2013 Adopt-A-Book Catalog

The American Antiquarian Society's sixth annual Adopt-A-Book event was held April 5, 2013. The Adopt-A-Book Catalog describes a variety of items acquired by AAS curators. All items were offered for "adoption." That is, donors "adopted" items by pledging a stated amount. 

A Steamy Adoption
Boston & Charleston steamship line, George B. Upton. Boston, 1867. 
Adopted by Ann-Cathrine Rapp in memory of Douglas Rapp
This ship's card was used as an advertising tool to drum up business on the docks for the George B. Upton, a steamer that hauled freight and passengers between Boston and Charleston after the Civil War. These cards are often illustrated with images of the ship, or with colorful views and fanciful illustrations designed to catch the eye. They almost all share the same pertinent details — the name of the freight agent, the time of the sailing, and the connections that can be made on either end of the voyage, in this case to the interior of Georgia. 

Alone in the Library.
The History of Goody Two-Shoes.  New York: N.B. Holmes, 1825.   
Adopted in memory of Marcus A. McCorison by Laura E. Wasowicz
This stunning hand-colored wood engraving provides new insight into the iconography of the school teaching heroine Margery Two-Shoes: after charges of witchcraft were dropped against her for the intelligent use of a barometer to predict the weather, the local squire gives her free access to his library, and this image shows her taking full advantage of the offer.  Elegantly dressed, she models how a gentleman’s library can be used with dignity by a woman with intellectual aspirations. 

Feely Binding.
Harry’s Stories.  New York: Leavitt & Allen, ca. 1852-1862.  
Adopted in memory of Sue Allen by Steve Beare.
This wonderful soft cloth “limp” binding is from a book of miscellaneous stories for children.   Borrowing from the iconography of Samuel Goodrich’s immensely popular “Peter Parley” books, the pictorial vignette features a group of children eagerly gathering around an elderly gentleman who is storytelling.  This charming vignette was designed by binding designer John Feely; the “JF” is apparent in the lower center of the picture.

In Memoriam: Marcus McCorison
Aristotle’s Master-piece, Completed. In Two Parts. The First Containing the Secrets of Generation… The Second Part being a Private Looking-Glass for the Female Sex. New-York: Printed for the Company of Flying Stationers, 1812. 
Adopted anonymously in memory of Marcus Allen McCorison, bibliographer of Risqué Literature Published in America Before 1877
Aristotle’s Masterpiece is a fascinating hybrid text.  It used the veneer of a supposed classical author (Aristotle really had about as much to do with this work as the Pope did) in order to give legitimacy to its discussion of the culturally sensitive subject of sex. Printed under various titles for over a century in America (from the 1740s-1840s), sections were added, dropped, and changed at will, including a midwifery manual. Most notable in almost all editions are the illustrations of monstrous births, hairy women, conjoined twins, etc. This 1812 edition is unrecorded.

In Memoriam: Jack Larkin
Sheridan's ride. [Cincinnati?, 1865?] 
Adopted in memory of Jack Larkin by his friends and colleagues in the Clark University History Department 
This small eight-page pamphlet evocatively conveys the grim post-war reality faced by many Union Army veterans. It contains several Civil War-themed poems, including "Sheridan's Ride' and "Our Soldiers' Families, a prologue delivered on the occasion of an amateur performance of Hamlet, for the benefit of the soldiers' families in Cincinnati, February 6, [18]65." But its true purpose as a fundraising aid for disabled veterans is made clear by the front cover text: "This book for sale. Patronize the honorably discharged, one armed soldier. GIVE AS YOU WISH." 

Johnston, David Claypoole. Outlines illustrative of a F.A.K. (Boston: D.C. Johnston, 1835). 8 leaves of plates.
Adopted with affection and respect by Jack Larkin's friends and fellow fellows of his 2011-2012 year at the AAS
Jack Larkin (1943-2013), a long-term fellow, did significant research on the American artist and humorist David Claypoole Johnston (1799-1865) while in residence at AAS. As a tribute to Jack’s scholarship and generosity, several AAS fellows and researchers wished to adopt in his memory. This title was used by Jack in the course of his research and reflects both Johnston’s sense of humor and Jack’s prevailing interest in illustrations of American life. Johnston intended these pages to be cut and inserted in the period journal of Fanny Kemble; the wrapper reads, “Note: Persons possessing the journal may render its pages more interesting and intelligble by 'cutting up' the following illustrations, and transferring them to their proper places. The dotted line surrounding each print, marks the size of the page, and will serve as a guide in the process of exscissorization.” Summarizing his fellowship, Jack highlighted the serendipity of collections – and friendships, “thank you for putting us together.”

Embury, Emma C. Love’s Token-Flowers. New York: J. C. Riker, 1846. 
Adopted in memory of Sue Allen by Steve Beare
A notable addition to AAS’s collection of printed cloth publisher’s bindings is this small format volume of love poetry, with sentiments keyed to the flowers which symbolize each. The binding—in fine, bright condition—consists of green cloth overprinted in black with a vivid checkerboard pattern, with added stamping in gilt and blind, gilt edges, and decorative printed endleaves of yellow glazed paper. 

Black and White.
The Slave’s Friend.  Vol. III. No. III. Whole No. 39. Boston: R.G. Williams for the American Anti-Slavery Society, [1838].
Adopted by Ogretta McNeil.
Although AAS has an extensive collection of this juvenile anti-slavery periodical, this issue is new to the AAS collection.  Published between 1836 and 1839, the pocket-sized Slave’s Friend used stories, poetry, and pictures to press its message to the children of America.  This innocent picture of a little white girl with white and black lambs is used to illustrate a father telling his children that all Christians are the sheep of the Good Shepherd, regardless of color.

Don’t Wake Mommy.
Guild, Caroline S.  Minnie or The Little Woman.  Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co., 1857. 
Adopted by Kevin and Deborah Donovan in honor of Henry and Sophia Penny.
This hand-colored lithograph is just one of several issued with this book; apparently, they do not actually serve to illustrate the story, but are inserted to keep the reader’s attention.  Each picture tells its own story; in this case, these boys are creeping into the parlor to take their kite, which is being kept by their napping mamma.   Perhaps she is exhausted from keeping them in line!  The composition has the look of German children’s book illustrations produced in the mid nineteenth century, and were probably imported.   

I Must have the Name of your Decorator!
By Thomas A. Bailey, Auctioneer … will be Sold, to close the estate of Mrs. Hannah Walker. Philadelphia: Ledger Job Printing Establishment, 1866. Adopted by Steve Bolick
This intriguing broadside records the dispensation of Hannah Walker’s estate which included the contents of a restaurant, a barber shop, a cigar store, and a small theater, all on South 3^rd Street in Philadelphia.  The sale includes all the fixtures, furniture and sets/scenery, about 80 gallons of alcohol and over 1,000 cigars from stock.  The broadside also tabulates works of art, including 13 paintings, 99 framed colored lithographs, 53 framed engravings, and 15 photographs. 

Notice How Nicely Printed … and then Buy a Press
Cylinder & Job Printing Presses, Steam Engines, &c. Office of C. Potter Jr. & Co. ... New York, 186-. 
Adopted by Doris N. O'Keefe in memory of Arthur T. O'Keefe
Ephemera relating to the printing trades include many different types of material, including envelopes, trade cards, labels and billheads like this one for a dealer in presses in New York.  Exquisitely printed in colors, the blank billhead sheet features portraits of the two principal officers, two samples of their wares set in a minty green cartouche with the address and the all important “Terms: Net Cash.” 

Pictures So Big, They Don’t Fit in the Book
Louisa Corbaux, Eva’s Foreboding, London: Stannard & Dixon, 1852. 
Adopted by Caroline Graham
Published in London, this lithograph of Uncle Tom and Eva reading the Bible was part of a portfolio of illustrations issued with a British edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book was published in American in March of 1852 and by November 10^th; the large-format picture-set was available in London bookshops, making Corbaux’s images some of the earliest prints of scenes from the novel.

Past Political Pasters 
Herein Please Find Some Pasters ... Utica, New York, 1859. 
Adopted in memory of Marcus A. McCorison by Joanne & Gary Chaison 
This anonymous handbill with slips for pasting onto ballots is inscribed on the reverse by an annoyed voter who apparently received three solicitations to distribute. He writes to a friend: “I think these will be safe in your hands ‘till you first kindle a fire in your stove. Say nothing. All going right here.”  These pasters, slit and ready for use, are rare survivors and reflect the complexities of running for office in this era. Judge Johnson, the incumbent, was defeated in November.

