Athenaeum Catalogs
Franklin is the Athenaeum's library catalog (in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania). Use it for finding books and trade materials. Some architectural drawings and photographic collections are cataloged in Franklin, but these are more easily searched in PAB.
The Athenaeum's ebook collection can be found at this link. They will
work on Apple iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, Nook, and Windows devices. Have
your Athenaeum library card and pin code available.
If you do not yet have a card and pin code, please contact the
librarian (jilly@PhilaAthenaeum.org)
to obtain them. Pin codes are case sensitive.
Philadelphia Architects & Buildings
The Philadelphia Architects & Buildings Project (PAB) is a cooperative effort between the Athenaeum, The University of Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Historical Commission, and the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. It contains information on buildings, architects, and the architectural collections of over 30 local institutions. Use PAB to find architectural drawings and photographs.
Browse by Collection This link will take you directly to the Athenaeum's collection list in the PAB database. It is best used for browsing within a particular collection.
Greater Philadelphia Geohistory Network
The GPGN is a collection of geographic resources from more than a dozen local repositories. Historic maps and atlases are available for viewing alone or in comparison to current maps in an interactive maps viewer.
Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide
A digital, searchable presentation of the PRERBG, the single richest published source for documenting buildings in Philadelphia.
The Featured Collections site contains digital images of items such as artwork, museum objects and other collections that may not fit into PAB or GPGN.
This website contains list of resource material about Joseph Bonaparte, a list of experts knowledgeable about him, a listing of material objects known to have been owned by him in America, and a database of his objects in America that have been located in museums, institutions and private collections.
Additional Resources
These databases are only available from computers at The Athenaeum.
American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodical Collection, Series 1-5 (1691-1877)
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals