Martha Leach Packard commonplace book, 1837-1894 (majority within 1853-1862)
1 volume
The Martha Leach Packard commonplace book (200 pages) contains inscriptions, correspondence, autographs, and ephemera that Packard collected from the 1850s to 1890s. Packard used about half of the pages; additional items are laid into the volume.
Most inscriptions and autographs are written directly into the volume, and many are dated at Poughkeepsie, New York. Most entries are dated from the 1850s-1890s, though some letters pasted into the book are dated as early as 1837. Prominent individuals such as politicians, artists, and writers contributed autographs (see list below), and historian Benson J. Lossing provided a personal inscription (p. 39). Packard's other contributors included academics and personal acquaintances, 5 of whom mentioned participating in the Civil War (pp. 77, 145).
Laid-in letters include items by famous persons and personal correspondence to Martha Leach Packard and E. W. Packard. The volume also includes visiting cards, a menu from a dinner at the Stevens House (p. 157), a lock of hair (p. 178), and a swatch of fabric (p. 198). The album was originally published with printed illustrations, mainly portraits of women; some later pages contain cut-out colored illustrations of flowers.
- Benson J. Lossing (inscription, p. 39; letter, p. 200)
- John Jay Hyde (inscription, p. 41; calling card, front endpaper)
- Henry P. Tappan (autograph, p. 45)
- Thomas Nast (autograph on card, p. 61)
- Samuel F. B. Morse (autograph, p. 97)
- William W. Belknap (autograph, p. 99)
- Henry Clay (autograph, p. 115)
- Lydia Huntley Sigourney (autograph, p. 115)
- DeWitt Clinton (autograph, p. 115)
- Francis Napier (letter, p. 193)
- P. T. Barnum (autograph, back endpaper)