[Agnes] Jessie Hunter’s Autograph Album 1882-1885

Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts: 1882-1885. 17.5x10.5cm: 100pp. Faded purple velvet boards with “album” and leaf decorations stamped in gilt to the front cover along with leaf and border details stamped to both front and back. Leaf decorations stamped to a sunned spine. Contains 100 pages with all leaves being autographed on either the verso or recto, with many being autographed on both. First two leaves detached (containing owner’s signature), but laid in. Heavy weight paper is lightly toned with very little foxing. Most of the entries are from January and February of 1882, with sporadic autographs of years up to 1885. Dates do not necessarily appear in chronological order. Cover lightly worn with some loss to gilt accents. Front cover being more sunned and faded than the back. Spine cracked at the front endpaper gutter, with all but two leaves holding. Very Good.

From what we can gather, [Agnes] Jessie Hunter was the oldest of two daughters, born about 1865 and raised in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Through some sleuthing, we discovered that most of the sweet well wishes and signatures were from fellow classmates and even a few from her teachers. This, along with her having started at Bridgewater High School in 1878, leads us to believe that this was a graduation album. Our favorite entry is from Thomas W. Herrick who wrote “your friend” in morse code and then beautifully drew a ship at the bottom of the page below the date. Jessie later married Albert H. Hooper (classmate and author of one of the inscriptions) whose family owned the local general store Hooper & Co or “Old Reliable”. Laid in is a small handmade booklet of folded lined paper with a few pages of signatures and messages from a few of Jessies’s classmates. Based on the immature handwriting, we believe this to be a mini autograph album from elementary school. The most interesting entry in this booklet states, “Your true friends,/Red Headed Indian/Tow-headed N****r.” Fun little album from a historic New England town.

Price: $70.00

Item #10105