Continuing the #StephenGirard #library Yellow Fever theme, here's another work by Jean Devèze, featuring an inscription to Girard on the half-title page.

#rarebooks #specialcollections #libraries #books #libraryhistory #PortraitofaCitizen

Having arrived in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776, Stephen Girard seems to have identified closely with the revolutionary moment for the rest of his life. We see this in his library, which is filled with books like this.

#rarebooks #bookhistory #StephenGirard #PortraitofaCitizen

Today’s selection from the #library of #StephenGirard underscores his involvement in the public conversations surrounding Yellow Fever. Dr. Jean Devèze was Girard’s preferred medical leader during the epidemic of 1793, who brought knowledge of the disease with him from experiences in the Caribbean.

One of my favorite artifacts I've encountered in my work on "Portrait of a Citizen," and certainly the most unexpected, is Girard's wig. Girard is a rather elusive figure, which makes it striking to experience this aspect of his corporeal existence.

#materialculture #StephenGirard

Stephen Girard seems to have had a particular fondness for Jean-Jacques Rousseau, having named his most famous vessel after Rousseau, and owning this bust of the philosophe by Jean-Antoine Houdon.

#PortraitofaCitizen #StephenGirard #materialculture #decorativearts

Stephen Girard's library is filled with many atlases and maps, including this example from a volume titled "La pilote américain," published 1778.

Photo by @tracievanaukenphotography.

#PortraitofaCitizen #books #maps #atlases #materialculture #specialcollections #libraryhistory #StephenGirard

One of Stephen Girard's closest confidants was Joseph Bonaparte, former king of Spain who resided for a time in the Mid-Atlantic and presented Girard with this Canova bust of his brother.

#Canova #Napoleon #StephenGirard #art #busts #statues #materialculture #PortraitofaCitizen

One of the joys of working on #PortraitofaCitizen has been the opportunity to spend quality time with beautifully bound books from the collection of #StephenGirard and other eighteenth and nineteenth-century readers. Girard's set of the works of #Voltaire is especially beautiful, I think.

Every research project I've pursued had a moment of inspiration when I found myself immersed in a space that pointed me in an interpretive direction. For "Portrait of a Citizen," this moment came when I encountered busts of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Napoleon owned by #StephenGirard.