This volume contains 21 compositions by 12 students (eight girls and four boys) of Biddeford High School, Maine, between 1850 and 1851 (approx. 90 pages). These "prize compositions" pertain to subjects such as nature, morality, happiness, music, comparisons between the country as it was versus how it is now, industry, and intemperance.
The volume concludes with a one-page letter of thanks from Biddeford High School principal Horace Piper to his students, September 10, 1859, thanking them for the gift of a chair; and a two-page letter from the "Ladies [of] Biddeford" to the Triumph Engine Company (fire brigade), presenting them with an American flag.
Flyleaf: "Prize Compositions Biddeford High School, Fall Term, 1850"
- Page 1: "Botanical Chart"
- Pages 3-6: Elizabeth L. P. Adams, "Reading"
- Pages 7-9: Maria C. Grey, "Advantages of Industry"
- Pages 11-13: Hannah A. Burnham, "Saco Falls"
- Pages 15-18: Henri B. Haskell, "Beauties of Nature in Oxford County"
- Pages 19-24: Elizabeth L. P. Adams, "The Beauties of Nature"
- Pages 25-27: Robert Russell, "Beauties of Nature"
- Pages 29-32: Maria C. Grey, "The Beauties of Nature"
- Pages 33-36: Luther T. Mason, "The Art of Writing"
- Pages 39-41: Charles Nichols, "Children should obey their Parents"
Page 43: "Prize Compositions of Biddeford High School, Winter Term, 1850 and 1851"
- Pages 44-47: Maria C. Grey, "Happiness"
- Pages 48-51: Sarah M. Kendell, "A bad Sholar [sic.]"
- Pages 51-52: Unsigned, "Intemperance"
- Pages 56-59: John B. Lowell, "This Country as it was and as it is"
- Pages 60-64: Luther T. Mason, "This Country as it was, and as it is"
- Pages 65-67: Hannah A. Burnham, "Happiness"
- Pages 68-69: Ellen Smith, "Doing Good to Others"
- Pages 70-74: E. L. P. Adams, "Happiness"
Page 75: "Prize Compositions Biddeford High School, Spring Term, 1851"
- Pages 76-77: Maria C. Morton, "On The improvement of Time"
- Pages 78-80: Maria C. Morton, "To a Flower" (poem)
- Pages 81-84: Julia A. Lord, "Music"
- Pages 84-89: Maria C. Grey, "Flowers"
Concluding pages of the volume:
- Horace Piper, "A Card To my Former Pupils who honored me with a present on the ninth instant", Biddeford, September 10, 1859 (1 page)
- Ladies [of] Biddeford, to "Gentlemen of the Triumph Engine Company" (2 pages)
