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THE BENISON: A FRIEND’S GIFT
The Lady’s Manual of Moral and Intellectual Culture
New York, 1854 | Elaborate Gilt Morocco Leather | Hand-Colored Frontispiece
An attractive antebellum American gift book in richly gilt claret morocco leather, combining illustrated presentation-book design with nineteenth-century writings on women’s education, domestic life, religion, and social influence.
A Christmas 1853 presentation inscription gives this copy a particularly appropriate connection to its original purpose. Later gift and ownership inscriptions suggest its continued preservation as a family Hubbard, and Elizabeth Poole Sandford. The Lady’s Manual of Moral and Intellectual Culture. New York: Leavitt & Allen, 1854. Copyright 1853. With the additional title The Benison: A Friend’s Gift.
Small format, approximately 12mo. Preliminary matter followed by separately paginated sections ending at pages 81 and 175. Illustrated with engraved plates, including a hand-colored frontispiece with tissue guard.
Elaborate Morocco Leather Binding
Full deep claret morocco leather, the covers extensively decorated in gilt with scrolling foliage, floral ornaments, latticework devices, and an oval chain-pattern border. The title “The Benison” appears in Gothic lettering within a central oval cartouche.
Smooth spine with gilt title and ornamental decoration; all page edges gilt. The broad gilt borders and densely ornamented covers give the volume considerable decorative appeal, despite wear to the leather.
Women’s Education and Domestic Life
The volume brings together two works:
• Hubbard Winslow, Woman as She Should Be, addressing women’s prescribed social sphere, Christianity, and education.
• Elizabeth Poole Sandford, Woman in Her Social and Domestic Character, examining education, marriage, household responsibilities, religious character, and personal influence.
Together, these texts offer a revealing primary source for the study of nineteenth-century ideals of femininity and the expectations surrounding women’s intellectual and domestic lives.
The hand-colored frontispiece depicts a young woman seated at an easel, an appealing illustration of the artistic accomplishments associated with female education in the period.
Presentation and Ownership Inscriptions
The preliminary leaves contain a Christmas 1853 presentation to Maggie A. Murray, a later gift inscription from “Grandma” to “Minnie,” and initials or a signature read as “J.C.M.,” dated 1904.
These inscriptions add personal interest and suggest the book’s passage between family members. Please see the photographs for the handwriting and exact wording.
Condition
An attractive but worn copy. Both boards remain attached. The leather shows rubbing, scuffing, fading, and surface loss, particularly along the spine, joints, board edges, and corners. Wear is most pronounced at the spine ends and exposed edges. The gilt cover decoration remains substantially bright and clearly defined.
Internally, there is scattered to substantial foxing, spotting, and age toning, including around some plates and on adjacent leaves. Hand-colored frontispiece retains its tissue guard. Presentation and ownership inscriptions appear on the preliminary leaves.
Illustrated with multiple engraved plates; the full plate complement has not been verified. Please examine all photographs for condition and the illustrations included.
A decorative example of the American gift-book tradition, with additional interest for collectors of women’s history, conduct literature, nineteenth-century illustration, and antique leather bindings.