Don’t Miss the Boat! Adopt!
Boats, Sloops, Steamships and Yachts. Ephemera cards (set of 14), 1870-1890.
Adopted by Andrew & Caroline Graham in honor of Lt. Michael Perkins 
These colorful cards of well-known warships, steamers, and yachts were intended to be collected and arranged in photograph-style albums and viewed in the parlor or nursery.  Louis Prang of Boston was a major producer of similar cards, issuing sets of flowers, adorable children, pets, urban views, and sea shells. Although this set is without imprint, it could well be a Prang production as it features several ships that berthed in Boston. 

No Dense, Lazy People Need Apply
Jones, Junkin & Company, Subscription Book Publishers. Chicago, 1869. 
Adopted by Claire Parfait 
Publishers often hired travelling salesmen to drum up subscriptions to help offset the cost of book production.  William Conybeare’s Life and Epistles of St. Paul was published in London in 1858 and in 1864 Charles Scribner issued a pirated edition in New York. This advertising material for a Chicago 1869 issue of the same title explains how to use a canvassing book and describes the forthcoming lavish publication, promising potential canvassers that “no intelligent, industrious person can fail of earning more money than in any other business.”

Good Girl Gets Grapes
Certificate of Merit for Miss M. Parington. Hallowell, Maine: Glazier & Co., 1824-30. 
Adopted by Carolyn Eastman in honor of Caroline Sloat 
Rewards of merit were given to children for good attendance and accomplishment in school and at Sunday school.  This example from Hallowell, Maine, includes several elaborate type borders and a cut of a grape vine.  This reward was printed by Glazier & Co. who also printed the Hallowell Gazette as well as school books, almanacs and hymnals, many of which can be found in the Society’s collection. 

Shake off the Winter Blues
General Stage Office, Chenango House. Greene, New York, 1840-1841. 
Adopted by Jim Moran
Repurposed as an invitation to a February dance party, this 1840 circular letter promotes an inn and tavern near the Chenango Canal, which began seeing freight traffic in 1837. The appended invitation indicates a bit of cabin fever, not uncommon in the snowy Southern Tier region of New York.  “At the unanimous request of the Young Men of Greene, Mr. H. Curtis has determined to give a cotillion party …”  Perhaps the canal was frozen and business at the tavern was slow!

59 Barrels of Rye on the Wall, 59 Barrels of Rye….
Gauged & Inspected. Philadelphia: Lafourcade, 1831. 
Adopted by Gordon Pfeiffer in honor of Nathaniel H. Puffer
Appointed by the Governor, the Philadelphia Whiskey Inspector was responsible for proofing all whiskey that moved in or out of the region.  Like beef, butter, and grain, whiskey was checked in order to maintain a safe and reliable product. The contents of barrels were proofed using a hydrometer graduated according to laws set by the state (How’d they do it? At 60 degrees F, whiskey has a specific gravity of 9335 vs. water at 10000). Contents above or below proof were noted and each barrel was branded by the inspector with the proof and the number of actual gallons therein. 

Stop and Adopt!
Stop Thief! Doylestown, Pennsylvania: C.N. Bryan, 1847-1852. 
Adopted by Gordon & Suzanne Pfeiffer
Printed by the publisher of the Doylestown Independent Democrat, this blank announcement of horse thievery was done for a local vigilance committee.  Members had assigned routes to patrol when a theft was reported, which apparently happened frequently enough to merit having the form done up. The eye-catching design at the top was made by George Gilbert, who also created lively cuts for almanacs and children’s books. 

No Place Like Home
Old Farm at Home. New York: John Andrews, 1853-1859. 
Adopted in honor of John & Katherine Keenum by Joanne & Gary Chaison
Today music fans have AZLyrics.com, SongLyrics.com, and LetsSingIt.com to check for those snappy lyrics heard on the radio or at a concert.  In the 1840s and 50s, music consumers had to rely on ballad printers to churn out sheets of popular songs.  Following a very basic, quick-to-print design (stanzas of lyrics within a decorative border, usually) inexpensive ballad sheets were sold on the street and in music shops in theater districts.  This ballad mentions the singer, the minstrel performer James H. Budsworth, who made the song famous. 

Yes, But Does She Offer School Choice? 
Madame Chegaray’s Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies. New York, 1848-49. 
Adopted by Robyn Christensen in memory of Joan Christensen
Héloise Chégaray’s school for girls operated for over fifty years and catered to elite New Yorkers.  Her students included Astors and Vanderbilts and she taught French, mathematics, harp instruction, and oil painting. Chégaray came to the U.S. in 1797 with her parents who were fleeing the aftermath of revolution in France.  She worked as a instructor her entire life, opening her first school in 1814.  This sheet includes a manuscript bill for two girls of the Morris family, one in the upper level taking French and a younger girl in the primary department.  Cost?  $64.47 per quarter. 

Sweat vs. Suits
I Feed You All! Milwaukee: American Oleograph Co., 1875/1876.  
Adopted 2013 by Carol & John Kanis to honor the 100th year of the family's Pine Hill Farm, Lancaster, Mass.
Founded in 1872, the American Oleograph Co. printed chromolithographs in oil colors (hence the name of the firm).  They advertised show cards, chromos, labels and job work and stated that they were the “only establishment of its kind in the northwest.”  This print was issued during the Granger Movement when farmers in the region banded together against monopolies held by railroads and grain elevator operators.  The banker gets short shrift in the lower margin – everyone else is contributing to the greater good while he is “fleecing” them all. 

Who Needs Bloomers? Join the Theater!
Miss M.A. Gannon. The Dramatic Wonder, 12 yrs of Age, as Little Pickle. Boston: Thayer & Co., 1841. 
Adopted by Jen Manion in memory of the courageous gender crossers of the 19th century
Adolescent girls in pants are rarely depicted in print in the nineteenth century.  Mary Gannon, a stage performer in Boston and New York, donned trousers for a role in the farce The Spoil’d Child.  This lithograph was probably done as a promotional piece for the theater – it was found with another image of Mary (in a lovely lace gown) in the role of Mademoiselle Josephine. Gannon worked steadily as a performer for her whole life, and was highly regarded as a dependable and amusing soubrette. 

It is Your Duty to Adopt
Currier & Ives, The Brave Wife. New York, 1861-1865. 
Adopted by Caroline Graham
This sentimental lithograph by Currier & Ives includes in the lower margin lines from the patriotic poem “The Brave at Home” by Thomas Buchanan Read. The scene is based on a similar print by the Kellogg firm in Hartford, Connecticut, a competitor of Currier & Ives.  Unlike many prints of the Civil War era, the focus is not on a specific battle or regiment but rather on the sacrifices made by families at home. 

Got Stone? 
Gardner Monumental Works. J.C. Sargent, Proprietor. Photographer unknown, c. 1875. 
Adopted by Nancy Osgood in honor of Jane Dewey
This photograph of masons from J.C. Sargent Co. in Gardner, Massachusetts, was included in a purchase made by the Society of a portion of the firm’s archives.  The company specialized in cemetery monuments but also did pedestals and curb work.  An advertisement confidently stated: “Every piece of work warranted, and disappointment will not be possible.”  Looking at the determined faces and capable hands of the carvers and cutters holding their tools, the claim is quite believable.

I am Big, Beautiful, Emotive, and Very 19^th-century.  Adopt me!
After Jean-Léon Gérôme, Le Golgotha. Consummatum est. New York & Paris: Goupil & Co., and Knoedler, 1871. 
Adopted for Madeline Key on her 16th Birthday, by her grandfather, Ron Newton 
The images of French academic painter Gérôme were very popular in the United States, thanks in part to the fact that his father-in-law was a founder of Goupil & Co., which distributed many prints after the artist’s work.  The painting Le Golgotha was exhibited in France in 1868 where it received criticism because the artist chose to show only the shadows of the three crosses and not the crucified bodies of Christ and the thieves.  The print likely touched a nerve in the U.S., however, where the Reconstruction South was often referred to in the press as “the modern Golgotha.” 

