Notes
This photograph depicts what is believed to have been the library of the Red Hill mansion. This would have been taken before February 1919, when a fire broke out and destroyed the home. The room is filled with several notable objects owned by Patrick Henry and his family.
To the left of the window is an 1834 engraving of a watercolor painting of Patrick Henry by James Barton Longacre (1794–1869) after a miniature painting by Lawrence Sully (1769–1804). A similar example exists in the Red Hill collection (76.5.4.1).
The Lawrence Sully miniature was painted in 1795 and is one of the few portraits of Patrick Henry done from life. Family tradition says it was given to Henry's brother-in-law, John Winston Syme Jr. (1727–?). It then descended to Syme's great-grandson, John Syme Fleming (1842–1922), who sent the portrait to the Henkels galleries in Philadelphia to be sold at auction, where it was bought by Gilbert S. Parker of Philadelphia in 1910 (see catalog 76.5.2). It was later sold to Herbert L. Pratt, who then presented it to Amherst College in Massachusetts, where it currently resides.
Below is an engraving of Patrick Henry giving a speech at the First Continental Congress done in 1895 after American painter Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863–1930), who is best known for his 78-part series on American history entitled "The Pageant of a Nation", the largest series of American historical paintings by a single artist. A similar example exists in the Red Hill collection (02.18).
Next to this is a bust of William Wirt Henry (1831–1900), son of John (1796–1868) and Elvira McClelland Henry (1808–1875) and grandson of Patrick Henry. It is currently in the collections of the Library of Virginia in Richmond.
The rectangular frame on top of the bookshelf contains drawings of Patrick Henry arguing the British Debts Case by Benjamin Latrobe (1764–1820). These were a series of quick sketches depicting six heads of Henry, done in 1797. They were done on a single page in Latrobe's notebook, which was later acquired by the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore. The page bears the notation "Attempts at the features of Patrick Henry", and it is known that at least three out of the six heads depict him.
The round portrait of Patrick Henry with dissolving borders was an engraving by Albert Rosenthal (1863–1939) in 1888, after the Thomas Sully portrait. A similar example exists in the Red Hill collection (13.5.2).
The mortar and pestle (76.37) were owned by Patrick Henry until his death in 1799.
In the far corner by the door is a photographic print (98.28.3) of a Patrick Henry portrait known as the "Aylett Portrait". The original portrait long-owned by Phillip Aylett (1767–1831) and his wife, Elizabeth Henry Aylett (1769–1842), a daughter of Patrick Henry. According to Henry biographer George Morgan, this portrait was not done from life. It is currently with the collection of the New-York Historical Society in New York.
The print above the mantel is an engraving of "The United States Senate, A.D. 1850.", engraved by Robert Whitechurch (1814–c.1880) after Peter F. Rothermel (1812–1895). It depicts Senator Henry Clay speaking before the U.S. Congress during the Compromise of 1850 or the California Compromise. This was a package of five separate bills passed in September 1850 to diffuse the tensions between Union and Confederate states. It was Clay's argument to admit California as a Union state in order to prevent what eventually became the American Civil War. This was engraved around 1855, just two years before Clay's death.
To the right and second down on the mantel is a copy of a portrait of the Patrick Henry miniature by Lawrence Sully (described above).
This photograph was found in the files of James S. Easley, first President of the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation. They were given to the Foundation by Mr. Easley in 1965. This photograph was removed from the files and accessioned separately.