1887. Original manuscript. Hardcover. Very Good. Entries are contained in a "Standard Diary for 1887," with printed matter in the early pages re weights & measures, income on investments, postal rates, populations statistics, 1884 presidential vote counts, gold and silver values, etc. Entries begin on January 11 and, though sporadic with some days unrecorded, they reveal a woman active in her community. Some examples follow. "Evening - Prof. Fiske's lecture on the Battle of Chattanooga" (Jan.25). "Chautauquan supper in the evening at my house - about 40 present" (Jan. 31). "Sewing Society - last of the season - very social and pleasant - 2 machines kept at work" (Feb. 11). "M.M. and myself went to Mystic Is. and to Eastern point--Mosquitoes!!" (July 29). "Went to Watch Hill - M.M., Mrs. N & Miss Filer and Mrs Clapp - eat our lunch near Light-house - watched the fleet of yachts - Had a lovely time" (Aug. 11). ~~ Place names mentioned in the diary entries are Norwich, Cambridgeport, Bean Hill, Mystic Isle, Eastern Point, Watch Hill, Block Island, and Mohegan Fair. Daily cash expenditures are itemized by month on 24 pages near the end of the book. Bound in cloth over flexible boards, 6.75" x 3"
Brockport, NY: Moore-Shafer Shoe Mfg Co, 1890. First Edition. Softcover. Very Good. 32pp; illustrated throughout from photographs, text printed in sepia. Features various models of high-laced and high-button shoes for women--for the opera, for tourists and mountain-climbers, for golfers, for dress occasions. Also shows laced oxfords for summer time, a variety of soles, etc. All are priced at $3.00 to $3.50 per pair. Bound in gilt-embossed, pictorial green wrappers; light wear to spine, internally clean and sound. 6" x 4" The Moore-Shafer Shoe Company operated from 1888 to 1929. [Unrecorded by WorldCat, which does find six holdings of a trade card promoting this company. Not in Romaine, American Trade Catalogs.].
1930. Original manuscript. Hardcover. Fine. pp: (32) printed matter, including 8 full-color pages of flags (world, ships', etc.) and funnels, info on ship navigation; nicknames of U.S. cities; etc. One-page handwritten "itinerary" from Grand Rapids, MI to Detroit to Montreal to Quebec to Belfast, Liverpool and London, June 25-July 5 [1930], plus a half-page "log" of geographic positions of the ship. Next are 44 pages of handwritten entries in ink, dated July 5-July 27. At rear are thumb-indexed pages for addresses, 11 of them used, some with multiple entries, containing names and addresses of KM's fellow-travelers. Also at the rear is one handwritten page listing 23 drinks, all alcoholic save "cider," ranging from various wines to the "Viking Special" and "Manhattan Cocktail." Contained in a book of tan [lizard?] leather over heavy boards, "Travels Abroad" and decorated border gilt-stamped on cover, Original pencil in sleeve. 6.75" x 7" Kathleen's journal provides a (lighthearted) view of sights and scenes in Europe between the world wars. In addition to sometimes lengthy descriptions of cultural and scenic sights, she describes her hotels, meals, nightclubs, and companions-including relationships with men-- and a litany of alcoholic drinks consumed during this Prohibition-era journey. ~~ The author is an educated, high-spirited young woman, Kathleen Millington, of 519 Gladstone Ave, Grand Rapids, Michigan. She sails to Europe on the Cunard Line's S.S. Athenia, which later was the first U.K. ship sunk by Germany, in 1939. The diary opens on July 5 with an impressionistic description of her journey across the sea, her trip from Liverpool to London (a city full of "char-a-bancs and antiquated cabs"), and her initial sightseeing foray ("London is not a city but rather a huge overgrown sprawly town"). As a girl of Prohibition times, she especially notes "pubs [serving] stout and ale, wine and spirits." Her touring of the city is described, with historical notes on various sights. She reports that land in the old city ("the heart of empire") is worth $5,000,000 per acre, and that the Ritz Hotel is patronized by "Mary Pickford, Charley Chaplin, etc." She and her traveling companions take day trips to Cambridge ("narrow crooked streets, thatched roofs", punting on the river Cam, a list of colleges, etc.); and to Windsor Castle via Stokes Poges and Maidenhead with a stop at "the oldest inn in England, Ye Olde Ostrich Inn." Kathleen winds up her English stay