To the Letter
Widstrand, Francis H., Letter, 1869 (July 26), Misc. Manuscript Collection. 
Adopted by Ashley Cataldo
In 1869, Francis Widstrand wrote a letter to the famed New York Merchant Alexander T. Stewart (1803-1876). Widstrand, of Buffalo, Minnesota, saw in The Sun that Stewart "intend[ed] to do something for the working class." Widstrand tells Stewart of his ideas, the importance of good morals and principles, and the soon to be issued The Moralist. Widstrand was well informed, "Having seen considerable of the world in Europe, and here for the last 14 years, and studied all I have been able to find on the social question in several different languages..." This single letter conveys so much, yet leaves so many open ended questions, creating a truly interesting document.

French Lesson
Charlier Institute. French and English Institution for young gentlemen, under the direction of Prof. Elie Charlier ... New York: S.W. Green, 1869. 
Adopted by Philip J. Weimerskirch 
The annual catalog for what was then perhaps New York's most highly regarded prep school. Then on East 24th Street, the Charlier Institute accepted both day and boarding students, offering them a wide range of educational opportunities. Unusually, foreign language instruction was paramount; indeed, "FRENCH IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE SCHOOL for ALL YOUNG AMERICANS." Included is an outline of Charlier's educational philosophy; the school rules, fees, and curriculum; a roster of current students; and a list of all alumni with their present occupation and location, if known. Charlier boasts in particular of his ability to prepare students for West Point and the U.S.Naval Academy. "Cubans and South-Americans" may enroll, up to the yearly quota of ten students. At end is an advertisement for Charlier's complementary "Institution for Young Ladies," recently opened on East 33rd Street. 

Japan through American eyes 
Historical sketch of the missions of the American Board in Japan. Boston: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1886.  
Adopted by Andrew and Caroline Graham in honor of Catie Perkins
After a short history of early European missionaries in Japan and Matthew Perry's historic expedition, the pamphlet provides a history of American missionary work since 1859, with an emphasis on ABCFM initiatives. 

Book, Blotter, or Both?
Dreka's Dictionary Blotter; or, Combination of Word-Book with a Blotting-Case. Philadelphia: Louis Dreka, [1873?] 
Adopted in honor of Caroline Sloat by Joanne and Gary Chaison 
This book/blotter's decorative binding and striking fuchsia silk endpaper (seemingly still as bright as the day it was attached to the boards) look too glamorous to mark up, but apparently its previous owner disagreed. The ink stains inside prove it was used, as intended, to soak up excess ink. Less easy to ascertain is whether the innovation of including a spelling dictionary and lists of synonyms, common English first names, and geographical names were used as well.  
 

Detroit 2100: Geodesic Dome, Anyone?
Stowe, Lyman E. Poetical Drifts of Thought; or, Problems of Progress . . . The Formation of the Solar System—Evolution—Human Progress—Possibilities of the Future—Including Spicy Explanatory Matter in Prose. Detroit, Mich.: Lyman E. Stowe, Publisher, 1884.  
Adopted by Robert & Lillian Fraker, Savoy Books, Lanesborough, Mass.
One of the most original, forward-thinking and eccentric books ever produced.  This self-published author’s “drifts of thought” lead to a sci-fi fantasy world, but the genius and humor of his “spicy explanatory matter” just may have you rethinking everything you thought you knew, including perhaps the future of the U.S.’s most blighted city.  A Detroit author and occasional publisher on esoteric topics, Lyman Stowe here uses a mix of stock illustrations and remarkable naive woodcuts – the blocks for which are now also at AAS – to depict the many future wonders he predicted: dining at nutritive tubes, resurrection of the dead in a laboratory, air war-fare, seamless garments made from water and electricity (“possibly this was the manner in which Christ’s coat was manufactured”). Among his less dramatic thoughts are a remarkably perceptive defense of the poetry of Walt Whitman, defenses of racial equality, several poems on the Civil War (of which he was a wounded veteran). Stowe also includes a three-foot fold-out woodcut of the view of his present-day Detroit’s waterfront, but predicts for “City on the Straits” a future that by 2100 involves covering the entire city in glass and growing tropical fruit.  Perhaps someone should contact Detroit’s city hall.
 

Las Escuelas, Schools in the U.S. and Argentina
Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino, 1811-1888. Las Escuelas: Base de la Prosperidad i de la Republica en los Estados Unidos. Nueva York: [D. Appleton], 1866.  
Adopted by Susan Ceccacci
The first edition of this seminal work by a future Argentine president did much to disseminate American educational theory throughout South America. In 1865, Sarmiento was appointed Argentine ambassador to the United States; Las Escuelas constitutes his official report on the schools in the U.S. to the Argentine Minister of Public Instruction. It includes a lengthy biography of Horace Mann and disquisition on Massachusetts schools, an interesting discussion of efforts under way to educate newly freed slaves, a Spanish translation of Civil Polity a Branch of School Education by Worcester’s own Emory Washburn, and a description of the model “Escuela Sarmiento” newly established in Argentina. Although printed in New York, Sarmiento’s work was intended for distribution in South America—bound in at the end are no fewer than three trade catalogs in Spanish: two for Spanish-language schoolbooks published by D. Appleton & Co. and Ivison, Phinney, Blakeman & Co. for the Latin American market, and another for school furniture manufactured by the New York firm of Robert Paton. This copy appropriately bears the ownership stamps of a Buenos Aires educational society. 
 

Why We Need a Newspaper Hanging from Every Door
[Spooner, Alden] A Tract, on the Importance of Every Family Reading a Weekly Newspaper, and Keeping Regular Files Thereof, which May be Bound Once in Four Years, and Thus Become a Permanent History of the Times.  Brooklyn, N.Y.: Printed at the Office of the Star, for gratuitous distribution, [1820].
Adopted by Robert & Lillian Fraker, Savoy Books, Lanesborough, Mass.
To improve his own newspaper’s flagging circulation, Alden Spooner published a promotional tract trumpeting the value of newspapers for families, for teachers, for keeping young men out of trouble, for promoting the public good, for fending off solitude, for enlivening one’s conversion, for aiding in business decisions, and more. Spooner was admittedly a self-interested party as the editor of the leading Whig weekly newspaper the Long-Island Star (the very paper, by the way, where the boy Walt Whitman would later take one of his earliest jobs as a compositor under Spooner). Spooner’s pamphlet concludes with a wonderful poem arguing against the practice of sharing newspapers.  Of particular interest to those studying book history, though, is a description of the physical logistics of how the family paper was treated: 

“In the New-England farm-houses, you will find in almost every house, a file of newspapers handing on a wire hook behind the door. Every paper is carefully saved, not one being used as waste-paper or lost, by lending. While on the hook, they are easily referred to, without taking off. At the close of every year, they are taken from the hook, and placed on some high shelf, until four years papers are thus obtained, when they are firmly bound in a clever well proportioned volume, and become a permanent family book. This binding costs about two dollars, which is only fifty cents a year.  Such a book descends to the children of the family, and is considered as an appendage of the family mansion.  Many are thus amused and edified with a view of ancient times.” 

At AAS we are grateful to the generations who took up the call and continued this tradition so that in the present day our current curator of newspapers can make regular pilgrimages with a rented U-Haul picking up these treasured examples of the “History of the Times.”
 

What Early Yalies Read
Catalogue of Books in the Linonian, Brothers' and Moral Libraries, Yale College. New-Haven: Printed by Oliver Steele, 1814. 
Adopted by Barbara Shailor in memory of Cora E. Lutz 
This catalog inventories three Yale libraries arranged by subject: history, biography, divinity, politics, miscellanies, travel, poetry, etc. The total number of volumes in each library is listed for an impressive total of 2,017. The Moral Library’s holdings were, as was to be expected, heavy on the theological; it even included an entire section “On the Evidence of Revelation.” Among the more frivolous titles (not in the Moral Library, of course) were novels such as Tom Jones, Man of the World, and the quintessential Gothic romance, The Mysteries of Udolpho. Women were represented on Yale’s bookshelves in a number of biographies and about half a dozen works actually written by British women, including Lady M.W. Montague, Lady Rachael Russel, and Hannah More.

