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Firemen fighting a building fire, New York, ca. 1790s

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Library division & collection with this item:

COLLECTION
Wallach Division Picture Collection

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SUB-COLLECTION
New York City -- Fire Department -- 1899 & Earlier

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This Item

Firemen fighting a building fire, New York, ca. 1790s

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Title
Firemen fighting a building fire, New York, ca. 1790s
Additional title: Reproduction of a New York engineer fireman's certificate from 1799, with allegorical vignette and scene of fire fighting
Names
Robinson, Henry R., d. 1850 (Lithographer)
Collection

Wallach Division Picture Collection

New York City -- Fire Department -- 1899 & Earlier

Dates / Origin
Date Issued: 1850
Topics
New York (N.Y.). Fire Dept -- To 1899
Certificates -- 1790-1799
Fire fighters -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1790-1799
Fire fighting -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1790-1799
Genres
Certificates
Reproductions
Notes
Content: Printed on image: "These are to certify that Thos. Franklin is pursuant to law nominated and appointed one of the engineer firemen of the city of New York. Decr. 30th. 1799. Rob. Benson, Clk." "A.R. 79 Liberty Street." "Voluntary aid."
Physical Description
Lithographs
Extent: 34 x 24 cm. (13 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.)
Badly damaged on edges. In the allegorical scene from classical mythology at the top of the page, god of the sea Neptune brings the power of water to drive back god of the underworld Pluto and his flames. A Triton uses his shell to sound an alarm, while Pluto's three-headed dog Cerberus barks in the background. Fireman's tools adorn the top of the seal: (left to right) watchman's horn and rattle, fire bucket, fireman's hat, another bucket, fire chief's speaking trumpet, hook to pull down burning pieces of buildings, fireman's ax. In the scene at the bottom, another fire brigade (at right) rushes to help one already on the scene. They carry leather buckets slung on a pole which will be used to pass water from a nearby pump to fill the reservoir box on the pumper engine. Note that the firemen's helmets already have a remarkably modern shape.
Type of Resource
Still image
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b17538225
Barcode: 33333159157128
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 2a234150-c55d-012f-3c6d-58d385a7bc34
Rights Statement
The copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by The New York Public Library, but we were unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.

Item timeline of events

  • 1850: Issued
  • 2014: Digitized
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

The New York Public Library. "Firemen fighting a building fire, New York, ca. 1790s" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-cdbe-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Chicago/Turabian Format

The New York Public Library. "Firemen fighting a building fire, New York, ca. 1790s" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-cdbe-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

APA Format

The New York Public Library. (1850). Firemen fighting a building fire, New York, ca. 1790s Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-cdbe-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-cdbe-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Firemen fighting a building fire, New York, ca. 1790s, (1850) |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=May 1, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Firemen fighting a building fire, New York, ca. 1790s