Our oldest book to date. With a 1895 inscription, the book is even older, containing Washington Irving stories published in serial form in 1819 and 1820 and then issued as The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. I clearly paid insufficient attention when I found this gem at the beach (and I’ll use being at the beach as my excuse), as I thought it was a sketchbook in which one might, you know, sketch. But, no, it contains “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” English major mea culpa.
Presented by
Friends First Home School
1st. Mo. 6th. 1895.
What are your thoughts or feelings on the inscription? Please take a moment and let us know in the comments below.
Also, if you have found some inscriptions of your own, by all means, I encourage you to click here and share them with us! I’d really like to build up a collection of them with your help!
Thanks!
-Donna Q
maryb says
September 2, 2015 at 10:51 pmthe inscription makes wome wonder if the book was an award issued by the school to student completing a class or winning a contest..like a writing contest
Donna Quixote says
September 3, 2015 at 12:51 amHi MB,
I wondered the same thing. “Presented by” certainly reads that way.
Wished I’d looked at this book more closely when I saw it, as it turns out to be some really interesting Washington Irving stories, serialized in seven volumes and written under the title The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
Interesting to imagine the context in which these books were given.