Birds Playing Poker
Van Etten Bros., Manufacturers, importers and jobbers of novelties, notions, books, photographs, chromos, stereoscopic views, and a full line of goods adapted especially to the wants of canvassing agents. Chicago: Birnery Hand & Co's Steam Printing House, 1876. 
Adopted by Carl Robert Keyes 
The Van Etten Bros. catalog is like a nineteenth-century SkyMall catalog, only instead of reading it while on an airplane, items would be sold by canvassers, or door-to-door salesmen (or women, apparently, for the Van Etten Bros. declare: “We want one live, energetic lady or gentleman agent to canvass and sell our goods in every town in the United States”). Items for sale include not only “Dogs Playing Poker”-type popular images like the one here, but also all those strange inventions that you never knew you needed. The Defiance Lock Protector “renders it simply impossible to turn any key while it is in the lock,” and is apparently especially useful to secure hotel rooms. Hartshorn’s Improved Patent Folding Lamp Shade had “more than 100,000 sold in sixty days,” although the necessity for folding one’s lamp shade is less clear.  The importance of the Patent Duplex Ventilated Garter is more immediately clear, since “the garter should measure about three inches less than the circumference of the limb” it seems especially important that this one is unique in “insuring free circulation of the blood.”
 

“Shakspere” for Dummies
The Works of Shakspere [salesman’s dummy]. Edited by Charles Knight.  New York: Virtue & Yorston, [between 1863 and 1876]. 
Book salesmen would take this dummy volume door-to-door to enlist subscribers to what promised to be the “Best edition of Shakspere Published.” The large folio format is quite thin and easy to transport; it contains only blank lined pages for subscribers’ names at the back, a prospectus, a few pages of text followed by many examples of illustrations (such as this one of Puck) . With this Shakespeare edition, publishers Virtue & Yorston played  to their strengths as purveyors of what we would call today coffee-table books – or then might have been referred to as “drawing-room table” books:

“The size of the book -- imperial quarto – is sufficiently large to allow the engravings to be executed on a scale of ten inches by eight, and will keep it within the range of the book-case, as well as render it a handsome addition to books for the drawing-room table.”
Adopted by Meredith Neuman in honor of Virginia Mason Vaughan--scholar, colleague, friend

Fifty Parts of “Shakspere”
The Works of Shakspere. Edited by Charles Knight.  New York: Virtue & Yorston, [between 1863 and 1876]. 
Adopted by Matthew Shakespeare - Who is this "Shakspere" fellow? 
AAS recently acquired the salesman’s dummy for this edition of Shakespeare, which was advertised “To be Completed in about Forty Parts, at Fifty Cents each, to Subscribers only.” So we had to go out and find them!  Turns out there were actually fifty parts, including “Knight's biography of Shakspere, a supplement to the Works of Shakspere.”  Stacked together, there is almost a foot of Shakespeare – each part issued separately in a dramatic salmony-orange wrapper.
 

Flower Garden with a Hawaiian Connection
Munson, Laura Gordon. Flowers from My Garden. Sketched and Painted from Nature with an Introductory Poem by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney. New York: Anson D.F. Randolph, 1864. 
Adopted in memory of my mother Laura Frances LaCavera Aleci by Maureen R. Gray
Blooming with 17 hand-colored illustrations of individual specimens of flowers, interleaved between the plates is poetry about flowers by various poets such as Mrs. Hale, Felicia Hemans, Longfellow, etc. This copy has the bookplate of Jay M. Kuhns on front paste-down and is inscribed "Aug. 24th, 1865, Kaalaa, Nuuanu Valley." Ka'ala is the highest peak on the island of Oahu and Kuhns (1884-1964) was a physician, plantation owner, and teacher of bacteriology at the College of Hawaii in the early 20th century.
 

Love, Poetry and Flowers All Bound Up Beautifully
Embury, Emma C. Love’s Token-Flowers. New York: J. C. Riker, 1846. 
Adopted in memory of Sue Allen by Steve Beare
A notable addition to AAS’s collection of printed cloth publisher’s bindings is this small format volume of love poetry, with sentiments keyed to the flowers which symbolize each. The binding—in fine, bright condition—consists of green cloth overprinted in black with a vivid checkerboard pattern, with added stamping in gilt and blind, gilt edges, and decorative printed endleaves of yellow glazed paper. 
 

 Scriptural Plants
Osborn, H. S. Plants of the Holy Land, with Their Fruits and Flowers. Beautifully Illustrated by Original Drawings, Colored from Nature.  Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1865. 
Adopted by Sari Bitticks
Featuring six full-page color illustrations taken from natural specimens, this religious-botanical hybrid by Rev. Henry Stafford Osborn (professor of natural science in Roanoke College, Salem, U.S.) attempted to describe every plant mentioned in the Bible. He termed these “scriptural plants.” The volume includes a list of plants and flowers found at the time in Syria and Palestine.  Trees have been reserved for a later volume, which apparently was never published.

Color Your Own Fairy Tale
“Aunt Abbie.” The Fairy Grotto. [Green Bay, Wisconsin: Advocate Press. Robinson Brothers & Clark, 1877]. 
Apparently a sole survivor, this charming volume is a true orphan. Printed by the local newspaper in Green Bay, Wisconsin, it presumably was meant to be decorated by the purchaser. The hand-done illuminations in this copy are only partially completed, and it contains the dedication: “This little story is affectionately dedicated to all of my dear nieces and nephews, East and West, by their loving Aunt Abbie.” The wording, as published: “The Fairy Grotto” on front cover, “Christmas 1880” on rear cover.  Consider adopting this fairy tale today in honor of a loved one and start your Christmas shopping really early!
Adopted by Jo Radner

Let the Flowers Do the Talking    
“Uncle Charlie” [Charles W. Seelye]. The Language of Flowers and Floral Conversation. Fourth edition. Eighth thousand. Rochester: Union and Advertiser Co., 1878. 
Adopted by Virginia G. Woodbury in honor of John Jeppson
This beautiful blue volume makes a perfect adoptee for someone with a green-thumb. Books explaining the symbolism of various flowers were popular in the nineteenth century as gifts, along with their close cousins the annual gift books. The author of this book, “Uncle Charlie,” was more formally known as Charles W. Seelye and was the Rochester area botany enthusiast. In 1844 he established the Rochester Central Nurseries and throughout his life he edited periodicals and wrote a number of books in a familiar style on botanical and horticultural subjects, including "How to Grow Flowers," "How to Make a Lawn," the "Farmer's Handbook," even a game of cards designed to teach botany. 
 

Unique Rainbow Deck of Recipe Cards
Home Receipts for Every Family and How to Use Them. Economical and Convenient, Arranged in a Series of Cards. [Irvington on Hudson, N.Y.]: W.A. Burnham & Co., 1875.  
Adopted by Melanie Glynn in honor of Lisa M. Sutter
The only known copy of this unique format cookbook consists of a printed slipcase that holds a dozen cards printed on both sides on different colored paper adhered to boards.  Each card presents a group of recipes; one card has soups, for instance.  Along with the imprint information printed on the slipcase is the following dedication: 

“To sister housekeepers, I have prepared my collection of Receipts, and had them printed on cards for greater convenience in the Kitchen. Each Card, arranged in alphabetical order, and the ingredients of [each?] receipt, [listed?] in the order as they should be used, so that any who can read could use them. -- Martha King.”

One can just picture a nineteenth century housewife propping one of the cards on her kitchen windowsill in order to more easily follow its instructions.
 

Learn to Press Your Own Cider!
Buell, Jonathan S.  The Cider Makers’ Manual: a Practical Hand-Book, Which Embodies Treatises on the Apple; Construction of Cider Mills, Cider-Presses, Seed-Washers, and Cider mill Machinery in General; Cider Making; Fermentation; Improved Processes in Refining Cider, and its Conversion into Wine & Champagne. Revised edition with additions. Buffalo: Published by Haas, Nauert & Co., 1874.  
Adopted by Joel Greene & Ann Lisi
Perhaps the best of 19th century American cider manuals, Buell’s is an important reference for all interested in reviving this most American of thirst quenchers. Coming home dragging at the end of a hard workday? Buell has the solution: “Cider is exactly the food suited to a tired condition” as “it satisfies the more interior parts of the system.” But beware misnomers: Buell very carefully distinguishes between the various liquid products that can be derived from apples, including cider, cider vinegar, apple wine, apple Champaign, and apple juice. Makes you thirsty, doesn’t it? Fortunately, Buell includes practical discussion and diagrams for “The Grater Mill,” “Portable Mill,” “Buell’s Improved Screw-press” and finally “The Model Cider Mill, and how it should be constructed.” 
 

Charming stories of charming children
Haile, Ellen. The Two Gray Girls. New York, London & Paris: Cassell & Co., 1880. 
Adopted by John and Daryl Perch 
This is a delightful collection of stories about neighborhood children (both rich and poor) living in a pastoral country village, a theme that would have played well either in America or England. 
 

