Prints
One of the more unusual collections at Liberty Hall Historic Site is the print collection. Unlike most of the other collections exhibited here, the prints were probably all collected at one time by one person (or in this case a couple). They are a unit that was assembled and meant to be seen together. Print collecting in the late 18th and early 19th century was a popular hobby among the upper class and collected prints were often displayed together as one might display coffee table books today or they might be framed and hung as a wall display. Unlike the items in the other exhibits displayed here, the prints were all collected for the same reason (a hobby) and are all parts of a larger whole.
The prints in the Liberty Hall Historic Site collection were probably collected by John and Margaretta Brown during the time they lived at Liberty Hall. The collection dates from circa 1750 to circa 1830 and comes mostly from London, England. In fact, many of the prints were made by the same London printmaker, John Boydell, who was one of the foremost artists in his field for his day. The prints include pastoral scenes, historical figures and events, popular figures, political figures, and mythological and religious subjects. This exhibit is a sampler of the over one hundred prints in the collections at Liberty Hall Historic Site.
