Search Results: Albums & Journals from Eclectibles

Oneida Castle, New York, 1868. General wear.. A pocket diary belonging to E. M. Cole, an unidentified woman living in Oneida Castle, NY. The diary starts of with several printed pages of general information, such as the calendar for the year, including phases of the moon, church holidays, postal money orders, and US stamp duties. Cole starts actually writing in the diary on February 8, 1868, the date she purchased it herself. There are daily entries in the diary until August 23 where it abruptly stops for a month and inexplicably resumes finally concluding on November 1. Each entry is a record of what Cole did that day as well as a note on the weather. Additionally, after a new servant girl, Louise H. Ellington, arrives on April 4, there are numerous notes on what work she does in the house as well. It is unclear throughout the diary, whether Cole is a fellow servant or the mistress of the house, different entries throughout the year support either hypothesis. There are references to "Mother and… Read More

United States, 1903. A detailed inventory and record book spanning the dates 1903 and 1906, appearing to have belonged to a firefighter or building manager tasked with safety management. Largely recorded in ink manuscript, the book begins with an inventory of fire safety equipment (e.g. "Fire pails"; "Automatic fire doors"; "Sprinkling heads") and continues by recording the amount of "sprinkling heads" on six different floors of a building. Records the dimensions of the building's different rooms (e.g. Basement, "Girls Assembly", "Engine Room"). Includes a list of "Fire Pails doing doing duty" on each floor in 1906, and a list of tasks completed titled "Fogarty's time record" which appears to record when fire pails and coal curtains were scrubbed every day. Includes a list of employees with titles such as "Sergt" and "Capt" in the back, which supports the idea that this is an early firefighter inventory. Single vol. (6" by 3.5"), approx. 50 lined leaves, about three-quarters filled, in original… Read More

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1919-1926. Poor to fair. Paper extremely brittle, text block and leaves chipping and loose. Toning, dust soiling, chipping and short tears. Corners bumped with a few unobtrusive water stains to cloth. Tape repairs.. A most charming scrapbook compiled by Philadelphia socialite Helen Marshall Eliason (1896-1985), containing ten (10) original costume designs in gouache signed by the designer "R. McRae". The costume designs are rather fabulous, and include theme costumes for women titled "Xmas", "Valentine", "Washington's Birthday", "4th July", "Tennis Girl", "Air Girl", and a a girl in full skiing attire. There is also a Pirate-themed costume with an explanatory caption: "This chorus was a satire on prohibition and bootleg Pirates". The final costume design is broken into two designs. The first design shows the "back" of the performer, which is disguised to look like an old Victorian woman or "Grandma"; the "front" of the performer is stylized to look like a "Grandma of… Read More

Oak Bluff, 1883. Spines cracked, loose and/or separated covers; some pages loose.. These three albums are being offered as a collection. Two of these albums are near complete, while the album with the latest dates is sparse, with only 25 of the 100 or so pages used. One album has a board cover in brown cloth, with "Autographs" gilt stamped on the cover and spine. The other two albums have leather board covers, with "Autographs" stamped in gilt, and additional gilt decorations on the cover and spine. One of the albums was owned by Edward Roth, who spent the majority of his life practicing medicine in and around Martha's Vineyard. The majority of the autographs in this album date from 1883 when he departed to San Francisco and he is wished well on his travels across the continent. He practiced for several years in San Francisco before returning to New England, first to Yale, and then Martha's Vineyard. Along with the autographs there are several newspaper clippings for important family events, such… Read More

1880. General wear. A 3 1/4" x 2 3/4" handmade autograph album cut in the shape of a boot. Heavy textured paper covers. Pages in various colors of paper mostly blank; few with printed lines. Over 20 autographs; few with verses. Mostly from Connecticut. Ribbon tie at top. Rather charming.

Pennsylvania (?), 1870. Back strip lacking. Cover wear. Front cover detached but present.. Marble on board. 65 leaf. Approximately 95 manuscript pages of verse. The inscription page reads Rachel VV. A. Zook, from her father 2 mo. 24,1863. The verses are usually multiple pages in length with a few of her own entries only two lines. Content includes The First Snow Fall, Marco Bozzuris, Resignation, The Ocean, Flee as a Bird, James Dougglas, Commit they wave for God, Beautiful Things and many more. Many include author and transcription date. Tucked in the back is The Boasting Hen by George Cooper in the Independent. Measures 8 1/4" x 6 3/4" There were a number of Rachel Zooks, mostly in Pennsylvania at the time. Unable to ascertain identity of this particular Rachel Zook.