in London going to a "posh night club" with friends, where she sees "a good show" and has "food and cider", eventually landing in bed at 2:45 a.m. ~~ On July 10, they cross the Channel from Dover to Ostend, then entrain for Brussels. Kathleen has a bad cold and hence a couple early nights, but her friend Dot "had her hair bobbed and was inveighed into buying a gallon of hair tonic by a wavy-haired barber." Next they train to Cologne, where she and a doctor she consults "have jolly fun misunderstanding each other with the help of an interpreter - pills, salve and cognac." Our author and friend take a steamer up the Rhine, where she "spent day madly taking pictures and trying to keep warm in the bar." She notes that the flags are at half-mast because of a mining disaster in the Ruhr Valley. After a brief stay at Weisbaden, they proceed to Heidelberg, where KM goes "looking for steins-apparently as scarce in Heidelberg as pretzels were in Cologne. Wonder if they really do have spaghetti in Italy...." The young women next take a train through the Black Forest (it's "really black, too-even lakes"), and she and her four fellow travelers form "the beginning of an invincible group." KM has "two rich German desserts topped with a double cognac" and later soothes her upset stomach by "sipping Kirsch which did the trick." The next stop is Oberammergau, where she finds the Passion Play "a bit long-eight hours but immense and very impressive. Crucifixion and Resurrection scenes the most stupendous and inspiring...." ~~ On July 17, KM and company head for Switzerland, after a short stop in Munich and a boat ride from Lindau across Lake Constance "to avoid going into Austria"--, then a train for Zurich. She proceeds from there to Lucerne and Interlaken describing the "heavenly trip" and noting that she can see the Jungfrau from her window at the Hotel National. She also describes the group's "most interesting new courier, William Rupert Maclaren, 23, Boston, Harvard, blue eyes -a winning smile-likeable chap -and very good-looking, too." In the evening, she also meets "two charming Cambridge men, one of them "a Glorious Apollo, Byronic in appearance but virile instead of pale... [and] intriguingly savoir faire". After a boring time at the symphony, the group of "fourteen lively spirits" moves on to the local "ball-room and American jazz and Spanish tango...." Rain prevents Jungfrau-ascent the next day, and KM winds up with "somebody or other Wagner and another Swiss chap...teaching one to tango. Packed and in bed by 3:30 [a.m.]." ~~ The group heads to Italy next, taking the train to Stresa (a trip where "Betty [was] subtly throwing herself at Mac"). After a visit to the Borromean Islands and the "Castle Isla Bella where Napoleon kept his mistresses" and where KM is appalled by the "lava bathroom", they head for Milan, where she does some sightseeing. Next comes Venice. They take "gondolas from station to Luna Hotel", and a post-dinner stroll demonstrates that "Venice definitely is not a place of bad smells." July 22 is spent sightseeing, including a trip "to Lido to swim. Divine Adriatic [was] marvelous and beach perfect. Tea dancing at Excelsior" follows, as well as an evening gondola ride where "lovely music [is] everywhere." After a quick stop at Bologna, the group heads for Florence on July 23, and on arrival immediately "roamed about looking for Florentine silver." After a couple more days of sightseeing, they have a brief stop-over at Rome, where KM conducts "a mad search for spumoni", which she finds at a café "across the street from Mussolini's office." The group then proceeds to Naples. Kathleen notes that there had been an earthquake a few hours before, although "contrary to reports, Naples not touched but Melfi and surrounding country hit hard, 3000 to 4000 dead." She soon takes the "glorious Amalfi drive from Pompeii to Sorrento", sees "Vesuvius belching a rather menacing column of white smoke", and describes the sights of the excavations at Pompeii. KM and her 4 companions then miss the train for Rome, but she and Mac "fooled around [and] had a terrific silly streak and nearly killed ourselves laughing." After "a filthy trip-all tunnels", they do arrive at Rome, where the first night they "did as the Romans do and no wonder Rome fell!" A fitting end for these light-hearted diary entries, written by a young woman near the end of the flapper era.
