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Collection

A Missionary's Fate. A Prophecy illustrated poem, [1868-1870s?]

1 volume

An anonymous author dedicated this 44cm x 29cm volume, "A Missionary's Fate. A Prophecy," to Miss Minnie Jenks, in or after 1868. It includes seven pages of neatly written, rhyming, narrative poetry accompanied by five ink and watercolor illustrations. This xenophobic cautionary poem and illustrations trace a young woman's fatal transatlantic Christian missionary expedition. She departs the United States intending to convert and teach Assamese people, but she is instead transported to Africa where her solitary missionary efforts result in her murder and cannibalization. The illustrations include her seaside departure, the missionary standing on a stump and singing to (racist caricatures of) African men, cannibalism, African men trying on the woman's clothing, and a scene of grief back in the United States.

An anonymous author dedicated this 44cm x 29cm volume, "A Missionary's Fate. A Prophecy," to Miss Minnie Jenks, in or after 1868. It includes seven pages of neatly written, rhyming, narrative poetry accompanied by five ink and watercolor illustrations. This xenophobic cautionary poem and illustrations trace a young woman's fatal transatlantic Christian missionary expedition. She departs the United States intending to convert and teach Assamese people, but she is instead transported to Africa where her solitary missionary efforts result in her murder and cannibalization. The poem ends with her grief-stricken family members weeping and fainting back home, and a concluding moral.

The illustrations include a dock scene, with passengers boarding a ship, persons on the dock waving farewell, and sailors at work on deck. Another shows the missionary woman standing on a stump with a hymn book (sheet music for "In the Sweet Bye and Bye" visible) and singing to a group of African men. The artist portrayed them as racist caricatures, and the men are holding knives, testing their edges, and sharpening teeth with an iron file. The following image depicts the woman on the ground with the men eating or carrying off her bones and severed parts of her body. Next, the men are trying on the woman's clothing; a chief is wearing her bonnet and carrying her parasol and purse/bag, another man is putting on her shoes, and another wears her skirt. The concluding artwork is a parlor scene back in the United States, wherein family and friends received a postal parcel containing a piece of the missionary's dress, her hymn book, a lock of her hair, and a shoestring. The people are shown weeping into handkerchiefs, one of them fainted and one holding the lock of hair.

A transcription of the seventh, final page of the poem--and the moral of the tale--is: "Oh gentle maid, on good intent, / Who would in 'Missions' lead the van, / Take warning from this maid, who went / Afar to free from Ignorance' ban. / Do all the good that here you can / Where you may have a little ease; / 'Home Missions' try on some one man - / Or two or more, if so you please, - / But do not try the Asamese."

Collection

Newspaper and periodical scrapbook, 1860-1890

1 volume

This self-adhering scrapbook contains a blend of illustrated and non-illustrated clippings from various printed sources (newspapers, periodicals, books, etc.), originating mostly from New England in the 1860s-1890s. Topics include religion, politics (American and British), the assassination of U.S. President James A. Garfield (1831-1881), health and wellness, eulogies, and other articles. The volume is bears the printed manufacturers label "Mark Twain's Scrap Book Registered April 23rd. 1878 . . . Published by Slote, Woodman & Co."

This self-adhering scrapbook contains a blend of illustrated and non-illustrated clippings from various printed sources (newspapers, periodicals, books, etc.), originating mostly from New England in the 1860s-1890s. Topics include religion, politics (American and British), the assassination of U.S. President James A. Garfield (1831-1881), health and wellness, eulogies, and other articles. The volume is bears the printed manufacturers label "Mark Twain's Scrap Book Registered April 23rd. 1878 . . . Published by Slote, Woodman & Co."

A selection of topics represented in the scrapbook include:
  • Material relating to religion (primarily Christianity, but also Islam, Mormonism, etc.). Some clippings are derogatory towards non-Christian groups or peoples. Enclosed is an issue of Our Prison Missionary (Vol. II, Dec. 1890, no.2), a publication from the Christian Aid Association "devoted to Christian work in penal institutions." Hymns, religious poetry, baptism, and Martin Luther's will (page 56) are also present.
  • Politically related clippings include stories about the U.S. Congress and senators, the British House of Parliament, Queen Victoria, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and General Grant's illness. Many of the volume's pages are dedicated to the assassination of President James A Garfield, with updates on the President's health after he was shot (page 33). Additional clippings with messages from world leaders expressing their sympathies, information about Vice President Chester A. Arthur, and the background of President Garfield's assassin Charles J. Guiteau.
  • Health and wellness-related content ranges from life advice, the dangers of children eating snow, mental health, vaccination, and more. An issue of the Land of Hope Review includes a brief article warning "juveniles" of the danger of smoking tobacco.
  • Eulogies for President Garfield, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and other "In Memoriam" articles and hymns are spread throughout the volume. A music sheet of a song called "Rest, Sweetly Rest" (credited to a publication called The Watchword is noted as being suitable for the death of a scholar.

An advertisement for the scrapbook itself includes information and prices about other variations of "Mark Twain's Self Adhering Scrap Book," such as a druggists' prescription book, a child's scrapbook, and a pocket scrapbook.