This month, AAS is celebrating the tradition of the American gift book with a special edition of our popular Adopt-a-Book program (which will be held in full on April 5, 2013). We are calling this special winter mini-edition “Adopt a Gift Book” and we have selected more than two dozen attractive and important American annual volumes for potential adoption. Your support of this program aids the Society’s curators as they pursue new acquisitions for the collection. And you (or the person you choose to honor) are forever associated with a particular volume in the Society’s collection.
First a word on American annuals, also called gift books. AAS has a collection of nearly 1,000 gift books published between 1830 and 1870. Based on a British tradition, the elegantly bound books contain poetry, prose, and illustrations and were intended to be read at home in the parlor. They were marketed for the holiday trade, and often came out in November with titles such as the Christmas Gift from Fairyland or The Friendship’s Offering and Winter’s Wreath. The volumes were purchased by parents for their children, by friends, by older brothers and often are dedicated inside with personal notes.
In 2009, the Society embarked on an NEH-funded project called Prints in the Parlor which involved cataloging and digitizating the engraved images inside American annuals to make them more available to researchers. At the project’s conclusion, over 5,000 records were created. By selecting this area of the collection for our winter adoption program, we are, in a way, re-gifting the gift books. Originally purchased as gifts by family members, teachers, or sweethearts, we now hope you will adopt a volume or two as gifts for those on your holiday shopping lists!
If you find an image or a volume you like in our Adopt a Gift Book catalog, simply follow the links to adopt and, once the transaction is completed, a book plate with your name, or the name of the person or persons you wish to honor with your adoption, will be placed in the volume here at AAS and 100% of your funds will go towards future purchases for the Society’s collection. You will receive a letter from AAS thanking you for your adoption. For questions about the program, please contact Elizabeth Watts Pope, Curator of Books, [epope@mwa.org].
We thank you for your support of this new initiative and wish you a joyous holiday season.
Select your gift book:
|
Item
|
Adopt me for:
|
Title
|
Image
|
| 1 |
Adopted! |
Its All Crystal Clear! [Cloud Crystals from 1864] + details |  |
| 2 |
Adopted! |
Everyone's Favorite Gift! [Children's Annual from 1853] + details |  |
| 3 |
Adopted! |
What a Christmas Eve! [Stranger's Gift from 1836] + details |  |
| 4 |
Adopted! |
Wheeeee! [Literary Souvenir from 1844] + details |  |
| 5 |
Adopted! |
A Mother's Treasures [Affection's Gift from 1854] + details |  |
| 6 | $50 | I need to finish this last page...[Ladies' Souvenir from 1853] + details |  |
| 7 |
Adopted! |
No New Leash Laws! [Winter Wreath from 1856] + details |  |
| 8 |
Adopted! |
Here kitty, kitty [Rose of Sharon from 1852] + details |  |
| 9 | $75 | Friends don't let friends read bad poetry [Amulet from 1846] + details |  |
| 10 | $25 | Better than socks & underwear! [Annualette from 1845] + details |  |
| 11 | $50 | Not just for Girls! [Annualette from 1846] + details |  |
| 12 |
Adopted! |
Saved by Dogs! And they have Brandy! [Laurel Wreath from 1850] + details |  |
| 13 | $75 | Read All About it! [The GIft from 1843] + details |  |
| 14 | $75 | Fröhliche Weihnachten, Martin Luther! [Wheat-Sheaf from 1853] + details |  |
| 15 |
Adopted! |
Magic in the Woods [Eclectic Gift Book from 1859] + details |  |
| 16 | $50 | Charity among the Urban Drifts [Moss Rose for 1850] + details |  |
| 17 |
Adopted! |
Let's Make a Deal! [The Gift from 1844] + details |  |
| 18 | $75 | What is Play? [The Migonette from 1856] + details |  |
| 19 | $75 | We Are Our Mother's Dream! [American Juvenile Keepsake from 1835] + details |  |
| 20 | $50 | For an Odd-Fellow or a Bored Boarding School Girl [Odd Fellows' from 1849] + details |  |
| 21 |
Adopted! |
What Strong Arms She Must Have! [The Token from 1828] + details |  |
| 22 | $75 | Go, Grandpa, go! [Ladies' casket from 1860] + details |  |
| 23 |
Adopted! |
In a (Binding) Pattern [Affection's Gift from 1854] + details |  |
| 24 | $75 | Books You've 'Red' [Token & Atlantic Souvenir from 1834] + details |  |
| 25 |
Adopted! |
Its Not a School Night! [The Hyacinth or Affection's Gift from 1854] + details |  |
| 26 |
Adopted! |
Snow-Bound [The Snow Flake from 1856] + details |  |
