Birch, William Russell “Library and Surgeon’s Hall, in Fifth Street Philadelphia.” [original medical school of the University of Pennsylvania]

William Russell Birch.  “Library and Surgeon’s Hall, in Fifth Street Philadelphia.”  [original medical school of the University of Pennsylvania].  From The City of Philadelphia.  Philadelphia: William Birch, 1799.  First edition.  8 1/2 x 11 (image).  Engraving on laid paper. Full hand color.  Print has been mounted to a one ply archival board.  Else, very good condition.  A/A When issued in 1800, William Birch’s prints of Philadelphia formed the first series of views of any American city.  As the first comprehensive picture of an American city, illustrating its buildings and street life, this work is of great historical importance.  The superior quality of the work is evidenced in its scope of conception, the artistic excellence of the prints, and their fine execution.  The prints provide a unique visual record of Philadelphia at a time when it was the most important and sophisticated city in the western hemisphere, and for a time was the capital of the newly formed United States.  Ea