[Scrapbook of an Admired Socialite and Daughter of an Eminent Physician]

Mostly Louisville, Kentucky and Philadelphia: Gross, Louisa Elizabeth, 1858. Good. 12” x 9”. String-gathered, thin paper album. Pp. [70] with 192 letters, clippings, calling cards, pressed flowers and other items of ephemera adhesive mounted and laid in and the last 50 pages are blank. Good: first two quires detached; moderate edge wear and chipping and susceptible to more; many items wholly or partially loose from adhesive; scattered spotting and a few small stains.

This is a bountiful scrapbook that primarily documents the rich social life of a quite talented and admired young woman, Louisa Elizabeth Gross. “Lou” was the daughter of eminent (truncated) physician Samuel Gross, and several items here reflect his career and their family life.

Samuel D. Gross was the star pupil of acclaimed surgeon and professor George McClellan, who founded Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. It was the most successful of the private schools in the city, known then as the epicenter of American medicine. Gross graduated in 1828 and, after several years of private practice in Louisville, Kentucky, was the first alumnus to be appointed to the faculty. He became Surgery Chairman in 1856 (just one year after turning down a similar offer at the University of Pennsylvania) and held that position until his retirement in 1882. Gross was also a medical historian, prolific author of essential works and was noted for his contributions to surgical technique. A scholarly history of Jefferson's surgical department lauded the “intellectual superiority” of Gross' four children, as well as the family's prominent social life in Louisville and Philadelphia.

This plentiful scrapbook began with an admonishment to its cover (“Hands off this means you”), immediately followed by a letter to Lou from her esteemed father, written in 1855. This letter reveals a doting and affectionate father amidst a crucial moment as he was considering leaving his beloved Louisville: “Philadelphia looks quite strange to me. When I studied medicine here eighteen years ago, I was acquainted with every street and alley; now I can scarcely realize that I ever lived here, as great are the changes. Nothing, my dear Louisa, is stationary.” The doctor couldn't help but expound on the benefits of exercise, and the letter shows his familial devotion as well: “Tell your mama I cannot be happy without her and the children . . . There are a great many pretty things in this city, the sight of which would please you very much. When I see you I will endeavor to tell you all about them . . . A thousand kisses to you . . .”

The majority of the album's contents reflect Louisa's rich and varied social life in the 1850s. There are 33 calling cards (mostly from men) as well as 122 personal letters, notes and invitations, many folded neatly in their original envelopes, from friends and suitors. One 1856 note from “your admirer and friend Geo. D. Prentice” revealed:

“I was much too ill last night, dear Lou, to join the gay but sorrowful throng that no doubt gathered around you. But my heart was there, and it will go with you upon your long journey. We are all sorry to lose you. It will seem to us as if a bright flower has fallen from our garland of life . . . as if a star had shot from our heaven. God bless you for all the hours you have brightened to the souls of your friends.”

There are little poems, notes of admiration, invitations to escort Louisa to events and parties and other good wishes for her travels and departure, as well as several propositions of marriage and pleas for her attention. A handful of letters document some society drama – one chided Louisa for her words about another woman, while another “commended” her – and quite a few notes were written at least partially in French.

The book also holds 18 clippings, nearly all of which laud the young lady's beauty and talents. The Missouri Republican covered “A wedding in Louisville,” particularly noting “Miss G–, daughter of an eminent physician, whose Queen-like and agreeable manners commanded admiration and attention from all.” Other articles concerned Lou's musical prowess, commenting on her “exquisite” piano performances (“It is not often that ladies attain to such a thorough mastery of the instrument”) as well as the publication of a few of her own compositions. One, the “Adieu Polka,” was deemed “an exquisite piece of music, and it will long be cherished here as the sweet parting memento of a charming and gifted young lady whose removal to a distant city is contemplated by hundreds as a great social calamity.” Four pages clipped from Godey's Lady's Book hold a partly fictionalized account of the female writer meeting Lou, in the form of character “Louise Ross,” “a Southerner who had come North” and “had become at once and decidedly a reigning belle.” There is also coverage of Dr. Gross' return to Jefferson, marking “an eminent addition to Philadelphia's professional and social circles.”

Other ephemera in the book includes 12 pressed flowers (four with notes from a “Barney” at West Point), as well as a dance card, society cartoons, handwritten poems on dyed and decorated doily, and an invitation to a “Bachelors Soiree” with a long list of men's names. There are also a few notes penned directly onto pages, identifying flower specimens and social events.

Lovely, generous coverage of an admired socialite and important medical family in Kentucky and Philadelphia. (Inventory #: 6757)