A Book a Day, week 2

BOOK EIGHT
Well, this week started off with a rare find that I was very much not expecting. This book isn't a book at all, but a photo album from the 1860s. There are 16 pages, with 32 photos, although I have found a 33rd photo hidden behind the very last one.

There is no writing (printed or handwritten) in the book at all, but many of the photo cards (they are some kind of thick, durable cardstock) do have some notes on them.

As carefully as I could, I pulled some of the photos out of the sleeves to inspect. On the back of a few photo cards: "Geo. Wells, Photographer. Rollins Street, Macon, Mo."

Underneath that is a blue 2-cent postal stamp with George Washington's face on it over which the photographer seems to have signed and dated his photo. "Wells, August 1866"

Another is stamped with "Photographed by L. H. Freeborn, Court Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa." Another, but red, George Washing stamp underneath that one, but with no writing on it.

Some photo cards have nothing on the back, others have different photographers from different cities.

A very few of them have names (presumably of the subject) written on them. Most being in 140-yr-old cursive that I can hardly make out. None of them names are recognizable as family, as far as I can tell.

The subjects range in age greatly, the oldest being a long-bearded Darwin clone, the youngest being an infant in a stroller named Emma Mullins - that photo taken by "Marion Berry & Racine, Photographers, Trenton, Missouri"

BOOK NINE
"Of The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A Kempis, who was a monk who lived from 1380 to 1471 and wrote this around 1418. This book was presented as a gift to Friederick Baettger for Chirstmas 1925, as the inscription inside the front cover indicates. The name is not familiar to me, but my grandfather put his name in the front cover as well, three times, each with a different address (2 in Whittier, 1 in Van Nuys)

The bookmark inside is from the Bodhi Tree Bookstore on Melrose Ave. It opened in 1970 and is possibly closing in the fall of 2011.

BOOK TEN
"New Testament and Psalms" is a fairly battered book, and the cover is held together by clear tape. Inside the front cover is an inscription from my great-grandmother to my grandmother: "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make ye free - Juliette - dearest love from Mother, October 28 - 1927" In pencil, "(John 8:32)" was written in for reference on the quote.

Between the pages of Psalms 23-27, there is a small knitted cross bookmark and an Emerson quote on orange paper, the other side of the quote being a church activities calendar, listing couples club, singles club, potlucks, etc.

Stuck inside the back cover is a National Geographic Society Membership card from 1990, unsigned.

Also, I received an unusual text from my sister this afternoon.

"Grandma's missing!"

I showed my friend the text and he got all worried, as if I should run off and go find her or something. I explained, "Oh, no. It's cool - she's dead." Which only make him more confused.

Since I've started this project, I've been harassing my sister and parents for family information and there's been some renewed interest in our family history. So my sister decided to go visit our grandparents' graves today. But our grandmother's gravestone - which should have been right next to our grandfather's - wasn't there. After freaking out and texting my brother and I, she went to go find a groundskeeper for help. As it turns out, grandma was there all along. Just buried underneath 4 inches of dirt and grass, is all.

Photos courtesy of Allison Fry Photography, 2010.

BOOK ELEVEN
"Theosophical Manuals Number Three - Death and After?" by Annie Besant F.T.S., 1893.

My great-grandmother wrote her name inside the front cover and on the next page is Barbara R. Garver's name. So it looks like we were correct in thinking that B. R. Garver was Barbara. Still hoping to solidify the connection to Bayne and George, though.

In the back of the book is information on joining The Theosophical Society as well as a list of other works for sale. My favorite is "Lucifer - A monthly magazine of Theosophy and the Occult Sciences". Annice Besant is listed as the editor of this as well. A subscription costs 17 shillings. Just one copy, 1 shilling.

Also: "A group photograph of Col. Olcott (President of the T.S.), William Q. Judge (Vice-President), and Annie Besant can be obtained by writing to the Theosophical Society, 17 and 19, Avenue Road, Regent's Park, N.W. Price - 6 shillings."

Taken from the wikipedia article on Annie Besant: "In 1873 she married Frank Besant and moved to London where she became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society and writer and a close friend of Charles Bradlaugh. In 1877 they were prosecuted for publishing a book by birth control campaigner Charles Knowlton. The scandal made them famous and Bradlaugh was elected MP for Northampton in 1880.

In 1908 Annie Besant became President of the Theosophical Society and began to steer the society away from Buddhism and towards Hinduism."

I must remember to look this lot up on my next trip to London.

BOOK TWELVE
"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, 1868-69 - this publishing 1912.

Inside the front cover, signed: "Billie Garver, from Jean - July sixteenth 1913" Presumably from my great-grandmother to her cousin, Billie, who was Bayne's sister.


BOOK THIRTEEN
"Beautiful Joe" by Marshall Saunders, 1893 - this publishing 1898. This is supposedly an autobiography.

Inside the front cover: "To my dear little daughter Jean, from her Mother, August 28th, 1899."

Preface: "Beautiful Joe is a real dog, and "Beautiful Joe" is his real name. He belonged during the first part of his life to a cruel master, who mutilated him in the manner described in the story. He was rescued from him, and is now living in a happy home with pleasant surroundings, and enjoys a wide local celebrity.
The character of Laura is drawn from life, and to the smallest detail is truthfully depicted. The Morris family has its counterparts in real live, and nearly all of the incidents of the story are founded on fact."

I love how, even in 1893, autobiographies didn't have to be 100% truth.

The introduction, referencing "Black Beauty" and how that book paved the way for other books to shed light upon animal cruelty and welfare, is written by one Hezekiah Butterworth who "was a well-known writer of books for young people, and a poet." (taken from wikipedia)

Seriously - Hezekiah Butterworth.

BOOK FOURTEEN
Chief Tahachee "was an Old Settler Cherokee Indian who was an author, a stage actor, a film extra, and a vaudeville performer. He was married seven times, fathered ten children, and died June 9, 1978" (taken from wikipedia)

He wrote 4 books. His first and most popular, "Poems of Dreams", was written in 1942.

Inscribed inside the front cover: "Cordially, Chief Tahachee"