Mummy's wheat is fun to eat
Hints about Planting. Philadelphia: American Sunday-School Union, ca. 1869. 
Adopted in loving memory of Rebecca Pfaff Peckham
This tract urges children to hand out tracts to prospective converts like they would plant grain in the earth. The frontispiece uses the analogy of "useless" mummies, whose grains of wheat were stolen long ago by living people to produce a nutritious crop. 
 

A Daisy by any other name
The London Daisy or Gems in Poetry. Cincinnati: Truman & Spofford, ca. 1850. 
Adopted by Kayla Haveles in honor of her godchildren, Johnny, Mia, and Liliana
This collection is filled with didactic stories and poems, like this one about a little girl who takes good care of her pet canary!
 

The First Fruits of Hebrew 
Blossom and Fruit. A Choice Collection of Hebrew Texts for Jewish Public and Private Instruction=Tsits u-Feri. Compiled and published by Julius Katzenberg.  New York: Industrial School, Hebrew Orphan Asylum, 1882.  
Adopted by David Tebaldi
AAS certainly has Hebrew texts geared to Christian divinity students, but this text is geared to the needs of Jewish children and youth.  AAS has just one other children’s book printed by the Hebrew Orphan Asylum Industrial School, which was a gift book printed as a fundraiser for Mount Sinai Hospital.  Books like Blossom and Fruit reflect the emergence of a vibrant middle class Jewish community in nineteenth-century New York.

A 'Tweet' Children's Book
The Child's History of Birds. New York: Mahlon Day, 1837. 
Adopted by John and Daryl Perch 
Quaker publisher Mahlon Day (1790-1854) was among the most prolific children.s book publishers in antebellum America. This picture book features wood engravings of birds commonly seen by American children, including this description of the Cuckoo, the herald of spring. The description quotes from a poem about the bird from The Juvenile Album (also issued by Day). 
 

Stranger Danger
The History of Little Red Riding Hood.  Binghamton, N.Y.: J. & C. Orton, 1840.
Adopted by Bearly Read Books, Jim Ellis and Betty Ann Sharp 
This is a classic example of a popular folk tale issued by a fairly obscure regional publisher.  J. & C. Orton was active as a publisher ca. 1840-1841, and the firm is represented in the AAS collections by less than a handful of imprints, all of them children’s books.  We all know that Little Red was attacked by the wolf, but it is easy to forget that her Grandma was attacked first.  The text is incredibly blunt, “[H]e tore her to pieces, Oh! Merciless beast, To make of a poor harmless lady a feast.”  Books like this one provide today’s researcher with valuable insight into the cultural connections between harmlessness, helplessness, gender, and age found in nineteenth-century American print culture.  The back cover has a publisher’s advertisement listing several titles that are yet to be acquired--a curatorial shopping list!   
 

Fun in the Tub
At Home.  Meriden, Conn. & New York: Wilcox Silver Plate Co., ca. 1876.  
Adopted in honor of Pamela Barrie, printer and poet extraordinaire.
This charming picture book was published as an advertisement for the Wilcox Silver Plate Co.  The drawings were designed by English illustrator Thomas Frederick Crane (1844-1927), and are reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts decorative style of William Morris and of the quasi-historical quaintness of Kate Greenaway.  This is a rare illustration of a Victorian bathroom found in an American children’s picture book: we see young Tom peeking out of the bathtub, calling out to his brother Ted, “I’m a seal at the zoo!”  It reminds us of a child’s timeless fascination with the aquatic possibilities of the bathtub.  
 

 The Young Artist
The Juvenile Keepsake.  Boston: G.W. Cottrell, ca. 1853.  
Adopted by Bridget Marshall for Lucy Margaret Bridge of Lowell, Massachusetts
This hand-colored wood engraving is taken from a collection of short stories.  In this story, “The Young Artist,” two boys study art together in England, and one opts to go to Europe to further his education in Italy, while the other dutifully stays home looking after his dying mother, but while doing so, captures the beauty of the English countryside.  It reflects the conflict felt by many English and American artists at the time between going abroad and staying home to develop their talent.
 

Rogues on the Loose
The Wonderful Exploits of Those Two Notorious Rogues Dick Turpin and Jack Sheppard.  Philadelphia & New York: Turner & Fisher, ca. 1841-1842. 
Adopted by Richard and Irene Q. Brown 
This wood engraving of robbery and mayhem is taken from a sensational account of the infamous Dick Turpin who led a gang of thieves on a rampage throughout England before his execution by hanging at age 33 in 1739.  This book was published by Turner & Fisher, a firm that issued many cheap picture books, showing the easy connection between picture book publishing for children and illustrated sensational pulp crime accounts for youth.
 

Alone in the Library
The History of Goody Two-Shoes.  New York: N.B. Holmes, 1825.  
Adopted in memory of Marcus A. McCorison by Laura E. Wasowicz 
This stunning hand-colored wood engraving provides new insight into the iconography of the school teaching heroine Margery Two-Shoes. After charges of witchcraft were dropped against her for the intelligent use of a barometer to predict the weather, the local squire gives her free access to his library, and this image shows her taking full advantage of the offer.  Elegantly dressed, she models how a gentleman’s library can be used with dignity by a woman with intellectual aspirations.
 

Bad Boys Made to Rue Their Conduct
The History of Good Boys and Girls.  Boston: Theodore Abbot, ca. 1840-1841.  
This is a very rare metal-engraved picture book.  The text is a counting out rhyme portraying mostly good children, but in this case, we see two boys living the consequences of playing hooky from school.  Not only are they beaten (note that one boy has to carry the switches on his belt), but they have to wear dunce caps, reminding us of the very public nature of school room punishment.
Adopted by Steve Bolick

That Tricky Jumbo
Jumbo and the Countryman.  The Little Showman’s Series.  New York: McLoughlin Bros., New York, ca. 1886.  
McLoughlin Bros. issued at least two series of three-dimensional panorama books in the 1880s, and Jumbo is the latest arrival in our collection of these rare delights.  The poem playfully describes a farmer who is not only pecked by the parrot, but gets his hat stolen by the seemingly grave and wise elephant, putting a humorous wrinkle on the image of man as the ruler of nature.   
Adopted by John and Diana Herzog in memory of our mothers and fathers

Birding for Children
Peabody, Selim Hobart.  Cecil’s Book of Birds.  Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1871.  
Natural histories for children, particularly those about birds, were extremely popular in nineteenth-century America.  They ranged from humble pocket-sized chapbooks of 8 pages to this cloth-bound edition of 234 pages.  It features wood-engraved plates depicting various species, as in this depiction of hummingbirds hovering together.  The description emphasizes that hummingbirds are native to America, showing its young readers that these exotic little creatures await observation just outside one’s window.
Adopted by Richard and Joanne Wilson 

Feely Binding
Harry’s Stories.  New York: Leavitt & Allen, ca. 1852-1862.  
This wonderful soft cloth “limp” binding is from a book of miscellaneous stories for children.  Borrowing from the iconography of Samuel Goodrich’s immensely popular “Peter Parley” books, the pictorial vignette features a group of children eagerly gathering around an elderly gentleman who is storytelling.  This charming vignette was designed by binding designer John Feely; the “JF” is apparent in the lower center of the picture.
Adopted in memory of Sue Allen by Steve Beare

Pop-Up History
Locke, John S.  Little Folks’ History of the United States.  Boston: DeWolfe, Fiske & Co., ca. 1893.  
Adopted by Steve and Rosemary Taylor
Picture book publisher DeWolfe, Fiske & Co. issued this charming picture book in accordion fold format with this cover sporting movable tabs that allow you to see “inside” Independence Hall.   The inner leaves depict panoramic scenes of such historic events as the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Ft. Sumter, and Chicago’s Columbian Exposition held in 1893.   

Mining for Southern Imprints
The Inexhaustible Mine: Ever Producing Yet Never Spent. Charleston, S.C.: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1859.  
Adopted by Ann Berry
Children’s books published only in the South before the Civil War are extremely rare; the Southern Baptist Publication Society was active ca. 1850-1860, when regional tensions between north and south reached a fever pitch.  Not only was this book issued from Charleston, but it was also sold in Macon, Georgia, Richmond, Virginia, Selma, Alabama, and Anderson, Texas.  Ironically, this temperance novel is set in New England.   

