[Commonplace book]

Manuscript, in multiple hands, of a collection of about 100 short English verses concerning such subjects as friendship, nature, and deaths of family members. Titles and authors include The Child’s First Grief by Baxter, Walking Out into the Fields by "Miss Anna Maria Porter," and Lines on a Wild Rose, by "Eliza Thomas 18th June 1831." The volume also includes several verses about album-writing, including a preface titled Address to an Album signed "M. B. 1828," The Album’s Petition, and an untitled poem beginning "Write for an album! What a task for me!" by Selina Barker. 27 detailed watercolor and pencil drawings of flowers, birds, butterflies, country views, harbor scenes, and architectural subjects, several of them touched with gilt, are interspersed throughout the volume.