Henrietta, New York, 1919. Original manuscript. Hardcover. Very Good. Contains 365 daily entries for 1919, and for January 1-8, 1920. Also, records of her wages and some cash outlays. Written in pencil in a legible hand, along with the usual printed, almanac-type material. Bound in wallet-style black cloth with tab closure, 6" x 3" Mary Quick's diary documents the life of a working woman in Monroe County, upstate NewYork, just after the close of World War I, and reflects forces of modernization at work in the U.S., side by side with the old-fashioned technology still in use. She also demonstrates the way the war broadened the frame of reference of even rural farmers, with the local bi-monthly Reading Club, for example, featuring member-penned papers on subjects of global interest, such as 'The Industrial Side of the War," "Women's Work in the World", and "Farming for Returned Soldiers." Mary's own paper is on "Reconstruction in the Near East" post-war. In her daily entries, she also notes the rise of the Prohibition movement and other events of national importance, including Teddy Roosevelt's death, President Wilson's stroke and incapacitation, etc. // When her diary opens, Mary Quick is working for "Greg" and a household which includes 21-year-old Floyd and the semi-invalid Susie (whose most frequent appearance in the diary is "Susie is miserable"). She is paid $20 a month (plus room and board). Besides sweeping, ironing, washing, mopping, sewing and mending, etc., Mary's main occupation seems to be baking. She, along with another woman who comes to work and stay over frequently, makes an inordinate number of pies, cakes, and cookies during the course of a week. Greg and Floyd run a farm, and Floyd also raises and sells rabbits. In the winter, they sell cabbages and potatoes in "the city" (Rochester), buy a calf, butcher a pig, and cut wood, while the women can apples and do the housework and baking and sewing. // Early in 1919, "the flu" (the dreaded Spanish influenza epidemic) seems to be rampant in the neighborhood, and Mary dutifully records how all her neighbors are faring. She also notes that in January, "38 states ratified the National Constitutional Amendment on Prohibition and the United States has gone dry" with NY state "going dry" on Jan 29. There is already evidence of contrasts between modern and older ways in the early months. On the one hand are tales of automobile drives (and flat tires, episodes of getting stuck in the mud, etc.), and on the other, "a Belgian [pedlar] came along selling dry goods and Greg bought blue serge for a suit...." // When spring arrives, the folks go "over to Giffords to hear the new talking machine," "Will and Amsden have both got automobiles," a "Miss Williams drives her own car," and "Amsden traded his Chalmers in for a one-seated car. It does not work very well." The women's work continues as usual, and the men plow (with horses) and plant potatoes, thresh the wheat and do the haying in June, and buy a new lathing machine. // The highlight of the summer is the Chautauqua the week of July 7th. Mary and the folks attend every day, and highlights include: the African-American "Williams Jubilee Singers"; talks by Capt. Paul Perigord of the French Army on "The Frontier of Freedom"; naturalization expert Paul Lee Ellerbee speaking on American citizenship; the "Indian girl" Princess Watahnoasu's speech; lectures by Ralph B. Dennis on "Russia not the Bolsheviki" and later on scientific advancements like "the gyroscope, the ultraviolet ray, the artificial ear, and a torpedo such as was used in the war." Performances at night include the "H.M.S. Pinafore" and a comedy. Summer is also the time for church picnics, class reunions, and family suppers and parties. // September opens with some local fires-the first one takes Frank Clark's and Esther Wells's barns as well as Clark's automobile: "Church bell rang twice and lots of automobiles went to the fire..." The second fire is a few days later when another barn burns down-"a great loss". The folks attend various county fairs; Susie's condition fluctuates; and the men work in the fields at "cutting and silage." By October, the "very tired" Mary writes: "I think of giving up and going home." The next day she tells Greg of her decision and he gives her a final $25 in wages. (Her general tiredness and sore feet have been running features of the diary to this point.) On October 13, she arrives "home," where the cast of characters includes Lin, Et, Clarence, and Marjie. // From this point on, Mary mostly spends her time sewing and mending for herself, visiting, writing her paper for the Reading Club, and doing very little baking. She is full of gossip about the locals, e.g.: "Will's little dog Laddie went mad and had to be killed...Dr. Taylor sent his head to Cornell...hydrophobia"; and the former post-mistress "is insane and had to be taken to a state hospital." In addition, "the telephone is under control of the Bell Co. now and does not work well." There are several mentions throughout the diary of listening to someone's "graphophone" (a fancy phonograph). In late fall, Lin and Clarence sell potatoes, apples, cranberries, chickens (dressed), etc. in the city. Et and Marjie "butchered chickens and a calf" in addition to housework, and various family members still drive to church in a horse and buggy. On the national scene "the paper says our country is facing a coal famine. The coal strike is not settled and the Peace Treaty is not signed." There is also a sugar shortage: "We do not use any sugar in coffee and do not have