1840s Friendship Album of Young Lady from Devon with Original Artwork, Valentines, Ephemera

Devon, England, 1854. Fair to poor. Binding defective with some leaves loose, spine with large chips. Toning, dust soiling, spotting.. A particularly nice example of a young lady's friendship album from Devon, England, with entries dating between 1839 and 1854. Includes a title-page made with original artwork and penmanship flourishes to mimic engraved title pages of the time. Nearly every leaf is filled with poetry musing on friendship and religion, by friends, with towns from Devon including Tiverton, Newport, and Knowstone. Ephemera pasted in the book include: a 3" by 4.5" Society of Jesus card of the ten commandments with tiny engraved text; a 3.5" by 2.5" stipple engraving of a young girl; leaves with embossed pictorial borders; lace paper butterfly scraps; two sentiments lithographed in gold on colored celluloid; an original pencil drawing of a man in a winter cap; cut scraps of hand colored lithograph illustrations; an original watercolor of an open book; and engravings excised from books. There are also two 12mo-sized valentines, including a very fine one with hidden penned messages under delicate scraps titled "May you ever possess Friendship's Offering" (one scrap lacking). The name on the title page appears to read "E.F. Carr". Single vol. (9.25" by 7.5"), approx. 75 leaves, nearly all filled with manuscript and ephemera, in original embossed leather album binding. (Inventory #: 25006111)