This is a really interesting sketchbook, now part of the collection of the National Museum of Australia. It belonged to a young Aboriginal man named Oscar. The article is a bit vague about the circumstances of Oscar’s life– it sounds like he could have been a slave, or indentured servant, or at best an orphan … Continue reading Oscar’s Sketchbook
If you’re ever in the mood to splurge on something special, this might be a great way to do it: At $180.00, this is definitely a luxury item, but it’s gorgeous! Made by the Gilded Leaf Bindery in Tennessee, who specialize in hand bookbinding and book restoration. More details on eBay: Leather Pocket Diary Green … Continue reading 19th Century Style Leather Pocket Diary from Gilded Leaf Bindery
I’d love to flip through this old notebook: “This notebook was owned by the 19th Century poet, preacher, and naturalist, George Crabbe. The binding was damaged, and split along the joint, and some of the sections were loose. However, of most concern were the loose plant and insect specimens that were pressed between the pages.” … Continue reading Restoration of a 19th Century Naturalist’s Notebook
The Haverford College library has a collection of over 700 Quaker diary and journal manuscripts. The one shown below is the diary of Henry Hale Graham Sharpless from June 26, 1868. The original post linked to seems to have been deleted, but here’s one with some information about this collection:Exploring Hidden Collections – The 18th-19th … Continue reading Quaker Diaries and Journals
This is interesting: In reviewing volumes of diaries, mostly written by women, [a researcher] found many terse records about what was happening in daily life in the same style demanded by Twitter’s 140-character limit. Many diary entries ranged, for example, from what was for dinner to reports of deaths, births, marriages and travel, such as … Continue reading 18th Century Diaries Written Like Twitter