William H. Rease, born in Pennsylvania circa 1818, was the most prolific lithographer of advertising prints in Philadelphia during the 1840s and 1850s. This advertisement shows a view of Alfred M. Herkness' circular auction house on the 800 block of George Street (later Sansom Street). A man, possibly Herkness, stands in the doorway. Signs advertise the sale of horses, carriages, and harnesses, "twice every week." Harnesses are tacked along the doorway. Carriages, harnessed to horses and free-standing, line the streets, and men wait alongside the building. Also pictured are the neighboring Fifth Baptist Church, a man waiting on horseback, and a gentleman at the opposite street corner. The premises had room for 300 carriages and 150 horses. Originally erected for the exhibition of a cyclorama of Jerusalem, the building was acquired by Herkness in 1847−48. His business remained at this site until 1913; the building was demolished in 1915. Rease became active in his trade around 1844, and through the 1850s he mainly worked with printers Frederick Kuhl and Wagner & McGuigan in the production of advertising prints known for their portrayals of human details. Although Rease often collaborated with other lithographers, by 1850 he promoted in O'Brien's Business Directory his own establishment at 17 South Fifth Street, above Chestnut Street. In 1855 he relocated his establishment to the northeast corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets (after a circa 1853−55 partnership with Francis Schell), where in addition to advertising prints he produced certificates, views, maps, and maritime prints.