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Peter Cooper (ca. 1698-1725)
The South East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia. ca. 1718.
Library Company of Philadelphia
Oil on canvas. 20" x 87"
Gift of George Mifflin Dallas, 1857.

John Test’s tavern–The Skales is the building identified with the number 12. Click on the image above for a larger image. Each building is numbered.

This image is from the Explore PA history website

Considered the oldest surviving oil painting of any North American city, Peter Cooper includes a sketch of himself working on his painting in the lower left hand corner. He provides a numbered key identifying significant landmarks, To see the numbers on the painting requires viewing the large image available by clicking on the image above. The Scales Tavern, which had earlier been owned by John Test, is easily identifiable in this way.

Cooper's painting captures the city's flourishing trade and a skyline impressive in a city that is so recently founded. To the left of center is John Whitpain's "Great House" and the Scales. The Pennypot Tavern is on the extreme right.

And by the way, the image above when printed is 36 inches by 12 inches. A pdf file of the image is available here. Put the pdf file on a flash drive and take it to a printer - say Office Depot, Staples, or Office Max. They can easily print the image on card stock making a very nice print suitable for framing.

Click here for a better view of the note on the painting.


Description from Peter Thompson, Rum Punch and Revolution: Taverngoing & Public Life in Eighteenth Century Philadelphia (Univ of Pennsylvania Press, 1998). GoogleBooks Preview

The Painting is on display on the East Wall of the Logan reading room of The Library Company of Philadelphia. The website of the Library Company includes a magnificent panoramic view of the Logan Room.


1. The Draw Bridge
2. Buds Building
3. Edward Shipens
4. Ant[hony] Morris Brew House
5. Capt Vinings
6. Jonathan Dickinsons
7. John Witpains
8. Capt Anthonys
9. George Painters
10. Jos Shippens
11. William Fishbourns Stores
12. The Scales

13. Jo Carpenters Store
14. Sam Carpenter's Store
15. Sam Carpenter's Dwelling Ho.
16. Saml Bunkleys
17. Quaker Meeting House
18. The Court House
19. Abrm Bickleys
20. Thomas Masters
21. Sam Perrys
22. Bank Meeting House
23. Tho Chalkley
24. Penny Pott House

Peter Cooper Oil on canvas. The earliest painting of a North American city. This treasure came to The Library Company as a gift from George Mifflin Dallas in 1857, then American minister at the Court of St. James. "One of the members of Parliament in looking over the rubbish of a City curiosity shop" brought him a view of the southeast prospect of Philadelphia painted by Peter Cooper about 1720. He sent the "antique daub" back to its place of origin, deprecating its value except as a curiosity. The Cooper View, now restored and framed, is one of the most valuable of all Philadelphia paintings, the oldest surviving canvas of any American city. To learn more about this and other treasures of the Library Company visit: http://www.librarycompany.org.

The following is from the Vol 1 No. 1 Jan 1, 1857 edition of American Notes and Queries, W. Brotherhead, ed.

The Full Text is available online here. This is a good place to start learning about some of the people associated with the early history of Philadelphia. In some cases, much more information is available today to the internet user simply by using a good search engine.





Print Available for purchase from Library Company of Philadelphia