{"product_id":"rhoba-saunders-1824-penmanship-notebook-scituate-ri","title":"Rhoba Saunders' Very Much of the Time 1824 Penmanship Notebook, Scituate, RI","description":"\u003cp\u003eYou know I love a penmanship practice notebook, but especially an early one, this one dating to 1824, kept by a Rhoba (\"Rhoby\") Saunders of Scituate, Rhode Island, for whom I've found a record (1802-1873, married to Matthew Hill, with whom she had seven children.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd this notebook provides a very good and interesting example of penmanship instruction for a woman during the early part of the 19th century, as \u003cspan class=\"iNqyIf\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003eNew England\u003c\/span\u003e experienced a dramatic rise in female literacy with the \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003erapid growth of private \u003c!--TgQPHd|||[]--\u003e\u003cspan class=\"rQesXe MPyX\"\u003efemale seminaries\u003c!--TgQPHd|||[]--\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e and academies. While men were instructed in \"round hand\" for business, women more often learned \"Italian hand\" or \"Ladies hand\" for domestic use, demonstrating refinement in social correspondence, etc. Here, Rhoba learned both, with one page dedicated to repeating the phrase \"Plain mercantile penmanship\" (round hand) and another to the phrase \"Italian hand for Ladies,\" rendered in ladies hand. Plus another (gorgeous) page of fraktur style ornamental lettering. So lots of information embedded in these pages, including, as always, about life and values of the time: (\u003cem\u003eHumanity commands esteem\u003c\/em\u003e; \u003cem\u003eBy a commendable deportment we gain reputation;\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eGovernments are maintained by rewards and punishment \u003c\/em\u003e(how apt!); \u003cem\u003eInnumerable annoyances attend men\u003c\/em\u003e (!); \u003cem\u003ePunishments commonly attend dishonesty\u003c\/em\u003e; \u003cem\u003eEducation was recommended by Xenophon\u003c\/em\u003e (rooting it in the Greek.) And a reminder, too, of how young the country was, with one page repeating the names of the four presidents who had completed terms to date, just neglecting Monroe, who served 1817-1825.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e7 3\/4\" x 6 3\/8\". 11 leafs (19 pp filled + inside covers, with several blank pages at the end). The majority documented. Very good condition, ink strong throughout and paper in very good condition. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"critical EYE Finds","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49010808586494,"sku":null,"price":135.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0015\/5022\/1382\/files\/IMG_6497.png?v=1789572742","url":"https:\/\/www.criticaleyefinds.com\/products\/rhoba-saunders-1824-penmanship-notebook-scituate-ri","provider":"critical EYE Finds","version":"1.0","type":"link"}