Affectionate Regards. Love's Messages

No place listed: No publisher listed, 1889. [EPHEMERA] [POETRY] [VICTORIAN GIFT BOOK] [LOVE TOKEN]. [ANONYMOUS]. 7 ¼” x 8 7/8”; [5] leaves; stiff board with a calendar style easel backing, easel back has pencil inscription “From Samuel Danforth 1889”; 3” x 3 ¾” booklet bound with a pink silk ribbon affixed to a 4 ¼” x 6” color printed card that is encircled by a twisted decorative cord; booklet has 5 leaves printed verso only; light soiling, small chip to pictorial booklet onlay; very good plus. A lovely and unusual commercially produced Valentine or love token card with an easel backing for standing it up. Layers of decorative paper, the outer one with (truncated) deckle edging and folded corners, is hand-lettered in gold ink with the words “Affectionate Regards.” Blue and white twisted silk cording surrounds a layer printed with gilt branching. The small onlaid booklet contains a broken-hearted love poem. The last verse reads,

“Had we ne’er met sae kingly
Had we never loved sae blindly,
Never met, or never parted,
We had ne’er been broken-hearted.”. (Inventory #: 1993)