1893. Original manuscript. Very Good. 123 pages of legible entries, written in pencil, three entries per page. Preceded by 38pp of printed matter, including weight, shirt and shoe sizes. Diary entries are followed by 36pp labeled "accounts," although 15 of those pages contain additions to the diary, a list of books read, etc. Bound in black cloth, wallet-stype flap and closure. 4" x 2.5" Grace Kincaid, who resides outside of Proctorsville, Vermont, is 15 when this diary opens. At the front are her name, address, a drawn heart with an arrow through it, and the notation "done well for the first year". Grace lives with her "Mamma" and sister Flossie (who turns 12 in 1893), although other people including "Pearley" (a local boy who turns 18) and Frank (her older brother?) also play major roles in her daily life. There is no mention of a father, but other relatives, friends and neighbors are frequent diary subjects. Most days' entries open with a weather summary, and Grace apparently lives on a farm, which is put up for sale during the course of the year. Her diary reflects her position as both a schoolgirl/child and a young adult/worker. A teenager, Grace divides her time between attending school and long spells when she lives at her employers' home and does housework. Starting in January, local women begin asking her to work for them during the summer, or even immediately, and from March 6-April 30 she works and lives at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Whitney. She is "lonesome here with no one to talk to...Mr. and Mrs. Whitney are in the other room" (March 22) and "O! It is lonesome today. Thought I should see some of my folks but did not" (April 16). The only tasks she mentions specifically are braiding a rug, a job she "doesn't dislike," and "washed and cleaned house a little" (April 25), but she notes that "my hands have been chap[p]ing and are very sore" (March 20). Grace notes in the diary the passing of each week she is away from home. After a brief stint at home and school, Grace is off to work again in May, going off to work/live at Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker's on May 26. Her tasks there include quilting, and after 4 weeks there, she notes that "Pearly carried me home-$8.00 [for] 4 weeks [of work]" (June 24). ~~ Grace's school life is also described in some detail, with mentions of new teachers, test scores, and such teen-style entries as "got mad at little boys for trying to get a note away from me" (Jan 13) and "some of the scholars bothering Van Slack about me and he said he didn't know as he had any claim on me he could stand it if there wa[s]nt another one in the case. (Poor boy)" (final entry in diary). Dances play an important part in Grace's life, too, mostly attended during her stints at school, although by and large they seem to be held at people's houses. She carefully notes who is giving the dance, who invited her, who she danced with, how many "figures" she danced during the evening, and even the names of dances she learned (e.g. "Danish Polka", "Heal [sic] and Toe Polka"). Her other entertainments include playing backgammon and checkers, and one day in August playing tennis, which she "likes pretty well." She reads a lot, especially when living at employers' homes, and often gives the author and title of what she's just finished. Grace attends church a few times during the year, goes to a few lectures, attends the Springfield Fair, goes to the dentist (who fills 10 cavities), and visits with girlfriends, sometimes overnight. She and other family members or friends regularly go visiting or on errands to other Windsor County towns, including Felchville, Springfield, Ludlow, Woodstock, S. Reading , Middleton, and Cavendish. Farm life is also infrequently mentioned, as when "our old pig had 13 young ones today" (Aug 14), and "sold the old mare" on Aug. 17. On Sept. 13, she reports that "we "sold our farm tonight to Ed Murray for [$]750." After that, they stay with various relatives and Frank and Mamma go "looking for a farm" in Wethersfield and Windsor, but don't buy one. ~~ Grace's diary is a good source of local news of the day, including funerals, town meetings, and even a suicide attempt when she "heard Fred Whitaker shot himself yesterday in his barn. Did not kill him" (Aug. 2). Five days later, she notes that "Fred was alive yet." The pages at the rear of the diary include recipes for "Cocoanut Pudding" and "Poor Man's Pudding," addenda to earlier entries, a list of "Novels I have read before Nov. 18, 1893," and a page of local names and addresses.
