Rare Books
Fan : The ladies telegraph, for corresponding at a distance
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Fan : Oracle
Rare Books
Folding paper fan, mounted on wooden sticks. Fan etched and hand-colored with a wheel of fortune in center, above which are two winged figures in the clouds; a series of panels in floral frames containing questions and examples as to foretelling the future; on the verso, symbols of the different deities and verses illustrating the various rings of fortune.
603579
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Fan with illustration of four Lewes children [realia]
Visual Materials
A folding fan made of fabric and mounted on wooden sticks. Fan includes hand-painted details illustrating a scene of four children walking hand-in-hand. The fan is layered with black fabric on both recto and verso; the recto's top layer of black fabric was cut out into outlines of the children's profiles, revealing a silk layer of fabric underneath that was then hand-painted with varying colors and details. The first child is shown in profile, holding a reticule in hand while leading the other three children who follow. Provenance from the donor suggests that the children depicted are George Henry Lewes's children with his wife Agnes Jervis; based on the family history, however, the children depicted are likely that of Agnes Jervis's with later-partner Thornton Leigh Hunt, as George Henry Lewes did not have any daughters. The approximate date of the item is based on the birth dates of the children.
priPEF 109
Fan : A bill of fare for a wedding dinner
Rare Books
Engraved fan comprising one large oval and two crescent-shaped compartments, containing circles, ovals, etc., arranged as dishes on a table, each bearing an inscription in riddle form, for example "Melancholy Soup with Crooked Sauce", "Part of the Zodiac Butterd", "Pride Reversed in a Pye", "The Divine Part of a Man Boiled", etc., above a scroll with title inscription, on either side a cupid in a medallion, with doves, flowers, etc. Folding paper fan, mounted on wooden sticks.
644640
Steps to Art
Visual Materials
One boxed painting set entitled Steps to Art, ca. 1920. This set is comprised of 8 rectangular cakes of watercolor paint, a paintbrush, 2 glass jars, a white porcelain mixing tray with three wells, and a hinged folder inside of which are mounted two books: one is entitled Studies, the other Subjects. Each book consists of 16 leaves; Studies contains color images to be used as samples, and Subjects contains the same images, in outline form, for painting. This folder is bound in black and gold marbled paper, and is decorated on the top cover with a color image of a sailboat. The larger box is also covered in black and gold marbled paper, and the same image is mounted in the upper left-hand corner of the lid. Some of the images in the Subject book have been painted in with watercolor. Neither a manufacturer's name, nor a date, are given.
ephKAEE
Myrianthea, or Numberless Groups of Changeable Flowers. Superior Edition
Visual Materials
One boxed set of paper flowers entitled The Myrianthea; or Numberless Groups of Changeable Flowers. Superior Edition, published, and manufactured, by John Burgis, of London, published [1823]. The set is comprised of 61 paper cutout (and watercolored) images of flowers and leaves, flat sticks to mount the paper cut outs onto, three composition sheets with slots for insertion of the flowers (to create a paper floral arrangement), and an instruction booklet. The accompanying booklet is entitled Myrianthea; or, Numberless Groups of Changeable Flowers: Intended to Teach, by the most ready and easy means, the Art of Composing, Drawing, and Colouring Groups of Flowers; with Directions to Assist the Student in Copying from Nature. To which is added, The Method of imitating Bronze Vases, Shading and Varnishing Gold Ornaments used in Ladies Fancy Works, &c.&c.&c.. The dedication is signed "John Burgis." The 22 page booklet includes instructions on the use of the flowers, and how to paint the vases and background flowers over which the cut outs are placed. The instructions include color samples that have been hand painted in watercolor. [The paper in this book is watermarked 1823; no other dates of manufacture or publishing have been printed on other parts of the kit.] The kit is housed within an elaborately decorated paperboard box.
ephKAEE
Japanese smallpox manuscript volume, approximately 1860
Manuscripts
Handwritten and illustrated book in Japanese on smallpox. The 29 double pages are mounted to an accordion-style book with stiff pages, and contain 27 hand-colored illustrations, many of which show the disease in three-dimension. The Kanbun text is handwritten. The book is covered in satin brocade with a paper title slip. Housed in a silk folding sleeve, also with paper title slip.
mssHM 82443