Parrot Fish on Parade
Byerly, Stephen.  Byerly’s New American Spelling-Book.  Philadelphia: M’Carty & Davis, 1830.  
Adopted by Stephen Hanly in memory of Isaac Bickerstaff
This lovely wood engraving of the exotic Caribbean parrot fish is taken from a speller written by Quaker school teacher Stephen Byerly (c. 1797-1850).  His spelling and reading lessons are punctuated with clear illustrations of animals both common and uncommon to his young readers such as the rooster, the carp, and the hippopotamus.   

Big Game Hunting
Hunters and Trappers, Their Perils and Adventures.  New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co., ca. 1856-1859.  
Adopted by Brett Mizelle in Honor of Bill and Bernice Schrank
Imperialism, adventure, and natural history come into ready play in this frontispiece taken from Hunters and Trappers, which includes the story of Mr. Cornwallis Harris’ hunt for giraffes in the wilds of South Africa.  Note how Mr. Harris is dressed in Western apparel, while is native guide is shirtless; both sport modern rifles.  The giraffes appear in the distance.  The giraffe (also known as the cameleopard) was standard fare in children’s picture guides to animals, but this is an early depiction of them being the objects of game hunters.  This copy bears the bookseller’s stamp of J.N. Waggoner, who ran a shop in Galena, Illinois.     

Children at Play
Wee Elsie’s Picture-Book.  New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., ca. 1877.  
Adopted by Cheryl McRell in honor of Carter, Daisy, Cora, Peyton, and Hunter
This magnificent publisher’s cloth cover is accented with stamped gilt and chromolithographed labels depicting children at play.  It is a far cry from the sober primers published scarcely a century before.  The interior text includes highly illustrated short stories and poems, and has the look of the illustrated periodicals that flourished after the Civil War--thus blurring the lines between children’s book and magazine.   

A Steamy Adoption
Boston & Charleston steamship line, George B. Upton. Boston, 1867. 
Adopted by Ann-Cathrine Rapp in memory of Douglas Rapp
This ship's card was used as an advertising tool to drum up business on the docks for the George B. Upton, a steamer that hauled freight and passengers between Boston and Charleston after the Civil War. These cards are often illustrated with images of the ship, or with colorful views and fanciful illustrations designed to catch the eye. They almost all share the same pertinent details — the name of the freight agent, the time of the sailing, and the connections that can be made on either end of the voyage, in this case to the interior of Georgia. 

The Ugly Side of History
W. G. Jackman, engraver. The White Republic against the World. Portrait of John H. Van Evrie.  New York: For the subscribers of The New York Day Book, after 1868. 
Adopted so that history does not repeat itself
This engraved portrait of author and newspaper publisher John H. Van Evrie recently appeared on eBay.  There were no bidders, and AAS was able to subsequently acquire the print directly from the seller.  Van Evrie was an outspoken white supremecist who bankrolled several papers and periodicals in New York during Reconstruction.  He also wrote several pro-slavery tracts during the Civil War.  The masthead of his main paper,The New York Day Book declared: "Devoted to White Supremacy, State Equality, and Federal Union."  Today, Van Evrie is often cited for his 1860 book review of Walt Whitman'sLeaves of Grass (which he called "bull"  and "filth"). Today, Van Evrie's views on slavery and race are appalling and extremely difficult to read, but the preservation of all aspects of American history -- the good, the bad and the really ugly -- is one of the roles of national depositories like the American Antiquarian Society. 
 

Orange you glad I'm up for adoption? 
Aurantia grove, Indian River, East Florida. Springfield, MA: Clark W. Bryan & Co., ca. 1871. 
Adopted by Cathy Corder
The text on this circular promotes raising oranges for investment in the balmy Florida climate. Located northwest of Cape Canaveral, Aurantia Groves was typical of late nineteenth century Florida developments. Speculators bought up land and created lots for resale. Groves of orange trees were planted and could be managed from a distance, with a small financial investment. The circular lays out the details of prospective income and uses testimonials from previous investors as proof of success. They even quote Harriet Beecher Stowe's Palmetto Leaves. An 1888 editor of a newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts (where this circular was published) wrote glowingly of a Mr. A.S. Dickinson's investment in Aurantia, which resulted in 100 boxes of oranges being shipped north in January and sold for 70 cents per pound. 

Stop and Adopt!
Stop Thief! Doylestown, Pennsylvania: C.N. Bryan, 1847-1852. 
Adopted by Gordon & Suzanne Pfeiffer
Printed by the publisher of the Doylestown Independent Democrat, this blank announcement of horse thievery was done for a local vigilance committee.  Members had assigned routes to patrol when a theft was reported, which apparently happened frequently enough to merit having the form done up. The eye-catching design at the top was made by George Gilbert, who also created lively cuts for almanacs and children’s books.
 

No Place Like Home
Old Farm at Home. New York: John Andrews, 1853-1859. 
Today music fans have AZLyrics.com, SongLyrics.com, and LetsSingIt.com to check for those snappy lyrics heard on the radio or at a concert.  In the 1840s and 50s, music consumers had to rely on ballad printers to churn out sheets of popular songs.  Following a very basic, quick-to-print design (stanzas of lyrics within a decorative border, usually) inexpensive ballad sheets were sold on the street and in music shops in theater districts.  This ballad mentions the singer, the minstrel performer James H. Budsworth, who made the song famous. 
Adopted in honor of John and Katherine Keenum by Joanne and Gary Chaison

Got Stone? 
Gardner Monumental Works. J.C. Sargent, Proprietor. Photographer unknown, c. 1875. 
This photograph of masons from J.C. Sargent Co. in Gardner, Massachusetts, was included in a purchase made by the Society of a portion of the firm’s archives.  The company specialized in cemetery monuments but also did pedestals and curb work.  An advertisement confidently stated: “Every piece of work warranted, and disappointment will not be possible.”  Looking at the determined faces and capable hands of the carvers and cutters holding their tools, the claim is quite believable.
Adopted by Nancy Osgood in honor of Jane Dewey

I am Big, Beautiful, Emotive, and Very 19th-century. Adopt me!
After Jean-Léon Gérôme, Le Golgotha. Consummatum est. New York & Paris: Goupil & Co., and Knoedler, 1871. 
The images of French academic painter Gérôme were very popular in the United States, thanks in part to the fact that his father-in-law was a founder of Goupil & Co., which distributed many prints after the artist’s work.  The painting Le Golgotha was exhibited in France in 1868 where it received criticism because the artist chose to show only the shadows of the three crosses and not the crucified bodies of Christ and the thieves.  The print likely touched a nerve in the U.S., however, where the Reconstruction South was often referred to in the press as “the modern Golgotha.” 
Adopted for Madeline Key on her 16th Birthday, by her grandfather, Ron Newton 

To the Letter
Widstrand, Francis H., Letter, 1869 (July 26), Misc. Manuscript Collection. 
Adopted by Ashley Cataldo
 In 1869, Francis Widstrand wrote a letter to the famed New York Merchant Alexander T. Stewart (1803-1876). Widstrand, of Buffalo, Minnesota, saw in The Sun that Stewart "intend[ed] to do something for the working class." Widstrand tells Stewart of his ideas, the importance of good morals and principles, and the soon to be issued The Moralist. Widstrand was well informed, "Having seen considerable of the world in Europe, and here for the last 14 years, and studied all I have been able to find on the social question in several different languages..." This single letter conveys so much, yet leaves so many open ended questions, creating a truly interesting document.