New York: Sarony, 1860. Original document. Fine. Half-length sepiatone image of Dickinson in embroidered dress, beads and cameo, looking slightly to her right. Below the image is printed: "Sarony, 680 Broadway, Anna Dickinson." The verso is blank. Dickinson (1842-1932), a Philadelphia Quaker, "was the first woman to give a political address before the United States Congress....She aided the Republican Party in the hard-fought 1863 elections and significantly influenced the distribution of political power in the Union just prior to the Civil War. Dickinson was the first white woman on record to summit Colorado's Gray's Peak, Lincoln Peak, and Elbert Peak, and she was the second to summit Pike's Peak..." (Wikipedia).
Manchester, N.H.: Press of John B. Clarke, 1884. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. 203pp; frontispiece view of Mount Hood. Bound in brown cloth, decorated in black and gilt. 7.5" x 4.75" [Joyce, Personal Writings by Women, 3789.] Contents [taken from WorldCat]: Chapter I. First notes --At Chicago --Chapter II. From Chicago to Pueblo --Pueblo --Chapter III. Manitou and its environs --Chapter IV. Denver --Clear Creek Cañon --Central City --The Grand Cañon --Marshall's Pass -- Chapter V. Leadville --La Veta Pass -- Over Raton Mountain to New Mexico -- Chapter VI. Sante Fé -- Chapter VII. From Sante Fé to Los Angeles -- Chapter VIII. Los Angeles -- Chapter IX. The Yo Semite Valley -- Chapter X. San Francisco notes -- Chapter XI. Monterey -- San José and Santa Clara -- The Napa Valley -- On the Pacific [and Astoria] -- Chapter XII. The Lower Columbia River -- Portland -- Chapter XIII. Puget Sound and its ports -- Victoria -- Chapter XIV. Tacoma -- Chapter XV. The Willamette Valley -- Salem -- The middle Columbia -- Chapter XVI. On the Northern Pacific and Utah & Northern railroads -- Butte City Chapter XVII. Salt Lake City -- Chapter XVIII. Finally, [homeward bound].
Charleston, S.C.: Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1887. Original document. Softcover. Very Good. 24pp. Report-card format, recording Louisa's performance under her teacher, Alice A. Palmer of the Memminger School. Covers school subject, conduct, and attendance for each weekday from October 7, 1887 through March 23, 1888, minus two weeks of Christmas holiday. Each page is signed by the teacher and by Louisa. Laid into printed card covers, as issued. 5.5" x 3.5" "Memminger Normal School was a vital part of antebellum South Carolina's public education system, and it served as a teaching center for the children of the freedmen during the Era of Reconstruction. The George Peabody Foundation made grants to the school in the 1870s as long as it remained in the hands of capable New Englanders who had opposed secession. By the 1880s Memminger Normal School was again under state sponsorship, and it resumed its original role of training young women, albeit white and middle class, in the art of pedagogy" (Moultrie News, Nov. 8, 2011).
Chicago: Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Co, 1920. First Edition. Softcover. Fine. (10)pp, including a gilt-stamped half-title on green stock; color-pictorial title-page, frontispiece, and decorated pages for notes (not used), all done in Egyptian motifs. Bound in green wrappers, cover stamped in gilt and colors. 6" x 3.75" Egyptian motifs were popular in the Art Deco era. This little notebook was meant for a fine lady.
