USGenWeb           Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, USGenWeb
Patrick W. (PW) Costello: Literary and Political Figures

Master Penman, Designer, Engrosser & Illustrator

Click each image to see the full size


Left: William Shakespeare, undated

Pen and ink portrait, with watercolor background, of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), preeminent English poet, playwright and actor.  Dimensions:  8 x 10 in.  Owner:  Attorney John (Barry) Beemer.



Right:  Mark Twain, 1907     

Pen and ink portrait of Mark Twain (1835-1910), American author and humorist. In 1872, he lectured at Klein's Opera House on Lackawanna Avenue in Scranton (Pa.). In 1907, artist P. W. Costello gave this drawing to his friend, Horace Healey, editor of 'The Penman's Art Journal.' Healey hung the drawing on his office wall. In his will, Healey left the drawing and a large part of his collection of pen art to the Zaner-Bloser Co. in Columbus, OH.  Dimensions: 10 x 14 in.




Left: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, undated 

Pen and ink portrait of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), New England poet and teacher, best known for his lyric poems, including' Evangeline' and 'Paul Revere's Ride.'   Dimensions:  8 x 13 in.   Owners:  Dan, Nancy, and William Costello.



Right: Walt Whitman, 1905

Pen and ink portrait of Walt Whitman (1819-1892), American journalist, poet and essayist, author of 'Leaves of Grass,' a collection of poems. The drawing was published in the ‘Penman's Art Journal’ in 1905.  Dimensions:  8 x 10 in.  Published in the March 1905 Penman's Art Journal, Vol. 29, No. 7, page 200.




Left: Ralph Waldo Emerson, undated

Pen and ink portrait of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American poet, educator and essayist, a leader of the 19th Century Transcendentalist Movement, author of 'Self-Reliance,' ‘Nature,’ ‘Experience’ and many other essays.  Dimensions:  8 x 10 in.  Owners:  Dan, Nancy, and William Costello.



Right: Nathanial Hawthorne, undated

Pen and ink portrait of Nathanial Hawthorne (1804-1864), American novelist and short story writer who authored, 'The House of the Seven Gables,' 'The Scarlet Letter,' 'Twice-Told Tales,' and 'Mosses from an Old Manse.'  Dimensions:  8 x 11 in.     Owners:  Dan, Nancy, and William Costello.








Left: Edgar Allan Poe, undated

Pen and ink portrait of American author, poet and editor Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), known for his tales of mystery and the macabre. Poe was part of the American Romantic Movement and one of the first to write short stories.
Dimensions:  8 x 10 in.  Owners:  Dan, Nancy, and William Costello.



Right: George Washington, undated

Pen and ink portrait of George Washington (1732-1799), the first U.S. president.   Dimensions:  11 x 15 in.  Owner: Attorney John (Barry) Beemer.




Left: Abraham Lincoln, 1920 

Pen and ink portrait of President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), one of several drawn by artist P. W. Costello throughout his career, reflecting his admiration for the 16th president.  Dimensions:  8 x 10 in.  Published in ‘The Business Educator,’ February 1920, page 25.


Right: William McKinley
Pen and ink drawing (undated) of William McKinley (1843 -1901), the 25th President of the United States. After McKinley was assassinated in September 1901, a bust was erected in his honor next to the Nealon Federal Building on N. Washington Ave in downtown Scranton, PA, where it still stands today. McKinley was the last president to have served in the American Civil War, beginning as a private in the Union Army and ending as a brevet major. After the war, he settled in Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law and married Ida Saxton.

Dimensions:  9 x 14 in.   Image source:  Dan, Nancy and William Costello. 


Left: Patrick Henry, undated

Pen and ink portrait of Patrick Henry (1736-1799), American politician, Governor of Virginia and gifted orator best known for his 'Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death' speech. Henry was one of the Founding Fathers and a strong force behind the march to independence.  Dimensions:  10 x 14 in.  Owner:  Attorney John (Barry) Beemer.



Right: Alexander Hamilton, undated

Pen & ink drawing of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), American Founding Father, Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington, and originator of the nation's financial system.  Dimensions:  10 x 13 in.   Owners:  Dan, Nancy and William Costello
Left:  Ulysses S. Grant, undated

Pen & ink portrait of Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), former Civil War general and U.S. president.  Dimensions: 11 x 15 in.  Owner: Attorney John (Barry) Beemer.



Right: Theodore Roosevelt 
Pen & ink portrait of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) a conservationist, naturalist, historian, leader of the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, governor of New York and 26th president of the United States.  

Dimensions:  8 x 11 in.  Image source:  The drawing was published in The Business Educator in May 1925.

Left: Grover Cleveland 
Pen & ink portrait of Stephen Grover Cleveland (1837-1908),  an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897.  He was the only president in American history to serve two nonconsecutive terms in office.

Dimensions: 8 x 10 in.  Image source:  The drawing was published in The Business Educator in November 1904.


Right: Daniel Webster, undated

Pen and ink portrait of Daniel Webster (1782-1852), famous orator, Massachusetts senator, New Hampshire congressman, and U.S. Secretary of State under three presidents.  Dimensions: 11 x 15 in.  Owner:  Attorney John (Barry) Beemer.


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Images and information contributed by: Thomas W. Costello, November 2020 - June 2021
P.W. Costello produced hundreds of engrossings and portraits throughout his 45-year career in Scranton. If you happen to have any of them in your family, Tom Costello, the artist's great-grandson, would appreciate the opportunity to photograph or scan them in support of his research. Tom can be reached at this e-mail address: 

These documents and images are made available free to the public for non-commercial purposes by the Lackawanna County, PAGenWeb Project.