Album of Mementoes (Autograph album / friendship book with chromolithograph plates)

Hardcover 8vo, n.p. Bound with multiple color paper stocks and featuring 6 chromolithograph plates. Fair condition. On one page, J. E. Chapin writes in 1860: "All our earthly friends will pass away & even this memento whose leaf breathes the inspiration of purest love will be torn, crumbled & fall to mingle with the dust of the faithful hand which penned a line for precious memory..." Partially true! The spine of the album has evidently crumbled and been lost to dust, along with some of the leather on the boards, and is now lined with cloth tape which is fairly inconspicuous under the mylar wrap. The binding is generally in a mixed state of repair but is nevertheless sturdy and secure. The stars of this album are the six chromolithograph plates, which have some mild foxing but are overall clean and bright. Only a handful of album entries, the earliest dating to 1853. The album belonged to Mrs. Elizabeth Wilson in Strattanville--presumed Strattanville, Pennsylvania, founded by Mrs. Wilson's stepfather, John Strattan. Her obituary mentions, "In her mansion there was the 'Prophets room' where the itinerant found retirement and rest," which is alluded to in one of the guest's inscriptions. A nice album, desirable for the striking chromolithographs.