1864 Maine Friendship Album - Leaves of Affection

In the 19th century, many middle-class young women owned a friendship album. Simply titled “Album”, these blank volumes were often given to young ladies as a birthday, coming of age, or graduation gift. They would come to contain treasured messages from family and friends, sometimes original, but often copied from poetry collections of the day.

LEAVES OF AFFECTION was published by Leavitt & Allen, New York. It measures 6 3/8” x 7 7/8”. It is made from embossed brown leather covered boards, gilded on the front and back covers. The decorative title is in a blue center cameo on both the front and back covers. The word ALBUM is gilded on the embossed and gilded spine. There are five tissue covered steel engravings including the frontispiece and the title page. There are pink, blue, ivory, and yellow gilt edged writing pages.

The volume belonged to Annie M. Frye, given to her by her Mother on May 24, 1864. There are seven entries, most from friends and family in and around Lewiston, ME. There are also nine double page spreads of shadows left from pressed maple and other other leaves. It looks like Miss Frye took the title of her album literally.

The album is in good condition and tightly bound with a few points to note. The cover edges are rubbed, the corners are bumped and the edges of the spine are chipped. The back endpapers and final pages have ripples. Please examine the photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

While you are here, do enjoy the other albums I have available at this time. Thank you for visiting my shop today.