Welcome to our Digital Collections

We have digitized 53,447 items from our extensive collections and are constantly adding more. Please enter your search terms below or use our advanced search page. RSS Feed

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Collections

Automobile Reference Collection

Automobile Reference Collection

The contents of Automobile Reference Collection have been transferred to the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Library & Research Center and the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. For inquiries or image requests please contact jwolfe@aaca.org
Carson Collection on Common Law

Carson Collection on Common Law

View images from books, pamphlets, and illustrations related to the trials of King Charles I, William Penn, Daniel O'Connell, and Queen Caroline, from the Hampton L. Carson Collection Illustrative of the Growth of Common Law.
Central Library's 75th Anniversary Collection

Central Library's 75th Anniversary Collection

The Central Library, on Philadelphia's beautiful Benjamin Franklin Parkway, was dedicated on June 2, 1927. Seventy-five years later, it is a dynamic, evolving destination where the world is at your fingertips and you can travel anywhere in time or place through books and multiple electronic media.
Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

View our unique collection of Dickens manuscripts, original illustrations, autograph letters, and other mementos, which were given to the Free Library by collectors William Elkins and D. Jacques Benoliel.
Children's Literature

Children's Literature

Take a look behind the scenes at the process of creating a children's book—from manuscripts, sketches and preliminary art to book dummies, color separations, and final artwork—in this collection of images from our archives.
Fine Arts Collection

Fine Arts Collection

Among the Free Library's art collection are prints by Rembrandt van Rijn, Abrecht Dürer, Michel Wohlgemut and other Old Masters, as well as fourteen original paintings by N.C. Wyeth.
Fleisher Collection

Fleisher Collection

Browse through portraits, certificates, and memorabilia from the Symphony Club founded by Edwin A. Fleisher.
From Our Collections

From Our Collections

View images from a variety of subjects housed at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Historical Images of Philadelphia

Historical Images of Philadelphia

The images contained in this digital collection are from the Print and Picture Collection's Philadelphiana Collection, which includes photographs, prints, watercolors, and scrapbooks documenting Philadelphia. Of particular interest are images of Old Philadelphia in Early Photographs, the Samuel Castner Scrapbooks, and the watercolors of Augustus Kollner.
Manuscripts of the Muslim World

Manuscripts of the Muslim World

These handwritten books and paintings in the Rare Book Department come from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia and were made between 1000 and 1900. Browse a sampling of religious texts, calligraphic poetry, literary illustrations, and court portraits.
Map Collection

Map Collection

Our map collection enables you to see how Philadelphia's neighborhoods and streets have grown and changed. Use our interactive mapping tool to overlay atlases dating back as far as 1843 over today's street layout.
Medieval Manuscripts

Medieval Manuscripts

Our manuscript collection includes most of the kinds of books used between 1000 and 1500 A.D.: prayer books and poetry, Bibles and political propaganda, philosophical works, and fantastic histories.
Pennsylvania German Fraktur and Manuscripts

Pennsylvania German Fraktur and Manuscripts

Fraktur are colorful documents made by Pennsylvania Germans who lived in rural parts of southeastern Pennsylvania and the surrounding region during the 1700s and 1800s. Most fraktur are personal records, such as birth and baptismal certificates.
Theatre Collection

Theatre Collection

We’re giving the spotlight to the stars of the silver screen as we feature lobby cards, posters, and promotional materials from our Theatre Collection.
United States Centennial Exhibition Collection

United States Centennial Exhibition Collection

The Free Library of Philadelphia, with the generous support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, invites you to visit our Web version of the 100th birthday party for the United States, the Centennial Exhibition of 1876.

Explore curated items inspired by physical exhibitions and web-only presentations based on our digital collections.

Exhibitions
Featured exhibitions: We Are What We Eat
If you have suggestions, comments, or questions, please email us at digitalcollections@freelibrary.org