I've always wanted to find one of these, but this is the first I've come across still with its full deck of inserts, and an early one--made by CC Shepherd c. 1875. There were two different versions of this produced: one opening like a desk to store the guides (and chalk) inside, and this one, with a niche at top into which the plates fit together stacked. (There is an orange ribbon visible when they are removed, the end of which would have served as a sort of pull, but it has worn; as is, one just needs to slide them a hair one way to remove them, easy. The eight inserts are each double sided, and were meant to serve as guides for writing and drawing, featuring lower and upper case alphabets, numbers, and various shapes and objects. Really great looking I think, with the slate usable still.
10 1/2 x 7 3/4 x 1 7/8” and in good overall condition. The slate itself will slide a bit when the cards are removed and the whole thing is just a little wobbly, but sound and stable. All of the inserts are in very good condition excepting a good amount of surface wear to the one with the eye and ear and mouth, just on that side of it.
