The Sophia M. Eckley sketchbook contains 22 sketches of various landscapes and cottages. An inscription on the first page indicates that the sketchbook belonged to Sophie M. Eckley, and the sketches are of Nahant, Massachusetts, drawn in July 1853. The inside front cover has an engraved retailers' label from N. D. Cotton of Boston, "importer and dealer in English, French and American stationery, drawing and painting materials." Also written inside the front cover is a list of dry goods.
Of the 22 sketches, 21 were made in pencil, with one in pastel. Many blank pages follow the first 21 sketches, and on the very last page is a sketch of a man's head with the caption, "Peter Parleys Picture Book."
The majority of the sketches include captions and are of various landscapes and cottages on the coast of Nahant. Specific landscapes depicted include Sunken Lodge, Spectacle Beach, Deer Island, Pea Island, Caste Rock, and Swallow Cave.
Sophia "Sophie" May Tuckerman (1823-1874) was born in Boston in 1823 to Edward Francis Tuckerman, III and Sophia May Tuckerman. Both of her parents were from distinguished Massachusetts families. Louisa May Alcott was Sophie's second cousin through her mother's side. In 1848 Sophia married David Eckley, Jr. (1820-1895), and had two children: David Eckley, III and William Hickling Prescott (1851-1852). By 1855, the family moved to Florence, Italy and traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. In 1857, the Eckleys met poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (known by her penname EBB) and her husband Robert Browning. Sophia and Elizabeth became close friends for a few years, exchanging frequent correspondence mostly about matters of spiritualism before having a falling out over the truthfulness of Eckley's claimed communication with the spirits of Browning's dead relatives.
In addition to her sketches, Sophia Eckley also spent time writing. In 1860, she published a travel log of her experiences in Egypt and the Middle East, titled The Oldest of the Old World. She also published two books of poetry, Poems in 1863 and Minor Chords in 1869.
In 1863, Sophia and David separated, prompting Sophia and her surviving son to resettle in Boston. They returned to Europe one year later and lived in Paris where Sophia Eckley died in 1874.