A series of correspondence from Samuel R. Wiley, San Francisco, CA to Silas Leach, Wilkes Barre, PA. Each of the Odes and the Sonnet are penned in a lovely hand with calligraphy embellishments at the top. Some with red and black borders. Philosophical and thought provoking works by an octogenarian. A March 2, 1901 letter inquires as to Leach's receipt of the last sonnet and also discusses booming real estate market in San Francisco and the town's mourning for General Sherman. This is followed sequentially by a surprise Ode to Leach penned on his birthday April 6th. Additionally this group includes a copy of a Birthday Ode written to Rhoda Luce who turned 90 in 1899. Finally a cabinet card of Wiley dated October 1889. Moving and thought provoking. A note accompanying the Birthday Sonnets read "All written by S. R. Wiley who, himself, was between 85 and 90 years old. An old friend of Uncle Silas, to whom he also sent four birthday odes in commemoration of his own birthday anniversaries.

UK, 1918. Minimal wear.. Nine (9) miniature handmade envelopes each personally addressed with pen and ink or watercolor stamps/post marks. With in is a small mostly chromolithograph image applied to a card with a penned sentiment verso. Address to individuals with locations as The Nursery, The Enchanted Palace, Villa Maria, The Doll's Home, The Kitchen, Pigtail Lodge and more. The largest is 2.25" by 3.5". The smallest is 1.5" x 2.5

Abingdon, Illinois: Abingdon Trap Company, 1900. Very good. Toned. Ink bleed from blue ink used on letter.. Illustrated circular and sales letter on company billhead advertising mouse traps sold by the Abingdon Trap Co. Specifically promotes the "Diamond Joe Mouse and Rat Traps" line of products. Includes a photo of the traps in the box, as well as before and after photos of the poor mouse who encountered one of the traps. Includes pricing, and mail-order delivery. Circular measures approx. 10.75" by 7.75"; billhead measures approx. 7.25" by 8.25

Germany: Abzieh-Bilder, 1880. Very good. Light toning. Wear/minor short tears to envelopes.. Two (2) brown paper envelopes, each measuring 6" by 5", with chromolithographed onlays advertising Abzieh-Bilder Transfer Pictures, i.e., Victorian scrapbook transfer patterns made in Germany for use in the United States. Each envelope depicts a beautiful young woman holding a bouquet of roses. "Decalmanie" and "Calcomania" are terms referring to the Victorian craze for decals and scraps. Four (4) sheets of the original transfer patterns included (depicting everything from horses and buggies to farm animals and ships), as well as one small embossed chromolithographed scrap of roses.

New York: M. Day Printer, 1852. Pictorial paper wrappers, illustration of cow on front, the Selling of Joseph to the Ishmaelites on the reverse. A detailed accounting on accounts payable and receivable on portions of each of the estates. Includes a detailed accounting of an auction of the property of Calvin Pennell. Only a partial accounting, back cover indicates $21, 120.43 brought forward. 6 1/2" x 7 3/4" toning.

Newburyport, MA: Hale & Company, 1866. Age toning and soiling. Crease marks and minor separation at the fold.. A circular filled with testimonials for the Aerifying Egg Beater patented in 1866 and produced by Hale & Company in Newburyport, MA. The first page has a wonderful woodcut of the manufacturing building of Hale & Co., along with a description of of the item. The beater uses a "system of aerifying, as it fills the eggs with minutely divided and finely subdivided particles or globules of pure air." The interior of the circular lists numerous testimonials. On the back of the circular is draft of a letter written by J. Hale Jr, owner of Hale & Company, to a William Pebt, Esq. regarding the possible sale of a mailing list of approximately 5,000 names and address. The letter is dated January 31, 1870, and when Hale & Co. had been bought out by another company. Single fold circular. Measures 10 3/4" x 8" (folded), 16" x 1 0 3/4" (unfolded).

Howard County, Maryland: Alberton Cotton Factory, 1871. Very good. Minor toning, letter folds.. Illustrated letterhead for the Alberton Cotton Factory, featuring at lively image of the factory with people, a horse and buggy, nearby domiciles, and a steaming locomotive going by. Below is a letter handwritten ink by the Treasurer of the company to Mr. William E. Tenbrook of Philadelphia, acknowledging receipt of payment. Measures 10.5" by 8". Early ink notes to verso.

Gilt black leather cover. A true autograph book with signatures, location, and date. Most in Boston or the Boston area. Several from Normal School and/or with gem size photos at upper right corner; mostly women. A few state "Boston Normal School Class '78" other say "C.H.S. class of '75" and include the town of Charlestown. Mass. 5" x 8" Cover wear, portion of back strip lacking.

