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University of Michigan William L. Clements Library

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909 South University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
clements-reference@umich.edu

Friendship and Autograph Album collection, 1826-1944 (majority within 1826-1908)

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Summary

Creator:
William L. Clements Library
Abstract:
The Clements Library's collection of individual friendship and autograph albums (the ones that are not part of larger bodies of family papers) dates primarily from the second half of the 19th century. The creators of these albums sought out friends, family, schoolmates, public persons, and others to write signatures, sentiments, poetry, extracts from books and serials, personal sentiments, and more. Contributions often emphasize ties of friendship, exhortations to seek love, happiness, or Christian religious salvation. Most of the volumes in this collection were compiled in the Northeast United States and areas in the Midwest, with urban and rural areas represented. The greater number of the albums were kept by young women and the bulk of the signers were also female. Contributors occasionally illustrated pages with calligraphic designs, trompe l'oeil visiting cards, animals, flowers, and themes that had particular significance to their relationship with the keeper of the album. The volumes in this collection are largely decorative blank books adorned with tooled covers, sometimes containing interspersed engravings of religious, literary, historical, and landscape themes. Some include pasted-in photographs, die-cuts, or stickers.
Extent:
53 volumes
Language:
English
German
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Sara Quashnie and Cheney J. Schopieray, 2022

Background

Scope and Content:

The Clements Library's collection of individual friendship and autograph albums (the ones that are not part of larger bodies of family papers) dates primarily from the second half of the 19th century. The creators of these albums sought out friends, family, schoolmates, public persons, and others to write signatures, sentiments, poetry, extracts from books and serials, personal sentiments, and more. Contributions often emphasize ties of friendship, exhortations to seek love, happiness, or Christian religious salvation. Most of the volumes in this collection were compiled in the Northeast United States and areas in the Midwest, with urban and rural areas represented. The greater number of the albums were kept by young women and the bulk of the signers were also female. At least one volume was kept by an African American man, Lewis G. Mosebay. Contributors occasionally illustrated pages with calligraphic designs, trompe l'oeil visiting cards, animals, flowers, and themes that had particular significance to their relationship with the keeper of the album. The volumes in this collection are largely decorative blank books adorned with tooled covers, sometimes containing interspersed engravings of religious, literary, historical, and landscape themes. Some include pasted-in photographs, die-cuts, or stickers.

Biographical / Historical:

No biographical content is available for this finding aid, except the information contained in the volume descriptions in the box and folder listing.

Acquisition Information:
1945-2024. M-569, M-1631, M-1898, M-1899, M-2623a, M-3245, M-3295.7, M-4418, M-4506.7, M-4538.4, M-4574.1, M-4969, M-6031.2, M-6031.4, M-6031.5, M-6032, M-7037, M-7124, M-7130, M-7151, M-7181, M-7187.2, M-7209.4, M-7347.2, M-7437, M-7496.2, M-7601.3, M-7711.2, M-7721.3, M-7785.2, M-7808.2, M-7907, M-7924, M-7955.1, M-7965.4, M-7967.1, M-8025.2, M-8038.6. M-8054.1, M-8059.2, M-8072, M-8078, M-8180.2, M-8180.3, M-8262.1, M-8268, M-8311 .
Arrangement:

This collection of bound volumes is arranged alphabetically by the name of the keeper of the album, with smaller and oblong volumes housed at the end of the collection. If the creator's name is unknown, volumes are incorporated into the alphabetic arrangement by album title or geographic location.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Subjects

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Subjects:
Acrostics.
Aesthetics.
Autograph albums.
Autographs.
Christian poetry.
Death.
Ethics.
Farewells.
Friends .
Friendship.
High school students.
Hunters.
Inspiration.
Jokes.
Male friendship.
Marriage.
Nature.
Poetry.
Prayer.
Quakers.
Quotations.
Reminiscences.
School friends.
Schoolgirls.
Teachers.
Teenage girls.
Teenagers.
Virtue.
Women.
African Americans.
Animals.
Antisemitism.
Banners.
Birds.
Brides.
Buildings.
Caricatures.
Cartoons and comics.
Castles.
Children.
Cottages.
Cupid.
Draperies.
Flowers.
Fruit.
Insects.
Jews.
Lakes.
Landscapes.
Leaves.
Lighthouses.
Men.
Monuments.
Moths.
Older people.
Parents.
Parties.
Pens.
Pets.
Picture frames and framing.
Sailing ships.
Siblings.
Soldiers.
Sporting goods.
Trompe-l'oeil.
Visiting cards.
Wildflowers.
Women.
Wreaths.
Formats:
Autograph albums.
Autographs (manuscripts)
Blankbooks.
Blotters (writing equipment)
Cartoons (humorous images)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Cloth.
Engravings (prints)
Essays.
Folding fans.
Leaf (plant material)
Letters (correspondence)
Newspaper clippings.
Pen and ink drawings.
Photographs.
Pencil drawings.
Ribbon (material)
Stickers.
Tintypes (photographs)
Watercolors (paintings)
Names:
College of New Jersey (Princeton, N.J.)--Students.
Eastman National Business College (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)
Pennsylvania. General Assembly.
Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest--Students.
Retreat for the Insane at Hartford.
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot), 1805-1877.
Bellair, Emily Arndt, b. ca. 1840.
Bragg, Joshua, 1865-1936.
Burley, Jacob, 1817-1889.
Cabot, Betsey N.
Cobb, N. A. (Nathan Augustus), 1859-1932.
Cresson, Sallie.
Davis, Adelaide Harris, 1841-.
Dovell, Elizabeth.
Dunning, John Sherburne, ca. 1828-1916.
Fay, Myra, 1860-1954.
Fiske, Edward Austin.
Gallaudet, T. H. (Thomas Hopkins), 1787-1851.
Geary, Kate G., 1857-1909.
Greenleaf, Henry M.
Greenwood, Joseph H., 1857-1927.
Howland, Caroline H.
King, Bonnie.
McCarron, Clara.
Miller, Floy, 1872-1947.
Moss, Eleanor I.
Mosebay, Lewis G., 1865-1935.
Nethers, Laura L., 1851-1932.
Palmer, F. (Fanny), 1812-1876.
Parry, Sarah R.
Pelton, Elizabeth Ann.
Pettingill, Rachel Clapp, 1805-1858.
Porter, Harry Hill, 1885-.
Proctor, Sophie, 1848-1883.
Putney, Katie.
Redmond, Mary Walter.
Roemer, Anna, 1860-1912.
Simpson, Mary Jane.
Stewart, Clement, 1842-1921.
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874.
Westfall, Louise May, 1875-1964.
Wilcox, Bertha M., 1887-1969.
Places:
Beaman (Iowa)
Boston (Mass.)
Bristol (R.I.)
Brooklyn (Mich.)
Brunswick (Me.)
Cambridge (Mass.)
Chicago (Ill.)
Detroit (Mich.)
Duxbury (Mass.)
Harrisburg (Pa.)
Hartford (Mich.)
Livingston County (Mich.)
Maine.
New Richland (Ohio)
Ohio.
Plymouth (Mass.)
Princeton (N.J.)
Smyrna (Del.)
Spencer (Mass.)
Tyrone (Mich.)
Warwick (N.Y.)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Friendship and Autograph Album Collection, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan