Sold: Object Lesson

Description

A small, empty wooden trunk, papered inside with leaves from a student’s copybook, Maine, c. first quarter 19th century.

Lined with homework dated December 1817 and the practiced signature of a young Simeon Stover (Harpswell, Maine, 1799-1864) the trunk opens onto the mind of a student afflicted with the tedious moral and mathematical teachings of two centuries ago.

Young Simeon slogged through innumerable handwriting and character-building drills, writing again and again the lines:

Learning is a great acomplis/
/death bite a thief in the night
Civility is a pretty rule/
Riches is gained by indufstary and/
By care you may write fair
(And many more)

The trunk is plain and brown, like any other. But lifting the lid, one enters the bored and frustrated mind of a young stranger suffering the indignities of school, his faded memories of memorization not unlike our own.

Condition

Paper lining beautifully timeworn. Lid separated from box.

Measurements

23 inches long
12.5 inches tall
12.5 inches deep

Shipping

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