Never To Die!
Eliza Wetmore Ward, Poetry Album, 1850-1867.  
Eliza Wetmore Ward was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1808. Although not much is known about Ward’s life, much can be revealed about her through her book of poetry.  Ward filled her volume – which she purchased in Montreal in 1850 – with her own poetry and reflections, as well as others’ poems.  Many of the verses she recorded are attributed to others, some of them well-known (she copied the entirety of Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride” in 1867), others not.  Still others have no attribution, and these may very well be her own original poems.  In a somber verse, “Words over a grave,” one of her unattributed poems, Ward writes “Did she sorrow to live? – When her husband was near / There lay ‘neath her eyelids an unshed tear; / But it trickled not til her boy drew nigh, / And asked his pale Mother never to die!  Never to die -.”
Adopted by Meredith Neuman

Candy, Coffee, Wallets, Combs, Knives, and Even Books
Howell & Rogers, Ledger [Leicester, Mass.?], 1848-1850. 
This ledger records the monthly “invoice of goods taken” from a general store over the course of two years, 1848-1850.  The entries are occasionally divided into dry goods and hardware, and show a variety of items being sold, including textiles (silk, cashmere, flannel), shoes, boots, candy, coffee, wallets, combs, knives, and even books (“Webster Dictionary,” “Smiths Grammar,” “Emersons Arithmetic”).  Not much is known about the business, however the name of Howell and Rogers is inscribed on the front cover.  Multiple pages of doodles and penmanship practice make up the end of the volume, with the town of Leicester being practiced frequently, so the business may have been located there. 
Adopted by Peg Lesinski in honor of Randy Moore

Very Troublesome Pieces of Paper
Sarah Howe, Diary, 1852-1869.  
Sarah Emma Howe was born in Sterling Massachusetts in 1830 and married Luther Kendall Jewett.  In describing the purpose of her diary, Howe writes “In looking over my papers I find many connected with the Sunday School, while I have been under Miss Waite’s instruction, which I wish to retain and finding pieces of paper very troublesome, I copy them in this book.”  The first of her copied entries dates from 1844, when she would have been 14 years old.  Howe continued to fill the book with reflections on sermons, and her own thoughts on religion, morality, and death.  In one entry, she speaks of her Grandmother’s funeral – “…she has gone to another world, where all will go and be happy, if good while hear [sic].  Mr. Allen said it was not right to mourn when a good person dies.”  In later years, Howe returned to her journal and recorded deaths in her community in the late 1860s.  Also included at the end of the volume are poetry and miscellaneous notes including “Names of Books I wish to obtain.”  
Adopted by Henry Ciborowski and Family in loving memory of Elaine M. Ciborowski

Whitins of Whitinsville
Additions to the Whitin & Sons Papers, 1844-1863.  
Paul Whitin & Sons ran a cotton mill in Whitinsville, Massachusetts.  AAS already has a significant collection of material attributed to this firm, including bill heads, receipts, and correspondence relating to the business.  Last year’s Adopt-A-Book featured diaries written by Mrs. Whitin, offering a personal glance at the Whitins.  This year, yet another new batch of items has been being added to the collection.  This time around, they are back to business.  This recent acquisition of about 4 folders worth of material includes business correspondence and receipts from multiple paper warehouses and manufacturers, including J.H. Merry of nearby Millbury, (“Dealer in cotton waste and all kinds of paper stock”), and Exchange Street Cash Paper Warehouse of Boston, and T. & G. Campbell of North Wrentham, Massachusetts.  It iswonderful to see a collection such as this continue to grow, and exciting to think about what else might still be out there!
Adopted by Michael Potaski of Uxbridge 

Yes, the Dictionary People
Additions to the G. & C. Merriam Business Records, 1818-1860.  
G. & C. Merriam Company, printers, booksellers and publishers in Springfield, Massachusetts, was established in 1831 by brothers George (1803-1880) and Charles (1806-1887) Merriam.  The company specialized in school books, law books, Bibles, and dictionaries.  In 1843 they bought the copyright for Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, revised it, and promoted it in large quantities.  The success of this venture brought G. & C. Merriam to the public’s attention and their business expanded considerably.  This small collection of five letters contains business correspondence to the firm, one early letter from 1834, one from 1844, and three letters dating from 1845.  A few of the letters mention Webster’s Dictionary, one correspondent demanding “You had better send 10 Webster vols. To New York in place of the small numbers you first mentioned…”    This collection is a significant addition to the Society’s Merriam collection and more generally to its strong manuscript holdings in book trade, printing and publishing history.
Adopted by Michael Winship in memory of Hal Miller

Get a Proper Outfit
Hugh Heron, letter to E. Everett, 1876.  
A recent addition to our Book Trades Collection is this letter from Chicago publisher and bookseller Hugh Heron to E. Everett of Beaver Dam Wisconsin.  Everett had evidently written asking for work as a book salesman.   “I should judge you could sell books,” Heron writes, “but you don’t need to go at it in any ‘one horse’ way.”  “If you get a proper outfit you can work up Beaver Dam Township First as you request.”  He closes the letter stating he is “confident you can do well—Outfit Complete 2.00.”
Adopted by Lee Harrer in Honor of Gordon Pfeiffer and the Delaware Bibliophiles

Be Just and Fear Not
Augustus Gill, Penmanship Book [1830s]. 
A new addition to our ever growing Penmanship Book Collection is a volume kept by a student named Augustus Gill, who was probably born in Canton, Massachusetts around 1820.  What is most striking about this particular item is its cover, which features an African leopard and the phrase “Be just and fear not.”  The blank book was printed by “Condon & Marden,” printers, and sold by “John Marsh, at the Stationary Warehouse” in Boston, probably in the 1830s. Within the covers are the typical penmanship practice pages, with the author practicing words such as commandment, murmur, inconveniences, and termination.  But what makes this volume even more special are the additional pages in the back where Augustus practiced letter writing (addressing multiple letters to “Dear Uncle Asa”), and tried his hand at poetry and mathematical word problems.  His poems include versus on Death, Fidelity, Roses and Spring.  And Augustus must have been a good math student, as his arithmetic all adds up!
Adopted by Carolyn Eastman in honor of the 2011-12 Research Fellows

Poor Record Keeping
R. St. John, accounts with the Overseers of the Poor, Hubbardston, Massachusetts, 1851-1857. 
This small volume records accounts of R. St. John of Hubbardston, Massachusetts, with the Overseers of the Poor of the town for the support of William Rogers and his family.  Listed are basic staples,  including corn meal, rye flour, potatoes, pork, meat, and occasionally fabrics such as cotton and calico, boots and shoes, and firewood.  
Adopted by Carolyn Eastman in honor of the 2011-12 Research Fellows

Leeches
Moses Kimball, Journal, 1850-1851.  
Moses Kimball (1809-1895) was an active citizen of Boston throughout the 19th century.  After failed attempts at the newspaper and printing business, Kimball succeeded in the museum business, purchasing and expanding the New England Museum (which had been established by Ethan Allen Greenwood) in 1838, and opening the Boston Museum in 1841.  He was a close associate of P.T. Barnum, and was the founder and owner of the “Fejee Mermaid”, made famous and widely exhibited by Barnum.  Kimball’s political life included three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as well as three unsuccessful runs for Mayor of Boston.  This account book chronicles another side still to Kimball, his family life.  Labeled “Family Expenses”, the book includes monthly lists of the various purchases Kimball made for his family (wife Frances Lavinia Hathaway and daughter Margaret Kimball).  Pages show the purchase of items such as linen and other fabrics, meat and sundries, wine and coffee, and the occasional travel expenses.  The front of the volume contains a pocket with receipts, including one for bleeding with leeches.
Adopted by Cheryl Needle in memory of Albert Feldbin

Fact or Fiction?
Young Woman's Expenses, 1832. 
This short but intriguing account book, covered in attractive, cascading leaf covered wallpaper wrappers contains records for the year 1832.  The owner, apparently a woman, seems to have traveled frequently between Ipswich, Boston, Providence and New York, recording travel expenses, lodging and dinners.  She was a well-educated woman, listing numerous book purchases such as Geography of Massachusetts, Lincoln’s Botany, The Girl’s Own Book, and Parley’s Tales of Europe.  She also paid for the use of books, as well as for tuition for one quarter.  She even enjoyed a few simple luxuries, such as fancy handkerchiefs, silk, and a quart of cherries on July 4th. Several pages in the same hand at the rear of the volume tell a different story, however. There are handwritten promissory notes and receipts for a variety of people in a variety of places, all with the same date—suggesting this volume was actually an exercise book for someone learning how to keep personal accounts.
Adopted by Susan Bombieri

Running the Gamut
Howard, Chilon, Music Manuscript in The Gamut: Or, Scale of Music, ca. 1790. 
This well-used copy of  The Gamut; Or, Scale of Music, (Hudson, New York: A. Sloddard [i.e. Ashbel Stoddard], n.d.) is apparently unrecorded.  Ashbel Stoddard (1763-1840) was born in Saybrook, Connecticut and apprenticed with printers in Hartford.  He commenced business as a bookseller in Hudson, New York and in 1785 began publishing the Hudson Weekly Gazette in partnership with Charles R. Webster.  The following year Stoddard became the lone publisher, and he continued the paper until 1803.  Stoddard was active as a printer in Hudson for the rest of his life. The earliest known publication of The Gamut was in Windsor, Vermont in 1795.  Between 1795 and 1815 editions were printed in Canandaigua, Lansingburgh, Otsego, Troy, Utica, and Albany, New York, as well as Hartford, Connecticut. The work contained blank leaves ruled for music in the back.  This copy bears the name of Chilon Howard.
Adopted by David W. Dangremond in Honor of Lisa Compton Bellocchio

Singers: Keep Mouth Shut in Cold Weather
Newport Musical Journal (RI). May 18, 1858. Vol. 1, no. 1. 
Adopted by Paul Erickson - Sing, goddess! Of the glories of the Ocean State
This is the first, and possibly the only issue of the Newport Musical Journal published by George T. Hammond of the Newport Musical Institute and printed at the office of the Daily News and the Weekly Journal. It is previously unrecorded. It contains various articles on musicians, health tips to protect the voice, and a large advertisement for a grand concert by the Institute at Aquidneck Hall. 