1888. Contains about 150 Items pasted over the text in an old, clothbound book. Included are invitations, acceptances, personal notes, calling cards, etc. Many items are from Chester County and other southeastern Pennsylvania places, and some are from outside the state. Family names include: Anderson, Briggs, Reburn, Pollock, Pugh, Squire, Mowery, Crothers, Doyle, Schaffer, Dance, Scarborough, Cauffman, Duverin, Galbreath, Cameron, Hudson, Laughlin, Wilkinson, Morris, Bunting, Dickey, Steele, Pyle, et al. Occasions include: weddings, graduations, "basket surprises," anniversaries, &c. It is evident that the album was compiled by Mrs. John M. Anderson.
1883. Original album. Hardcover. Very Good. (42)pp of entries, varying from a few lines to full-page. Begins with a chromolitho title-page, "Paragon Autograph Album." Ohio place names of entries include: Navarre, Mt. Vernon, Orrville, Leesville, Massillon, Richville, Surnames include: Maxwell, Herr, Arick, Westerfield, Cross, Oliver, Beck, Leeper, Camp, Duncan, Hester, Adair,Fry, Biddle, Rider, Wolfe, Gallagher, and Baumgardner. Near the back of the album is an entry addressed to "Sister Anna" and signed "Your Sister, Rosa E. Guernsey." Bound in black morocco, elaborate cover decorations in silver and gilt with word "Album," all edges gilt. 5" x 7.5". Spine ends chipped.
New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1834. First US Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Two volumes. pp: 304; 271. Bound in 3/4 calf and marbled boards, leather labels; spines are sun-darkened, with a small chip from one head. 7.5" x 4.25". Provenance: old, engraved bookplate in each volume of Charleston native Rawlins Lowndes (1801-1877), with early signatures at tops of title-pages of Gertrude Livingston Lowndes (1805-1883), a well-known New Yorker of her day. Mrs. Jameson (1794-1860) here relates her literary adventures in Germany, along with several short stories and the diary of her travels in Italy. [American Imprints 25112. Robinson, Wayward Women, 286, Davis & Joyce, Personal Writings by Women, 2482.].
[Philadelphia, PA]: s.n., 1860. First Edition. Softcover. Very Good. (4)pp, printed on cream stock. Decorative border on cover. Elegy, four 8-line stanzas, beginning: "We're standing 'round thee now, Annie, Where many a time we've met, When welcomed by that kindly voice, We shall not soon forget...." 7.5" x 5". Old signature of Anne Potts at top of cover. Annie B. Griscom Brown was born 14 April 1834, died in childbirth 23 December 1860, and is buried with her four-day-old daughter at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia,
1873. Original manuscript. Hardcover. 48pp of handwritten sentiments from friends and family; four engraved plates, tissue guards, title-page vignette. Bound in red morocco, blind-stamped decorations, chrome-litho floral pieces on both covers, gilt cover lettering and spine decorations, all edges gilt. 8.25" x 6.5". Pieces of spine covering chipped from both ends; internally in very good condition. Many of the entires in this album were written at Tiskilwa, Mt. Carroll, and Rochelle, all in Illinois, and a few others are from Boston, Orange NJ, and St. Louis. Most are in ink, a few in fading but readable pencil. Several contain highly-calligraphed phrases or titles within their text, while one woman offers three animal sketches (2 dogs and a buck). Some of the non-calligraphic hands are nevertheless beautiful and flowing, illustrating the importance of penmanship in the school curriculum of the day. Many entries contain short poems, and some of these appear to be original, since they mention "Mary" or "my sister", etc. ~~ Mary's album documents the prevailing sentiments of the era with inspirational messages on the importance of living a Christian life, trusting in God/Jesus, etc. Only a few are of the "remember me" variety. Some take up a full page, including those of her father, William R. Webb, and her mother, which are both highly religious in nature. There are also entries by her father-in-law "B. Lichty, "who signs with "Bless you is the prayer of your unworthy father," and by her sister Ada. One signer, Will P. Hallett of Mt. Carroll, writes that he's signing the book "although I have not as yet formed your acquaintance," and goes on to hope that if they don't meet "in this sinful world, may God help us to meet around his throne...." An entry from Mrs. C.B. Boyer notes that "One year ago you came to us as a stranger and today you leave for your new home..." and concludes with sending her good wishes. The only signer of historical note seems to be J[oseph] Morris Ray, who signed as "your friend" in June, 1873, and later became an Iowa attorney and State Senator 1893-95, after residing in Mt. Carroll for many years.
