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Item Description:
Up for sale is an incredible, highly detailed museum-grade antique "Webster Composition" school notebook (No. 5573) from a Roanoke, Virginia estate sale, acting as a flawless 1917–1918 historical time capsule.
Provenance & Dates:
Clearly signed by the student owner, Helen Alma Dowdy, living at 421 Mountain Ave. SW, Roanoke, VA. Features a handwritten calendar log explicitly dating entries to Sunday, November 11, 1917, along with an auxiliary signed loose paper displaying hand-written Roman numerals practicing the years 1917 and 1918.
Comprehensive Listing Details (Over 40 Handwritten Pages & Premium Loose Inserts):
* Detailed 1861-1865 Civil War Timelines: Includes full pages mapping military campaigns, identifying commanders (Lee, Grant, Jackson, Stuart, Hooker, Meade), and analyzing regional outcomes. Features Manassas, Jackson's Valley Campaign, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, the Wilderness, the historic Monitor vs. Virginia (Merrimack) ironclad duel, and a unique Southern perspective tracking Gettysburg as a "drawn battle."
* Secession & States' Rights Analysis: A remarkable educational page cataloging the explicit political arguments for Southern secession, citing slavery alongside state constitution rights.
* Landmark Historical Closing Dates: Meticulously logs the 1865 dates for the Fall of Richmond, Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and Johnston's surrender.
* WWI Homefront Social History & Satirical Poetry: Features newspaper clipping overlays ("Paul Revere's Ride Brought Up to Date") urging the purchase of War Thrift Stamps for trench efforts, alongside handwritten comedic poems like "Husbands Complaint" reflecting domestic food rationing ("meatless Tuesdays, wheatless Wednesdays") and mocking "Bill Kaiser" (Kaiser Wilhelm II).
* Early American Comic Pop Culture & High Literature: Contains a marvelous handwritten comedic script from Mutt and Jeff (America's first successful daily comic strip), beautiful pencil drawings of the famous Campbell Kids cartoon figures, a copper coin pencil rubbing, a printed layout of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous poem "The Day is Done," and personal signed childhood autograph poetry.
* Progressive Era Domestic Science Notes: Features an early Home Economics layout specifying the architectural, ventilation, and sanitary requirements for a modern 1917 kitchen, butler's pantry, icebox/refrigerator, and living room.
* Premium Folk Art Card & Lace Inserts: Includes a brilliant, loose hand-colored 1910s flapper-transition folk art valentine illustration card titled "You're In Love" featuring a cupid drawing, the original antique metal page clip, a handwritten "St. Peter at the Gate" insert, a fragment of antique floral white lace trim, and a rare 1917 local family telephone directory sheet mapping early 4-digit party-line numbers (identifying Roanoke residents Lillian and J.P. Gettys).
Condition:
Authentic antique condition. Outer cover shows heavy edge wear and expected age-related spine split separation, but the internal pages, illustrations, and ink text are beautifully preserved, completely legible, clean, and soundly intact.
Please see all photos for exact condition details. Sold as-is as an exceptionally rare, multifaceted piece of early 20th-century Americana history. Shipped securely in a rigid cardboard mailer.
