Gift Books: Part Two

I spent all day today working on cataloging The Keepsake, it was a run from 1828 to 1857 that had been re-bound in a contemporary half-vellum with a lovely brown and cream marbled paper. I saw a lot of amazing artwork and first appearances in print of poetry and short stories by Charles Dickens, E. B. Browning, Mary Shelley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and many more. It is exciting to hold a volume that someone else first read a Mary Shelley poem or sighed with romantic languor to work by E. B. Browning. My favorite part of the engravings are the enlarged eyes and delicate hands, they capture such tender emotion. Here are some of the photos I took today! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Some things never change... 

My absolute favorite. 

The impression of the type on this paper is so crisp! I love it!