Inside The Philadelphia Print Shop’s Treasure Trove of History

by Melissa Jacobs

Lead image: S. W. Werner.  “Battle of Brandywine in which the Rebels were Defeated, September the 11th 1777 by the Army under the Command of General Sr. Willm. Howe.” 

The whole thing started in an attic – as many things do for David Mackey. Since he started collecting antique maps nearly 25 years ago – and more so after he became the owner of The Philadelphia Print Shop in 2020 – Mackey has spent a fair amount of time rooting around other people’s garages, barns and attics. 

That’s where Mackey finds the good stuff: historic property atlases of the Main Line, historical prints, views and scenes, as well as rare books. Age, condition, subject matter; all of those things factor into whether or not Mackey acquires an item and offers it at The Philadelphia Print Shop in Wayne.

“We have more than 10,000 antique works on paper that are generally over 100 years old,” Mackey says. “New customers and established collectors come to us looking for antique prints, maps and books – and we authenticate every item we offer.

But Mackey wasn’t sure what he had when he looked at a dusty, slightly discolored battle map he found in the attic of an old home in Delaware. He thought it was an engraving of the 1777 Battle of Brandywine. Intrigued, Mackey thought it had potential.

In cases like these, Mackey consults with Quincy Williams and Jane Toczek, the experts who have been with The Philadelphia Print Shop for over 30 years. “Quincy and Jane are the real treasures of The Philadelphia Print Shop,” Mackey says. “Their deep knowledge of prints, maps and rare books is unsurpassed in our region.”

They helped Mackey relocate the shop from its original home in Chestnut Hill and have an encyclopedic knowledge of historic prints and maps that fill the 42-year old store’s shelves, cabinets, drawers and bins.

Among the shop’s specialties are decorative art – animals, fish, botanicals – and historical art from the 1700s to the early 1900s. The collection includes pieces by Winslow Homer, Maxfield Parrish, and Theo Ballou White. The shop also has illustrations from Vanity Fair, the British magazine published from 1869-1914, and Currier & Ives, the New York printmaker that captured scenes life in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

A good deal of works are of European origin, including the much loved French posters from the Belle Époque era. The exuberantly colored posters advertising food, theater and other indulgences were created by Jules Chéret and the artists who worked with him.

Antique maps are another of The Philadelphia Print Shop’s specialties, as noted by John F. Smith III, one of the region’s most respected map collectors, and Mackey’s map mentor. Smith and his wife Susan recently donated their expansive collection to Villanova University. It includes antique maps the Smiths acquired from Chestnut Hill to China, including their first acquisition, a mid-1700s map of Barbados. “Maps appeal to both sides of my brain,” Smith said. “One side is scientific and verbal and looks for accuracy. The other side is an unabashed lover of color, form and art in general.”

The oldest map in the Smiths’ collection is a 1493 piece by Herman Schedel of Constantinople. Smith has paid $10,000 or more several times to acquire gems like that. “But a map doesn’t have to be expensive to be meaningful,” Smith added. “At its heart, a map is about a sense of place and your relationship to it.”

That’s why many Main Liners turn to The Philadelphia Print Shop to find antique property maps of their town, or even their home or neighborhood. The shop has atlases and property maps from the 1870s-1940s. 

Maps of downtown Wayne date to the 1890s. “That’s when realtors, title companies and banks acquired atlases to track properties along what became known as the Main Line of The Pennsylvania Railroad,” Mackey explained. Several of the atlases from 1896-1926 covered individual properties and estates from Overbrook to Paoli, the original “main line.” The towns developed around the newly-built train stations, Mackey explained. 

So when people go to The Philadelphia Print Shop looking for a map of their Main Line property, Mackey often asks which train station they live closest to. Then, he dives into the shop’s cache of loose maps and atlases, and looks for creeks, churches, bends in roads and other things that signify a specific area on a property map. “If you live anywhere on the Main Line or in the surrounding five counties, we can find your property,” Mackey said.

The extensive collection of maps extends into Philadelphia and all of its suburbs, including Chester County. Mackey’s newest venture, Avalon Maps, offers several vintage maps of Avalon, Stone Harbor and Cape May County. Most are priced from $125 – $500. But that certainly was not the case with the map of the Battle of Brandywine that Mackey found in the dusty attic in Delaware. His instincts about its authenticity and potential value were correct.

Williams and Mackey quickly determined it was an original engraving that dated to 1777 – and was a tremendous find, Mackey said. After having it professionally conserved by a local expert, they offered the treasure to a  longstanding client who paid nearly $13,000 to acquire it for his personal collection.

“But to be honest, we are just as thrilled to connect people with maps and historic prints that are $150,” Mackey said. “For us, it’s about creating connections between history and the people who treasure it.”

For more information, visit The Philadelphia Print Shop in Wayne, on Instagram and Facebook.

This story is presented in partnership with The Philadelphia Print Shop.

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