Mitt and Obama, 1844 style
Clay Tribune (New York, NY).  May 4, 1844.  
During elections in the nineteenth century it was quite common for campaign newspapers to be published supporting a specific candidate or party.  These ephemeral publications were short-lived and are often difficult to locate today.  The Clay Tribune supported the Whig Party and the Sober Second Thought… supported the Democratic Party.  Both published in New York during the election of 1844, they are going head to head with exaggerated political discourse.
Adopted by Rodney Ferris 

Mitt and Obama, 1844 style (again!)
Sober Second Thought for the Presidential Campaign of 1844 (New York, NY). Oct. 5, 1844.  
During elections in the nineteenth century it was quite common for campaign newspapers to be published supporting a specific candidate or party.  These ephemeral publications were short-lived and are often difficult to locate today.  The Clay Tribune supported the Whig Party and the Sober Second Thought… supported the Democratic Party.  Both published in New York during the election of 1844, they are going head to head with exaggerated political discourse.
Adopted by Richard and Irene Q. Brown 

The Path to Adoption
The National Pathfinder (Nashville, TN).  Mar. 5, 1860.  
This appears to be mainly an advertising paper with small bits of news and poetry.  Even some of the news items are really puff pieces for local businesses.  According to a Nashville directory from 1860 The National Pathfinder was published in the office of the Nashville Patriot which had a daily, tri-weekly and weekly edition.  This is only the second issue known of this title.  It gives a nice snapshot of the business scene of Nashville right before the war.  
Adopted by John and Katherine Keenum

Do You Know What it Means, to Adopt from New Orleans?
The Iris, or Orleans Evening Post (New Orleans, LA).  June 27, 1823.  Vol. 1, no. 57.  
This is an unrecorded daily New Orleans newspaper that appeared on ebaY.  It was started by the New Orleans Typographical Association in May 1823.  According to an article in the Salem Gazette (MA) of June 3, 1823, this paper was started by “Journeymen Printers, who allege that they are driven to this undertaking by the oppression of the Master Printers.”   The editor was Henry T. Beatty who died in September 1823 during an outbreak of Yellow Fever.  The paper was quoted in other papers as late as March 1824, so probably ended soon after.
Adopted by Andrew Burstein

A Plea for Adoption
Plea for the Oppressed and Enslaved (Austinburg, OH).  Feb. 3, 1847.  Vol. 1, no. 3.  
This title was mentioned in a county history in 1878, but until this copy surfaced, no copy could be located in any library or historical society.  The content was mostly written by Betsey Mix Cowles and Abby Kelley Foster and was published by Jane Elizabeth Hitchcock using funds raised by the Ashtabula County Female Anti-Slavery Society.  One of its main goals was to get repealed Ohio black laws that discriminated against the free African-Americans of the state.  Plea for the Oppressed began in Dec. 1846 and appeared monthly.  
Adopted by Ezra Greenspan

An Elephant Never Forgets an Adoption
The Elephant.  New York, NY.  Feb. 5, 1848.  No. 3.  
Adopted by Carol-Ann Mackey in memory of Marcus A. McCorison 
This is an extremely scarce humor periodical that lasted just five weeks, from Jan. 22 to Feb. 19, 1848.  Yale is the only institution with a file of all five numbers.  When it first came out many people believed that the publisher was Cornelius Mathews, a prominent author and social critic of the 1830s through 50s, though there is no absolute proof of this.  The Elephant is a sequel to the better-known periodical, Yankee Doodle (1846-1847).  The content is mostly political satire with regular jokes sprinkled throughout.

Adopt an Amateur
The Club  (Chicago, IL).  12 issues, Apr. 2 – Oct. 15, 1877.  
Adopted by Lee Harrer in honor of Richard Mathews, Carl Nudi and Sean Donnelly
George W. Hancock, a teenager in Chicago, put out this semi-monthly amateur newspaper.  At some point he put together sets of issues, printed wrappers, and bound them up.  The issues were printed in a variety of colors.  Two issues have crude hand-made woodcuts.  Hancock promoted his publication by saying it has “spicy sayings and eloquent editorials.”

Advocate You Adopt Me
Columbian Advocate  (Germantown, PA).  Sept. 24, 1819.  
Adopted by Valerie Cunningham 
This is the latest know issue of the Columbian Advocate.  Only four issues are known, and three of them are at AAS.

Now that we are known, please adopt us
Cornucopia (Batavia, NY).  Dec. 14, 1810.  Apr. 12, 1811.  
Adopted by Charles Rowe
One of the strengths of AAS is its early newspaper collection.  Whenever possible we try to acquire issues that help establish the bibliographic record.  The Cornucopia was a short-lived newspaper from upstate New York.  It ended sometime in late 1811 after the death of one of its editors.  Very few issues have survived.  Both of these dates were previously unknown, and both are several months later that the latest issue previously known.

A Major Newspaper for Adoption
Major Downing’s Advocate, and Mechanics’ Journal.  Aug. 27, 1834.  
Adopted by Charles Rowe
Jack Downing was a comic character created in 1830 by Seba Smith, who developed the country dialect-speaking character in a series of letters for the Portland Courier. As Downing became famous, Charles Augustus Davis imitated the style and wrote under the same name for New York papers. Davis started Major Downing’s Advocate on Mar. 12, 1834, soon expanding the title to the longer form here. By then Davis had probably left the editorship, and the paper had taken on an anti-Jacksonian tone supporting the Whig party.

Don’t smoke this Cuban, adopt it
Diario de la Marina (Havana, Cuba).  Jan. 13, 1846.  
Adopted by Yvette Piggush
AAS has one of the largest collections of Caribbean newspapers in the United States.  Because American merchants traded so much with the region, our collection helps researchers covering the Atlantic region.  This particular issue is a commercial newspaper covering merchant news, news of the region, classified ads of goods for sale, and the next part of a serialized novel.

Adopt an upstate New Yorker
Republican Advocate (Batavia, NY).  July 23, 1819. 
Adopted by Jackie Penny for Dr. Alexander Marriott 
Here is another early upstate New York newspaper that showed up in an auction.  Our holdings of New York newspapers are dominated by New York City.  It is always nice to improve our representation of the rest of the state to help balance the state’s representation in our holdings.

The cola that refreshes AAS
Pensacola Gazette (Pensacola, FL).  Nov. 23, 1839.  
Adopted by Stephen Hanly in memory of Isaac Bickerstaff
This was the fourth newspaper published in Florida and the second published in the town of Pensacola. It began in 1824 and lasted until the Civil War.  Southern newspapers are quite scarce and Florida papers even more so.  The warm climate means the survival rate is quite low.  It is always a pleasure being able to fill in gaps in our Florida collection with issues.

The cola that refreshes AAS (again!)
Pensacola Gazette and Florida Advertiser (Pensacola, FL).  July 31, 1830.  
Adopted by Gordon Pfeiffer in honor of Lee Harrer
This was the fourth newspaper published in Florida and the second published in the town of Pensacola. It began in 1824 and lasted until the Civil War.  Southern newspapers are quite scarce and Florida papers even more so.  The warm climate means the survival rate is quite low.  It is always a pleasure being able to fill in gaps in our Florida collection with issues.

California, Here I come!
Hutching’s Illustrated California Magazine (San Francisco, CA). July 1859. 
Adopted by Sara Gunasekara
James M. Hutchings started this periodical in 1856. It was noted for its lively woodcuts and portrayal of life in California. It included both fiction and non-fiction and stories from the gold regions.