Candor, NY, 1880. Some interior pages are loose.. A friendship album belonging to Ida E. Williams of Candor, NY. The album entries comprise of her friends and family members from Candor, NY, and surrounding towns between 1876-1880. The entries are, generally speaking, short quotes, either from poetry or plays. Of note in the album is a wonderful, multifaceted black and white ink drawing done by Rudolph C. Oakley, attorney at law, in Candor, NY in the Spring of 1880. There is a large silhouette of a young child smoking a pipe and four smaller drawings surrounding it in circles: the first is of two couples walking in the woods, the second is of two cats meeting on a wall at night, the third is a couple bent over in a garden coughing, and lastly, a little bird singing on a tree branch. The album itself has seven (7) pages with colored decorative borders, often in a floral or nature theme. Additionally, the album has four (4) double sided pages of blank sheet music. The covers are brown leather with… Read More

New York: J. S. Ogilvie and Company, 1881. Very good. Text block shaken and beginning to separate from spine; some light browning, extremities a little rubbed.. A fascinating look into the Victorian practice of album- and card-making: J. S. Ogilvie's Album Writer's Friend is comprised of "more than three hundred choice selections of poetry and prose, suitable for writing in autograph albums, Valentines, birthday, Christmas, and New Year cards" (title-page). Excerpts are organized into several sections, including: "Dedication Verse suitable for inscription on title pages of albums"; excerpts of "sentiment and affection" for loved ones; excerpts for birthday cards; "humorous" excerpts; and a number of miscellaneous lines of verse. Ogilvie (1843-1910) published writers as well as dime novels, how-to books, and two biographical works on Garfield. Small 8vo (6.5" by 4"), pp. 64 in original publisher's cloth stamped in black.

Rahway, NJ, 1874. wear on cover, some foxing throughout. A friendship album, aptly titled "Album of Friendship", belonging to a woman by the name of Jennie. Her last name is never mentioned. The album is mostly blank, but the entries date from 1874, and when a location is noted, it is Rahway, NJ. One of the entries of note is a poem about "six sisters fair". The title of the poem are the six names: Dora, Jennie, Lillie, Eva, Pauline, and Gertie. The six names surround another word, "Freddie", and within the poem is the line "I have seen six sisters fair, Oh, that I were but a Freddie, In such sisterly love to share." Based on this line, it is possible that Jennie's last name is Frederick, but that is a hypothesis. Another unique entry is a short rebus, which is not deciphered. Please see the photographs. Below are a few excerpts from the entries: "Jennie, on they album's page Yet hath fallen no darkning [sic] stain Type of thine own guileless age, May that guileless age remain!" - Juus Amicus [Jus… Read More

Coxsacki, NY, 1861. binding loose, leather on back strip has come off, some staining on front pages. The engravings within the album have been removed, this is evident by the three tissues guards that remain. Interior pages are toned.. A friendship album, entitled 'Album of Gems' which belonged to Matilda S. Bedell of Coxsacki, NY. The bulk of the entries in the album date from 1850-1852, and one of the first entries is by Matilda's husband, William. This date is done in pencil, while the entry is in ink, so it is possible it is wrong. Also featured within the album, is a dedication page, probably written by Matilda herself, but written from the perspective of the album itself, as though it was a living entity. The Bedell's were Quakers, and therefore most of the entries start with 'Sister Matilda', even though the authors are (mostly) not biologically related to Matilda. Below are excerpts from a few of the entries: "My dear friend, as you have had teh curiostiy to open one, I trust for any owners… Read More

A rather stunning album of origami made by one individual out of blue, light blue, white, and red paper squares. There are 60 folded paper examples as well as 9 large patterns comprised of 169 smaller folded paper examples; in total, there are 230 individual examples folded paper kindergarten art. The large patterns include one that resembles a house, and another that resembles the American flag. The album measures 7.5" by 11" and contains one large folding leaf comprised of 20 leaves of thick card, each hinge made of linen. Coated white decorated endpapers; upper board stamped in gilt with the word "FOLDING" Good to very good. Toning, extremities worn, linen hinges very delicate; four panels detached, with others starting. Minor dust soiling. Offsetting from red squares to opposite blank panel.

England, 1850. An artist's scrap book filled with over fifty (50) pieces of original art work and hand colored lithography and other pieces. What makes this scrap book a unique find, is the consistent fine quality of the work within. Some of the hand-colored lithography is so expertly done that it becomes hard to tell whether or not it is a lithographic print. Pieces of note are: the portrait of a young girl with ringlets, and another portrait of a man in a turban. Some beautiful landscapes of farmland (rendered in pencil), an old stone bridge (watercolor), a boldly colored butterfly (color pencil) and bird (ink & color pencil), and 'A Pas de Deux' of crabs (ink). Additionally includes a pith watch paper with a thistle. A finely detailed tropical bird on a rose stem with nearby butterfly adorned with dried flora. Along with artwork there are several original pieces of music and poetry. There are two pieces of music, a ballad and a round, along with their music score. The poems are both original… Read More