1827 MANUSCRIPT FRIENDSHIP BOOK Worcester Massachusetts HANDCOLOR EMBELLISHMENTS
Worcester, Mass: 1827-1831. 1st Edition. 8vo. Very Good. Item #13151
A Lovely 1827 manuscript Friendship Book belonging to one 'Miss Mary Steward', presumably of Worcester, Massachusetts, as it is where many of the entries originate.
This beautiful piece is FILLED with handwritten poetry and prose and features six original hand-colored watercolors, varying in size and topic, though many are botanical in nature.
One watercolor features two bee hives resting on a platform under a tree, while another features a harp, with musical notations.
Mary is presumably young as she is not married and has signed her name on the front end paper next to a small whimsical watercolor of a blue bird in flight.
Most of the poetry and prose is written in contemporary iron gall ink and most are signed by the contributors, with poem titles such as 'Woman', 'How to Choose a Wife', 'Innocence', and 'Death'.
Half black leather with gilt ruling to spine and where spine meets brown-paper covered boards. Boards are worn with moderate rubbing and edge wear. Square tight binding, but there are a few places inside where cord binding can be seen. Two pages with two-inch closed separations near gutter. Unpaginated, but 76 pages, most filled.
An exceptional glimpse into the life of a young Massachusetts woman's life during the quite prosperous 1820s, the dawn of the Industrial Revolution as the United States had fully climbed out of the War of 1812 and was beginning to flex its economic might.
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