Hidden
Children by Krissy Wilson
This book is dedicated to the children who owned these books, without knowing that they carried their own likenesses inside them. Also, in memory of Marie and Frederick, my constant companions.
Printed and published independently in Gainesville, FL Created using Adobe Creative Suite CS5 Toward completion of ENG 4930 - The Child in Film under Professor J. Cech Copyright (c) Krissy Wilson 2010
Introduction There are very few people that have access to the rare books stacks in the Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida. As a volunteer under conservator John Freund, I found myself there, in the cold and silent rows, picking out books that merited boxing. These were books that were a hazard to themselves or others because of their condition; the boards had separated, or the spine had cracked, or any number of maladies. * Later, I was sent into the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature. This collection has an almost mythic origin that is centered around its collector and curator, Ruth Baldwin. According to Dr. John Cech, fraternities sent prospects to visit her on dares, asking to borrow her books, and in doing so, invoked her wrath. * Beyond her personality, Ruth Baldwin’s technique in forming the collection was unique: “She wanted books that children had actually read and handled” writes current curator Rita J. Smith in her article “Caught Up in the Whirlwind: Ruth Baldwin” (The Lion and the Unicorn, Volume 22.3, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998). “Limited editions and fine copies of illustrated books that never got into children’s hands were not her first choice”, she continues. “Literary quality was never a criterion in buying the books.” Thus, the books in the collection are vast in their breadth and condition. There are primers rich with turn-of-the-century marginalia in the form of illustrations, inscriptions, alphabets, and coloring. Brittle books printed on highly acidic paper were collected, just as were books ravaged by water, fire, and pests, and books that had, through use or abuse, become piles of pages without boards or binding. *
Starting in February of 2010, I began collecting information about a recurring peritextual phenomenon I found in the collection. In the spines of many of these books were readable liners, bound in for reinforcement at the bindery. They are generally referred to by the Rare Books and Manuscipts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries Controlled Vocabularies as “printed waste” or “manuscript (MSS) waste”. Those that are of monastic or medieval origin are occasionally documented, examined, and studied, but the idea that these scraps, as found in books for and read by children in the 19th century, is novel to the field. Out of respect for the value that I believe these texts hold, I have deemed them somnotexts (“sleeping texts”). * Somnotexts hold important information that may help determine a book’s provenance, create unique poetry that is akin to cento and erasure methods, and, I argue, add to the book’s value despite physical condition. This opinion stands in contrast to the widely accepted idea that untouched books are of higher value than those that have been handled (with the exception of the marginalia of literary celebrities such as Emerson, Keats, and Melville, for whom Harvard has collected books in “poor” condition, and Blake, whose marginalia was the subject of a 2005 article by Jason A. Snart). I am of the belief that these hidden texts hold artistic, poetic, and historic value and should be thoroughly documented in the cataloging process, including digitization. * The somnotexts and marginalia profiled in this book are unique in their recursive nature; not only were they found in children’s books, but they also depict children. Imagine the possibility that a poor child carried a hidden picture of a wealthy child in their book, of a somber child holding a book with a child grinning inside of it, that a child who lived in a rural area held a city scene. These images have been preserved only by happenstance, and this is reason enough to celebrate their existence.
Enjoy.
KCW
Pictures from the Picture-Book Without Pictures Somnotext S150 Baldwin Call Number 23h3304 A picture-book without pictures : and other stories from the Danish of Hans Christian Andersen ; translated by Mary Howitt ; with a memoir of the author Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian) New-York : C.S. Francis & Co. ; Boston : J.H. Francis 1852
It is in somnotexts like these where the greatest ironies lie, bound up in the idea that children weren’t making the books, so inclusion of these scraps was at the hands of adults. I have found leaves of Punch bound into books about how to spend one’s Sabbath, but this example, “Pictures from the PictureBook Without Pictures”, is particularly striking. The binder, probably with the assumption that it would never be seen, bound a picture in a book titled “A Picture-book Without Pictures”. Perhaps a more apt title would be “A Picture-book Supposedly without Pictures, but Actually Containing a Hidden Scene in which People Talk to Each Other”.
*
In my research, I have had to develop a vocabulary for describing the physical placement of somnotexts. In this case, the content varies greatly by location. A scrap found on the signature-side is usually glued against the crash, a starched fabric that helps hold the boards to the signatures. A scrap found on the cloth-side is usually glued to the cloth or leather that wraps the outside of the book as a case liner. Sometimes, a detatched or floating scrap is found, torn either from the cloth- or signature-side. This book contains all three types: an engraving on the signature-side, printed text on the cloth-side, and a floating scrap with printed text.
A Small Gentleman and a Girl in Profile Somnotext S158 Baldwin Call Number 23h3697 Golden links; by the authors of “The babes in the basket,” “The children on the plains,” etc., etc. ; with coloured illustrations. Baker, Sarah S. (Sarah Schoonmaker) London: Frederick Warne and Co. Printed London : J. and W. Rider 1867 Here, the glue used was so powerful (and toxic) that it turned everything inside the binding a rusty brown color. Perhaps more significant, the crash and the top layer of paper from the signatures has been ripped apart, probably when the book was microfilmed. * We can only guess about this scene, probably from the title page of a book or popular journal.
The Flag-Bearer Somnotext S220 Baldwin Call Number 23h8412 Louis Michaud, or, The little French Protestant. London : 56, Paternoster Row; 65, St. Paul’s Churchyard; and 164, Piccadilly Religious Tract Society Printed Ipswich : Ree and Gripper Binding Davison 186?
This boy holds a banner with a great letter ‘C’ on it, perhaps from the title page of a book or popular journal. It is useful to read this image as symbolic of the movement I’m trying to support; from the hidden annals of 19th century children’s books can emerge powerful information and figures. * This scrap is still glued to the signature-side, and was exposed through the fault of weakened bookcloth. Discoloration on the spine is typical of sun damage.
A Girl Rides Past Somnotext S325 Baldwin Call Number 23h13063 Lilian’s golden hours. Meteyard, Eliza London, New York: Routledge, Warne, & Routledge Printed London: Cox (Brothers) and Wyman 1863
This slice of an illustration is intriguing because of what it includes and excludes. The girl is mounted on a horse, so we might assume that she is in a position of power, perhaps of royalty or wealth. However, the man in the top hat hasn’t taken his hat off to her, and we cannot tell if they are conversing, if he is leading her horse, or if she is riding on her own. Without text to search for, matching this image to complete it is nigh impossible, so we must imagine where she’s going and what her status is. * This book contains two different somnotexts: on the clothside, it appears to be a partially-completed invoice. On the signature-side, this illustration is printed on red paper and could be the title page to a book or popular journal.
The Sailor Suit
Somnotext number S364 Baldwin Call Number 23h14919 Percie, or, The conspirators : and, Gracie, the child emancipator ; written for the Mass. S.S. society, and approved by the Committee of Publication. Boston Massachussetts Sabbath School Society 1866, c1865 Many of the somnotexts I have stumbled across were exposed as the result of microfilming, but this plate of a boy in a sailor suit is the exception. Stamped on the inside cover with “P M Sunday School, Prospect Hill, Lawrence, Mass”, we can assume that this book spent years on the shelves and in the pockets of pupils of this Sunday school. It was through extensive use that this image was revealed, not by a semi-destructive if well-meaning process of the library. Perhaps the student’s horror at pulling the board and endpaper apart (and the subsequent anticipated punishment) was mitigated by the surprise or delight at finding a boy hidden in the spine.
