“The Chief's Daughter.” Rawdon, Wright, & Hatch. Title page engraving after a painting by John Gadsby Chapman. From Evergreen. 1847. (AY11.E7). General Collections. full caption | bibliographic record

In 1832, Miss Mary Ann S. Baird received from her brother a small gilt-edged volume bound in green leather entitled The Religious Souvenir (Philadelphia: Key, Mielke & Biddle, 1832; AY11.R4). His inscription to her appears at the front of the Library's copy. The book contains moral and religious stories and poems with nine engravings or “embellishments,” as they were often called. Miss Mary Ann was only one of thousands of American women to receive such gifts in the middle half of the nineteenth century. Each year between about 1825 and 1865, publishers issued beautifully bound, well-illustrated literary annuals to be used as gifts for friends and relatives; more than sixty titles a year appeared at midcentury.

The highly fanciful, romantic nature of the stories, delicate flower illustrations, and sentimental poetry in some gift books suggest that women and girls were the primary audience. Great care was taken in both the text and illustrations to adhere to the purest of sentiments. Nothing within the leather-bound covers would offend the most delicate sensibilities. Intended as a “family keepsake,” “gift book for all seasons,” or “bridal gift,” these ornamental works adorned drawing-room tables and provided entertainment for the whole year. Among the titles in the General Collections are Amaranth (14 vols.; 1831-54; AY11.A35-37), Rose of Sharon (1840-57; AY11.R6), Snowflake (1846; 1849-52; 1854-55; AY11.S58-62), and Christian Keepsake and Missionary Annual (1838-40, 1847-49; AY11.C53).

Gift books appeared at a time when the growing middle class had more money to spend conspicuously (a single volume could cost as much as $5.00 at a time when a textile mill worker earned about $3.50 a week) and more leisure to devote to literary pursuits. They featured the work of many American writers and illustrators and contributed to national pride by demonstrating the high level of culture in the United States.

Women regularly contributed stories and poems to the annuals and also served as editors. Four of the many writers represented are:

• Lydia Maria Child
• Catharine Beecher
• Emma Embury
• Hannah Flagg Gould

Researchers can explore images of women and girls in both the engravings and the stories, and examine literary pieces by women authors both well-known and unfamiliar. The Library holds more than one thousand volumes of gift books and annuals in the general, rare book, and microform collections, and has recently acquired American Literary Annuals and Gift Books, 1825-1865 (New Haven, Conn.: Research Publications, 1966; MicRR guide no. AY10.T52 K57 [catalog record], Microfilm 99/21) [catalog record], an extensive microform set based on Ralph Thompson's bibliography and indexed by E. Bruce Kirkham.