much cake nor cookies." The Reading Club resumes in December, with papers including "Regulating the Railroads." // Church plays a big role in Mary's world, and she records who preached which sermons virtually every Sunday. Church also seems to be the dissemination point for local news, primarily related to people's health or lack thereof, who bought whose property, and who is in the hospital-all of which Mary reports. One striking note in the diary is the frequency of death among the residents of this rural area. It's a slow week when there isn't a funeral to attend. The other scene of social activity is the Grange, and members of Mary's various households attend the Pittsford Grange, Pomona Grange, and Mendon Grange, while the women go to the Home Bureau meetings. ~~ [Mary Elizabeth Quick was from an important Hicksite Quaker family, the daughter of George & Tamar (Ewer) Quick. She was born on December 17, 1845 and died at 90 in 1935. Siblings included: Amelia Ann (George Birdsell), Adelia Jane (Isaac Craft), Harriet Alice (Jacob Berger), Maria, Charles Edwin (Nancy Ward) & George Lindley "Lin" (Laurette White) Quick. The 1880 census shows she was living with her mother, brother, sister and a nephew. The 1920 Census indicates she was living with her brother & his wife (George Lindley Quick & Laurette White ), and her niece & her husband. Mary Elizabeth never married, and lived her entire life in Monroe County, New York.].
New York: Irving Berlin, 1946. First Editions. Softcover. Very Good. 6pp per folio. The seven songs are: Doin' What Comes Natur'lly; I Got Lost in His Arms; I Got the Sun in the Morning; The Girl That I Marry; There's No Business Like Show Business; They Say It's Wonderful; Who Do You Love I Hope. The illustrated covers depict Annie amidst a "wild west" scene. 12" x 9" "Annie Get Your Gun" is a whimsical account of the life of Annie Oakley (1860-1926), a sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and her romance with sharpshooter Frank Butler (1847-1926).
1927. Original manuscript. Hardcover. Very Good. Contains 72pp of neat holograph entries in ink, in a diary labeled "My Trip Abroad." Also present are pp: (6) color illus of funnels, signal flags, etc., (14) printed nautical matter, (7) blank, (3) hotel list, (12) blank, (2) addresses (4) filled in accounts of cash spent, thumb-indexed address section, partly used, including other data: "what we learned", notes on activities, list of travelers checks cashed, etc., large folding color world map at rear. Laid in are two typewritten sheets: "Friends (Quaker) Centers" where "you will find people who can put you in contact with individuals, groups and institutions important in education, social and spiritual movements in these countries"; and "reasonable hotels" in three countries, with 13 listed for Switzerland (all "called Christlichen Hospize"), a note on Germany for the same chain saying they're "in almost every city", and a list of six non-Christian hotels in Paris. // ITINERARY: Alice begins her journey aboard the S.S. Regina (White Star Line), sailing out from New York on June 5, and where she and her companions "discovered to our delight that we had a large four-berth stateroom all alone.... Owing to the typhoid scare there is a small sailing, only about 200 passengers." These include "yacht club men...en route to the Henley rowing match", but the boat is also "infested by tours." When the "tourist passengers all come up for air," they had "all the best places on the top deck." // By June 18, the ship docks in Scotland, and Alice takes a bus to Glasgow. She stays in the area several days, including a side trip through the Trossachs, Loch Lomond and Loch Sinnhe areas, etc., and she wishes she had reread [Sir Walter] Scott before going. She sails down the Clyde, spotting "two warships in the bay, the last of the British fleet which was all along from Clyde on." At Inverness, she sees "lots of kiltie soldiers around, some with plaid long trousers, some B v. D plaids." In Aberdeen, she "saw three squads of Highland soldiers march to church, leopards skin, pipes and all." She also "called on Dad's old friends Alexander and Jim Porter, Farquharson's store...Cumings' store where called up Duckie" and arranged to meet her and go to Lady Simpson's garden party where there was "much athletic dancing on the lawn." Cummings "drove us to Old Echt" and to "Dunecht House" (now owned by Viscount Courtney) because "Great-grandfather used to be gardener there....Evidently he bossed the ranch and yet was a great favorite....through the garden where 17 men are being kept busy...the house where grandfather brought up Father most attractive with slate roof and cute windows. Went through the graveyard..." Then she called at "Maitlands and read a diary Dad wrote 48 years ago when on a three-month sail to New Zealand...about 175 passengers" and notes that someone (Maitland?) is "the second of Dad's old girls we've met." // The Scotland leg of the journey (the longest) continues, and there are visits to Balmoral ("not as pretentious as Dunecht House"), Edinburgh, including the "new War Memorial to be opened soon by the Prince of Wales", and St. Andrews. On to Ireland, where she "will no more kiss that greasy [Blarney] stone than fly." In Dublin, she notices "many new buildings where old ones were blown up. People very against deValera of Spanish blood and they claim paid by the crown to settle things." She has her first "bed bug experience" on the boat to England, followed up a day later by a flea in Leamington Spa which "chawed me all night." // In