Another week, another penmanship notebook, because I love them and each tells its own story--of an individual, and a particular time and place, and I find so much poetry in them, this one the work of a young Nelia Downing of Mason County, Kentucky, with what looks to me like 1870 written on one page. This one is a little musty (a couple of pages pictured at they end showing quite a lot of foxing), and is missing covers, and the few first pages are just holding on by a thread--but there are some good pages here, and some very good phrases repeated over and over again, and I like that her handwriting was far from perfect--a far cry from Spencerian uniformity--and with painterly ink splotches here and there! It is also very infused with religiosity! "God loves little children." "Remember thy creator in the days of they youth." "Heaven from all creatures hides his book." "All nature declares the glory of God." "A good mind is on of God's best gifts." "There is a divinity that shapes our ends." But also "Be good and you will be loved", "Pursue the path of truth and honor." "Never deceive another even in jest." "Sweet are the uses of adversity." "One today is worth two tomorrow." "This is a dark and gloomy day." "Be kind to all you chance to meet." "Never be afraid to do right." "Never fear to speak the truth." "Justice my sleep but never die." And my personal favorite (in part because written with a most excellent "B" at the beginning): "Blessings brighten as they fade." I also love "This is a specimen of my handwriting" especially for the use of the word specimen!
9 3/4" x 7 3/4". 21 leafs entirely filled front and back. Some mustiness as noted and the first few pages barely attached by the string binding, but the rest holding together pretty well, ink is strong, and there are a bunch of really nice moments in it.
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