Browse Items (5 total)

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 another occurrence of poetry that was written into a book. These poems, however, were written by a child and are clearly playful, teasing remarks. These poems give us an idea of the child's personality and their relationships- who they…

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 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…

Books are often more than just things to be read, they can also be vessels for creative outlet, like this book was for whoever pasted in and wrote stanzas of poetry into the back page and back inside cover. The handwriting is difficult to make out in…