PHILADELPHIA, PA. – The Union League of Philadelphia, located at Broad and Sansom Streets, will exhibit 35 original through the end of August. James Bennett Straw, president of the Union League, commented, “This is a most appropriate place to exhibit the , since the league was founded to uphold the constitution and protect the principles of the declaration club’s support of President Abraham Lincoln.”

The illuminations were created by amateur calligrapher Sherman Ellsworth Notestine, an accountant for the Pennsylvania Railroad, who worked on them from 1905 to 1915. He is ranked with the best amateur penman in an era when amateur penmanship flourished. He lived his entire life in central Pennsylvania and died at the age of 76 in 1941.

John Blatteau, president of Philadelphia-based John Blatteau Associates, an architecture firm specializing in classical architecture, purchased the plates in 1974 with fellow architect Paul Hirshorn. The plates were first exhibited in the windows of John Wanamaker, Philadelphia, at the time of the Republican National Convention in 1949.

“This is the perfect time to exhibit them once again at the time of the Republican National Convention and the upcoming election,” noted Blatteau. “The Union League is the ideal historical setting for the plates,” he added.

Blatteau’s interest in classical architecture is supported by his rare collection of architectural books dating back to the 1500s. Hirshorn is an architect, author and professor of architecture at Drexel University, where he serves as head of the Department of Architecture.

The exhibit is open to the public by appointment by calling the Union League at 215/563-6500.