Detroit, Michigan: Ford Motor Company, 1916. First Edition. Softcover. Very Good. 24pp; 7 full-page illustrations from photographs, others in the text. Printed throughout in black and orange. Bound in wrappers printed in blue, orange, and red. 9" x 5.75". Text block loose from lower staple. Features the Ford Model T: Touring Car, Runabout, Coupelet, Sedan, and Town Car.
Detroit, Michigan: Ford Motor Company, 1924. First Edition. Softcover. Very Good. (12)pp; 8 large illustrations from photographs. Bound in color-pictorial wrappers, the cover showing a Cinderella-like woman emerging from a coach with attendants. Near fine condition. In the original envelope with slight corner wear. 11" x 8.5" The text is slanted toward the American woman as independent and busy enough to have a car of her own. Each photograph shows women with their Ford Closed Cars: playing bridge (Model Ts in background); shopping at a stylish store (Ford Coupe); driving a child to school (Tudor Sedan); golf outing (Ford Coupe); meeting a train (Ford Sedan); etc. "Inclement weather need never mar the apparel of the woman who has provided herself with her individual Ford Closed Car." [WordCat locates only one holding, Library and Archives Canada, ascribing this publication to Ford Motor Company of Canada at Oakville, Ontario.].
New York: Henry T. Williams, 1877. Fourth Edition. Original Cloth. Very Good. pp: 300, (1) index, (7) publisher's illustrated ads; decorated title-page, illustrations throughout the text, some full-page. Bound in decorated blue cloth, stamped in black and gilt, brown coated endpapers. Clean and sound. 8.5" x 5.75"
Trenton [New Jersey]: Printed by Isaac Collins, 1795. First US Edition. Full Leather. Very Good. pp: vi, 418. Bound in contemporary sheepskin, gilt-ruled spine with red leather label. 7.25" x 4.25" The author, a Quaker minister, traveled widely to spread the word in the United Kingdom and on the Continent. This book is based on her journals and letters. Isaac Collins, also a Quaker, and New Jersey's second printer, printed this first American edition. Provenance: Flyleaf signatures of John and Elizabeth Satterthwaite and Mary Baily. [Felcone, New Jersey Books 110. Evans 28776.].
Philadelphia: H.C. Peck & Theo. Bliss, 1852. First edition thus. Original Cloth. Very Good. 270pp; illuminated extra-title by W. Croome, lithographed by T. Sinclair, Phila. Bound in red cloth with elaborate gilt-stamped pictures and decorations on spine and both covers, all edges gilt. With old pencil signature of Elmira Stevenson and the custom bookplate of Hiram Edmund Deats, Flemington, N.J., a well-known historian, philatelist, and book collector. Traces of light foxing here and there, still a nice, bright example. 7.25" x 4.75" "Directions for consulting the oracle. The person who holds the book asks the question. The person whose fortune is to be read selects any one of the fifty answers under that question, say No. 10, and the questioner reads aloud the answer No. 10, which will be the oracle" (page 12). [The extra, illuminated title-page was not present in the first printing of this work.].
Mount Vernon: Peter Pauper Press, 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 69pp; four silhouettes in yellow and brown. Bound in cloth-backed decorated boards, paper spine label, top edges stained brown. In the original slipcase, smudged. 9.25" x 5.75" Limited to 1450 copies set in Baskerville type, printed on Arak Ash-white paper.
New York: Golden HInd Press, 1932. American Edition. Original Cloth. Very Good. 115pp; occasional illustrations. Includes the "Speech of Monsieur Freydier on Behalf of Mademoiselle Marie Lajon versus Sieur Pierre Berlhe, Prisoner of the Court." Bound in green cloth, paper spine label. Prior owner proudly stamped his name on endpapers and a foot of title-page. 9" x 5.75"