England, Alice sightsees in Oxford, "Shakespeare Country", and of course London, where she sees a "royal group" go by near Buckingham Palace, including the Duke of York, the future King George VI, and his wife: "He was full of real charm, better looking than the Prince but with the same winning smile and she looked very sweet." She proceeds to Holland (Amsterdam, Vollendam, the Hague, etc.) and she offers much description of native costume there. Then on to Germany (Heidelberg, Weisbaden, Cologne) for only a few days. Switzerland is next (Interlaken, Lucerne, etc.) and her descriptions of its beauties are numerous. She picks up the Simplon Orient Express (competed 1919), "a crack sleeper between Greece and Paris" and heads for Italy, through the lake country to Milan. From Milan, she goes on to Venice and Florence, where she sees an "Italian funeral...huge floral pieces, band, men in dirty white aprons and hands called servitors, carried casket." Rome is next, where there is an audience with the Pope ("very simple, spoke specially to three poor peasant boys, very few Americans"), and side drives ("in two seven-passenger Fiats") to Pompeii, Amalfi, Sorrento, and Capri. She entrains for the Italian Riviera and Monaco, then travels to Nice ("many forest fires all over, much damage") and Avignon, before winding up in Paris. She sightsees there, tours the battlefields, takes side trips to Versailles, etc., and leaves for Cherbourg on the "boat train" on August 27th. Alice briefly mentions her sail home, including rough seas and the fact that the S.S. Leviathan "nearly ran into us" in the fog. Her father picks her up at Englewood, NJ, and Alice's diary ends. June 6, 1927-August 27, 1927. Diarist Alice M. Farquhar is traveling with 7-10 people. Alice is probably an East-coast girl, since on her return from Europe, she is met by her father in Englewood, NJ. She is of Scottish ancestry and meets family friends in various Scottish cities. She is a meticulous diarist, and offers long descriptions and historical background for the sights she sees in Scotland, Ireland, England, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Monaco, Germany, and Italy. Her modes of travel while abroad are numerous, ranging from trains (including a "new pullman" one in Ireland), busses (private and public), streetcars, and "private taxis" and autos, to the Simplon Orient Express, boats, charabancs, a 10-passenger car, an "Irish jaunting car", and a "four-horse 'talliho' for 10." // Alice's diary includes references to WWI and its aftermath, as well as a passing reference to Ireland's "troubles". She visits the site of the as-yet-unopened War Memorial in Edinburgh, and notes the presence of the "last of the British fleet" in Scotland. In Brussels, she documents that "everything looks rather down in the heels except the lace curtains." She also sees there "the biggest building in the world, which the Germans ruined by driving horses up the steps, melting all fixtures, using lovely tapestries for targets." She talks to two Belgians on the train to Cologne, and "got them started on German atrocities....Guess they weren't exaggerated." In Heidelberg, on the other hand, although the prices are "high", she "saw no evidence that they lost the war, and while hotel people were friendly, [I] had a feeling we weren't exactly popular with them." In France, Alice visits the battlefields "Chateau-Thierry, Vimy Ridge, hill 204, dugouts, blasted trees, etc. and saddest of all, many ruined buildings and temporary wooden houses without heat, still used." Rheims Cathedral is only "partly rebuilt." // Alice's journal also foreshadows European unrest to come. In Venice, she sees a "fascisti boy parade", and on the train to Florence, there is "excitement when Southern boy threw bottle out of window and it broke and came in on two of us, breaking Diane's glasses and striking her in the face. Many police, soldiers, etc. Government men on train had her sign she was ok. Wanted to arrest the whole Southern crowd...." Then in France, there is a 10 p.m. "demonstration by the communists [which] gave us a fright...yelling...hissing and singing the [Inter]National[e]. Hotel barricaded doors, drove all Americans upstairs, lights out and guards on various floors...Promise trouble for the Legion." The next day (August 24), there is "grand clearing out of Americans. Hear crowd rushed American consulate, Follies, and sightseeing bases....No going out evenings anywhere the rest of our stay and no busses out." // Alice may be somewhat priggish (or simply a creature of her times) regarding foreign cultures. For example, she is "surprised by the artistic ability of the Scotch"; is shocked by Edinburgh's "High St. with its squalid closes and lots of dirty children"; and notes in Cork that the "town is poor and untidy and streets full of bums and shawled girls. At dinner about 30 large pigs were driven by down the street." She's learned, she adds, that "the Irish always smile and agree with you, then do as they please. Most aggravating." She also writes of the Dutch Isle of Marken, where the inhabitants are "Dutch Reform instead of Catholic and so much intermarried they're very stupid-looking." In Florence, she is "much surprised at the cleanliness of all the people and that so many are fair," and she finds Monte Carlo full of "typical seedy gamblers and terrible women." The Follies Bergere in Paris features "much naked women, bad air, all Americans, but sumptuous scenic effect. Ahead of us [Americans] only in scenic effect-dancing, cleverness and music not so good." //.
