I have to think Emma Whittmore of Maine did not have her own notebook in which to keep a daily diary, so in make do fashion turned to this small Baptist Question Book on International Bible Lessons instead, printed with every other page blank, giving resourceful Emma room to write. And with pages not even 5 1/2 inches tall, she had to write pretty small! The entries are numbered to correspond to days of the month, beginning with January 1885 and progressing through to May 1888, with gaps here and there. Sometimes her entry is simply "Nothing to Write"--which she comes to abbreviate as "NTW" as it occurs fairly often--but other times she writes of the weather, or of receiving a letter, or having a visit, or of her "Momma" and "Papa" and their activities. Later on, "I wish I could find something to do to earn something. I write like a fool," or "I have got a big sore on my face." And then still later, mentions of diptheria spreading, and her working in a shop, work work work, and "I feel so homesick." And the very last entry, in May of 1888, "Began my silk crazy quilt." Almost all in pencil, with the style of her writing naturally progressing over time, and with rarely straight lines dividing the entries, I find it quite a touching thing.
5 3/8" x 3 3/8" x 1 1/16", 182 pages, about half of the book filled with diary entries plus doodles on the inside cover pages. Good condition, binding holding together well.
