second capital of the United States of America (1790-1800) until the completion of the new capital Washington, D.C. The Declaration of Independence was adopted and proclaimed in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776, as was the Constitution on 17 July 1787. Until the early 19th century, Philadelphia was also the largest city in the USA and at times the largest English-speaking city west of London. Edgar Allan Poe and his wife Virginia Clemm Poe spent six very productive years in Philadelphia from 1838 to 1844. Initially he was editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, then editor-in-chief of Graham's Magazine. During these years, Poe wrote Ligeia, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Double Murder in the Rue Morgue and The Gold-Bug, among others.