Northampton, MA: Smith College, 1972. First edition. Softcover. Fine. 128pp, index; illustrated throughout from photographs. Bound in printed yellow wrappers. 8.75" x 5.75" This work samples the large number of vintage photographs in the Sophia Smith Collection, reflecting the many roles of women in history.
Buffalo, NY: World's Dispensary Med Assn, 1913. Original edition. Pictorial Paper Covers. Very Good. 48pp; portraits, view. Blanks for appointments and memoranda are flanked by testimony for Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery, Pleasant Pellets, etc. 5.5" x 3.5" The author was proprietor of The Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Institute at Buffalo, New York, "one of the healthiest cities in the United States." His products are said to cure female ailments, amplified here in nine pages of "Welcome Words for Women."
1885. Original manuscript. Hardcover. Good. 52pp full of entries, neatly pencilled on lined paper in a notebook, blanks separate some entries. Bound in leather-backed marbled boards, 8" x 6". Spine perished, boards loose, needs rebacking; internally clean and sound. A period piece. The Misses Sewing society was formed when "...the young girls of the Presbyterian Church of Moriches [Long Island, NY] met at Marion R. Miller's to organize...officers elected were President Marion Miller; Vice Nettie Terry; Secretary Ella Howell; Treasurer Winnie Howell (with Edna Benjamin, Susie Raynor, Ada Reeve, Katie Reardon...." "The society is very interesting and progressive...and hopeful for the future...." Membership seemed to peak at about 20, including a few adult women as overseers. Meetings average every two weeks, except for the January 21, 1888 get-together when the girls "sailed to the beach on an ice boat." Treasurer's reports include initiation fees (10 cents per member), expenses for sewing materials, money received for various works produced, income from fund-raisers such as the annual Fair. In 1886, the girls were "well rewarded for their work...nearly everything sold and what was not was sold at auction." At the 1887 Fair, "we sold nearly all of the fancy articles." Then there was a Strawberry Festival, and a Turkey Supper netted them $17.84. The girls' projects include aprons and pen-wipers as well as fancy work. Their goals include raising money for "rebuiding the chapel" of the Presbyterian Church. ....finished some pen-wipers, " At the back of the book are recorded expenses for ribbons, brass rings, paper, skeins of worsted plaids, canvas, shears, and other items.
1919. Original photograph. Very Good. Contains head-and-shoulders portraits of eight young women in white nursing caps and uniforms, arranged within a shield labeled "Great Falls Columbus Hospital, 1919" with a white cross at the bottom. Image size is 10" x 8". Mounted in the original mat, with the names of the eight women written boldly in pencil on the verso. Surnames are: Donat, Youngren, Hutcheson, Oneal, Lichter, Allen, Goodyear, and Fromhart. Overall size is 13.5" x 11.25" Founded in 1892 by five Sisters of Providence nuns, the hospital was named Columbus after the explorer. Those five nuns nursed more than 99 patients the first year, made 43 home visits, served 170 meals, and wrote 475 prescriptions, according to an article in the Great Falls Tribune. A nurses home was added to the hospital in 1903. By the time the young women in this 1919 photograph graduated, the Wesley Van Orsdel Nurses Home had been built across the street.
Chicago: Lakeside Press, R.R. Donnelley & Sons, 1990. First edition thus. Hardcover. Fine. pp: lviii with prologue, 367 with index and list of Lakeside Classics; frontispiece portrait of author, colored map of wagon train route, 30 b&w plates. Bound in brown cloth, gilt-stamped spine and cover, top edges gilt. 6.75" x 4.25"
Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1978. First edition. Hardcover. Fine. 183pp, index. Contains 1,305 annotated entries. Bound in green cloth, silver lettering on spine and cover. 8.75" x 5.5"
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"
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.
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.
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 richly 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 curricula 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 writings take up a full page, including those of her father, William R. Webb, and her mother, both religious. 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.].
