1899 Seat Work notebook with drawing, writing, spelling and math

29 leaves fastened with two brads, set in a cloth-backed heavy card boards with a watercolor pinwheel motif pasted to the cover, 5.5 x 8 inches. Chipping to the lower corner with some residual nibbling at the edges of the first few pages not affecting the content. Most recently from Texas with pencil signature on cover, "Anna V," and additional pencil scribbles throughout, partially erased.

A collection of exercises in spelling, arithmetic, drawing and composition created in May 1899 (the binding itself was also likely a "Seat Work" project). Many lessons incorporate natural history, including the transformation of a moth, a fable about the sun and a lamp. The story of "Mr. Whittier," tells how as a young boy he was rejected by girl in class because of his spelling mistakes (though she confessed after school to loving him). The notebook concludes, "I hope my work is right;" the teacher's remarked, "Very neat work. I am sorry you made some mistakes." We hope nobody was rejected for them.