Watering the Gentlemen Somnotext S365 Baldwin Call Number 23h14920 Piccalilli : a mixture by Gilbert Percy ; illustrated by George Thomas and T.R. Macquoid. Percy, Gilbert London: Sampson Low, Son, and Co. Printed London: Edmund Evans, engraver and printer 1892
This book was hiding a number of devious children in its thin, signature-side somnotext. It seems unlikely that this image would have accompanied a religious text, or any other text for children at that time, as the vast majority of them were about model children, good deeds, and repentance. * An impish little boy pours the contents of a watering can on passing gentlemen, making the feathers in their caps droop. Surprisingly, the men don’t seem too concerned; they don’t even look up to determine the source of the sudden shower. It is possible, then, that the child here represents a natural rainstorm, a mythologic fairy child that controls the weather. Nevertheless, the grin on this face is one of deceitful joy, and it is an image unexpected for the time, much less in a children’s book. Imagine the horror of adults at finding such a role model hidden in the spine of their child’s book!
All Cheeks and Lace Somnotext S383 Baldwin Call Number 23h16009 Tom seven years old. Russell, H. Rutherfurd London : Marcus Ward & Co. ; Belfast : Royal Ulster Works 1876
This book was not microfilmed, but it was digitized, which may have contributed to the exposure of this elaborate, two-part somnotext. * On the cloth-side, a child of ambiguous gender (before a certain age, both boys and girls wore dresses) seems to look up to a mysterious figure. Their relationship is unclear, as is what the woman (man?) is holding. Figures hoist a flag in the background, which lends credence to the assumption that the held object is a three-cornered hat. The child’s plump cheeks indicate that they are wellfed, just as the lace and ribbons of its clothing seem to symbolize wealth. Short stories and poems are begging to be written about this scene in which we are privy to only a limited amount of information.
A Ghostly Tracing Somnotext S379 Baldwin Call Number 23h15310 Dawnings of genius, or, The early lives of some eminent persons of the late century. Pratt, Anne New York, D. Appleton & Co. ; Philadelphia, George S. Appleton 1844
One of the most interesting strengths of the Baldwin is how full of marginalia and the mark of the hand it is. Often, books in condition such as this end up in the “Make an Offer” pile at Gainesville’s biannual Friends of the Library book sale, and that doesn’t mean to start bidding. As I have personally enountered in the past, they will accept any offer, as long as you will haul them away. Common both to the Make an Offer pile and the Baldwin are primers and schoolbooks from the turn of the century and anything in “poor” condition. * This is not a particularly rare book, currently retailing for about $30 USD. Nevertheless, this would vary by condition; this book has not been microfilmed or digitized, but nonetheless has loose cloth on the back cover, the front endpaper has been torn, and there is writing inside it. It would not be surprising if this book garnered a rating of “poor” in many circumstances. However, I believe that what we find near the title page should increase the value of this book significantly. * This book includes the preface, “Even the child may be known by his doings.” Perhaps it has never been more apt than here, where a child has traced their hand, and it has stayed, perhaps for as many as 166 years.
Mince Pie Somnotext S378 Baldwin Call Number 23h15280 In the child’s world : morning talks and stories for kindergartens, primary schools and homes ; by Emilie Poulsson ; illustrations by L.J. Bridgman. Poulsson, Emilie Springfield, Mass. : Milton Bradley Company Printed Springfield, Mass. : Clark W. Bryan Co. 1896, c1893
Torn, and present on both the cloth- and signature-sides, the ink of this somnotext has begun to transfer to the cloth, producing a unique mirror-image quality to this piece and its myriad parts. Unlike the other images we have seen, this young girl holding a pie appears to be part of an advertisement. The purpose, therefore, is more straightforward. Aproned, she holds a steaming mince pie (indicated as such by text below the image) with a cloth, straight from the oven. It is a simplified, idealized image of productivity and proficiency.
Off to Boarding School Somnotext S330 Baldwin Call Number 23h13201 Knight and the Dwarf : a fairy tale by Charles Mills ; illustrated by T.M. Lindsay. Mills, Charles London : Chatto & Windus Printed Edinburgh : R. & R. Clark 1882 Both somnotexts of this piece are significant: on the signature-side, there a textual scrap that we can match, using GoogleBooks and full-text search. It is, in fact, from page 347 of the 1893 text The recrudescence of leprosy and its causation: a popular treatise by William Tebb. The image that accompanies it, on the cloth-side, appears to be a man holding the hand of a girl (his daughter?). The trunk on the wheelbarrow behind them may indicate that she is leaving to boarding school. Since neither of them is the person pushing the wheelbarrow, we can infer that there is probably someone of lower social status than the pair who is pushing it. * Though there is text included at the bottom of the illustration, so far, full-text search resources have provided no further information, though this has helped to complete images in the past.
