We Are Our Mother's Dream!

“The Drawing Book” from The American Juvenile Keepsake.  Brockville, Ontario: Horace Billings & Co., 1835.

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This elegant engraving portrays the well-ordered life of a brother and sister; they enjoy a picture book held by the neatly dressed older sister.  Everything is in its place: the paper and pen (perhaps representing completed school work), sit on the table; the guitar (perhaps just practiced) rests safely to the right; the toys in the foreground (representing active play) are at rest. The clock above them acts as the over-arching symbol of order; it has recently struck eight o’clock, the perfect time to pore over pictures before getting ready for bed.  This engraving was designed by Robert Walter Weir (1803-1889), who was a professor of drawing at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 

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