The Baby's Biography

New York: Brentano's, 1891. First Edition. Quarter-bound leather. Near fine. [ALBUM] [WOMAN ILLUSTRATOR]. Frances BRUNDAGE, illustrator. Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London, England, printer. First edition. 4to; 69pp; quarter-bound in red and gold colored cloth, gilt-stamped lettering on front and spine, vignette of a young child and a balloon on front; all edges gilt; gift inscription on ffep; printed by half-tone with tint colors, fp and pictorial title page with small elves and the vignette of a child with a balloon repeated from the front board; only pp 5 and 11 filled-in with biographical details; printed recto only; age-toning to ffep, light (truncated) scattered foxing on a few pages; near fine. A beautiful unused baby book, except for two pages. The register lists the child’s name in the birth record as Jessie Lovell Fleming, the only child of John Campbell Fleming and his wife Alice V. Baird, born on December 18, 1895, in Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. Her father was a physician, and both she and her father were alumni of the University of Michigan.

Illustrations are by the noted artist Frances Brundage (1854-1937). Lovely vignettes are on each page, with room to register the milestones of a child’s life. Fairies, elves, and small pets grace the pages along with babies and young children. One illustration features a Black nanny holding a white baby. An unusual Phrenological Chart appears after page 65 on an unnumbered page. Blanks appear to fill in the “Size of Brain,” “Vital Power,” “Motive Power,” and “Mental Power.” After a three-column listing of “Faculty” or attributes, a space is left to fill in the “Vocation in Life Best Adapted For.” The bottom of the page gives credit to Professor Edgar C. Beall of Cincinnati, O. for the chart. (Inventory #: 1930)