Browse Items (17 total)

One of the best parts of inscription paratexts is how the give you so much concrete information about the former owner of the book. In this image the inscription reads "Lucinda Hunley, Book Norfolk, June the 21 1801" and from this we get a name,…

This image featured another bookplate that reads "Birmingham School Board. 'A Perfect Attendance Prize' Presented to Edith Ellis (Scholar in the IV Standard) Board School Aug. 31st 1898. C.A. Bell Head Teacher. " This bookplate features a highly…

Drawings and doodles in books are always fascinating for what they can tell us about the child artist. In these images there are two illustrations of navy vessels, one more complete than the other. They are incredibly detailed, as far as book doodles…

This bookplate reads, as far as can be deciphered, "School Board of London / Flech Mel School, Thom Needham in Standard II attended punctually and regularly during the two School Quarters ended Dec 1880 and March 1881. Book Awarded for Punctual and…

This handwriting is a puzzle waiting to be solved. An intricate inscription, this handwriting features many flourishes and dots that add to the beauty, if also the illegibility. This style of handwriting likely means that the writer belonged to a…

Here we have an unusual book that features an inscription: "A. R. Perkins from his mother on his 9th birthday from his mother" The inscription isn't unusual in itself, from it we learn the child's name and the age he was when he first received the…

This images show nother way a book might have been bound to prevent damage, as well as newspaper or magazine articles that were pasted in. The book is a french textbook of sorts and it is interesting that the articles also reference the french…

This bookplate reads "Nottingham School Board. Bath Street Board School. Presented to James Harvey for regular attendance , good conduct, and attention to lessons during the year ended Aug 31 1881 / AH, Angrane. Head Teacher." At the bottom of the…

This image features a patriotic poem titled "Red, White, and Blue" that someone wrote into the book pages. It is a simple poem that the writer obviously took their time to write, drawing lines on the page so their writing would be straight and…

A photograph of two women was found within the pages of a book.