Soldiers in Profile Somnotext S283 Baldwin Call Number 23h11199 Holly and mistletoe tales translated from the German of Rosalie Koch by Trauermantel. Koch, Rosalie Boston : Crosby, Nichols, and Company Printed Cambridge (Mass.) : University Press 1859
Of the many examples of marginalia that I have encountered, drawings are the least common, behind love notes and rhymes. In this case, we have a bearded soldier who appears a number of times in the front and back endpapers, in various forms and attempts (one seems more like a cow, or a lump). * While this is not a blatant example of a child depicting a child through marginalia or a child hidden as a text within the spine, speculation can assist us. We can theorize that the reader was copying an image from a book, or that he or she drew a profile of father or an older brother before he went to war. They might have been the mindless doodles of a boy or girl in class, thinking about the Civil War a few years past, but it could also be the imagination of a child at work, seeing himself as a soldier in the future, and one with a formidable beard at that.
Sprites Somnotext S358 Baldwin Call Number 23h14691 Tales about Asia and Africa by Peter Parley. New ed. / brought down to the present time ; rev. by T. Wilson. Goodrich, Samuel G. London : Cassell, Petter, and Galpin Printed London : Belle Sauvage Works 1850? On the signature-side, there is an advertisement for a series of books, including the words “a Goblin Story” and “the Odd Boy”. These terms are strangely appropriate, given the content of the cloth-side: a few young sprites and a mischevious troll (or similar). * These somnotexts were probably exposed by the microfilming process, and the child reader of Tales about Asia and Africa probably never knew these images existed. They may have been thrilled to know that such whimsical images existed in a nonfiction text, or perhaps they would have been unsettled to know that there were images of fairy tale included in such a somber, serious book.
The Falling Doll Somnotext S365 Baldwin Call Number 23h14920 Piccalilli : a mixture by Gilbert Percy ; illustrated by George Thomas and T.R. Macquoid. Percy, Gilbert London: Sampson Low, Son, and Co. Printed London: Edmund Evans, engraver and printer 1892 Another gem found in Piccalilli is this falling (flying? jumping?) doll, accompanied by a number of other charicatures, including a smoking baby (not pictured). Often, a split in the signature-side text is the result of microfilming, but that is not the case here. The scene is difficult to interpret because it is so narrow, though the myriad of images makes me suspect it’s from a magazine like Punch.
“Almanack for 1860” Punch Magazine, 1860 Courtesy punch-magazine.com
Bustling in the Binding Somnotext S150 Baldwin Call Number 23h3304 A picture-book without pictures : and other stories from the Danish of Hans Christian Andersen ; translated by Mary Howitt ; with a memoir of the author Andersen, H. C. (Hans Christian) New-York : C.S. Francis & Co. ; Boston : J.H. Francis 1852
To conclude this book, we return to A Picture-book Without Pictures. Here, we have a different scene from the same perspective. People in hats and coats walk past some sort of building; is it a warehouse? Hotel? Department store? “College�, as we see along the top edge? We may never know. * What we can do, though, is speculate and imagine. We can create stories and poems out of the slices of text that sleep in the spines of books. We can search through newspapers and full-text search databases to find exact matches to text that might yield information about provenance. We can put it on display, with the hope that others will become interested in book arts and construction and the unique collections and folklore of the university, and perhaps elicit a response like childhood curiosity to examine these texts further.
This project was made possible by the guidance and support of Rita Smith, curator of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature at the University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries, the University Scholars Program, which supports undergraduate research, my advisor, Dr. Terry Harpold, among many others.
Thank you.