Scrapbook

Date1800-1827 (compiled); some 1726

Artist/Maker Helen Maria Arnold

OriginAmerica, New York (probably); found in Virginia, Fairfax

MediumBound book having marbled paper-covered boards, a leather, gold-tooled spine, leather corners on the covers, and marbled endpapers

DimensionsClosed book: 13 7/8" x 11 1/8" x 1 1/2". (35.2 cm. x 28.3 cm. x 3.8 cm.)

Credit LineGift of James S. Hollins, Jr.

Object number1992.1003.2

DescriptionA bound book with marbled paper-covered boards and leather spine and cover corners and wove paper pages.
Page Descriptions:
Page 1: blank
Loose and stuck in between pp. 1-2 are (1) a line engraving marked "Cockhout, pinx" and "Neagle Sct" and titled "HIRAM, KING OF TYRE, sends presents to KING SOLOMON" and (2) a lithograph profile portrait marked "JOSEPH McKEEN, D.D./FIRST PRESIDENT OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE/Died July 1807. Aged 49 Yrs." On the reverse of the latter, in pencil, is "1950/1824/126 yrs".
Pages 2-3: blank and detached
Page 4: glued to the p. are newspaper clippings and engravings, one of which is hand-colored, as well as a watercolor rendering of a cupid
Page 5: blank
Page 6: newspaper clippings and 6 engravings
Page 7: blank
Page 8: newspaper clippings and engravings, plus the Lord's Prayer written on a dime-sized piece of paper and the catechism written on a similarly-small paper that is edged with elaborate cutwork
Page 9: newspaper clippings
Page 10: clippings of printed texts and hand-written questions, plus 6 engravings
Page 11: newspaper clippings
Page 12: newspaper clippings, an engraved [watch paper?], and pencil portraits of George Washington, Rob Roy, and William Cowper.
Page 13: blank
Page 14: newspaper and text clippings, 5 engravings, and pencil bust-length portraits of two men
Page 15: blank
Page 16: newspaper clippings
Page 17: blank
Page 18: 7 engravings or other prints, newspaper clippings, and hand-written questions
Page 19: newspaper clippings
Page 20: newspaper clippings, printed coat of arms, an unsigned pencil sketch of the "Ruins of Kenilworth Castle" and an unsigned ink sketch of a cherub's head
Page 21: blank
Page 22: newspaper clippings, an engraving, and an unsigned pencil sketch of the "Gateway of Kenilworth Castle."
Page 23: blank
Page 24: blank
Page 25: newspaper clippings
Page 26: text clippings and an oval cutout engraved portrait of a woman beneath a crown
Page 27: newspaper clippings
Page 28: newspaper clippings
Page 29: blank
Page 30: 2 circular cutout engravings, a newspaper clipping, and an oval cutout engraved portrait of a man beneath a crown
Page 31: blank
Page 32: a lithograph [?] of 3 people dressed in rags and skipping arm in arm
Page 33: blank
Page 34: newspaper clippings, a handwritten text, a woodcut, 2 circular engravings, and a watercolor rendering of a red bird on a branch
Page 35: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 35-36 is a small pencil profile portrait of a woman with her hair piled on top of her head and an unfinished sketch of a man on the reverse. The partial (cutoff) watermark visible in this paper reads " . . . & WARD/. . .18". Note: first two digits of year date are missing.
Page 36: a lithograph [?] of a woman and 3 boys
Page 37: newspaper clippings
Page 38: cutout black pencil or chalk drawings of flowers, handwritten questions, a circular engraving, and a small head
Page 39: blank
Page 40: newspaper clippings, a watercolor rendering of a flower spray, and a pencil portrait of the head of a man in a turban
Page 41: blank
Page 42: text clippings, engravings, and handwritten questions
Page 43: a watercolor rendering of a tree trunk and branch
Page 44: newspaper clippings, printed texts, a watercolor sketch of a building in a landscape, and 5 engravings
Page 45: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 45-46 is a folded sheet of verse titled "To a friend in Affliction" and, on the reverse, a letter that begins "Dear Friend," is dated "Poughkeepsie, July 19th 1804," and signed at lower left "Mrs Mary McCarty" and, at lower right, "Yours etc. Mary Wighman." [The last word is scratched through and, above it in pencil is written "Whitman"].
Page 46: 7 assorted prints, newspaper clippings, and cutout texts
Page 47: newspaper clippings
Loose and stuck between pp. 47-8 is a silhouette of "Revd William Tennent" as well as 2 newspaper clippings
Pages 48-9: glued to the cut edge of a detached p. is a sheet of script, written front and back, and titled "Lines by a Person that was Deaf."
Pages 50-1: newspaper clipping
Page 52: handwritten lines titled "Sensibility" and newspaper clippings
Page 53: blank
Page 54: 6 engravings, newspaper clippings, and handwritten questions
Page 55: a grisaille rendering of a lake
Page 56: blank
Page 57: blank
Page 58: newspaper clippings and 5 engravings
Page 59: newspaper clippings and a feather picture of a bird
Page 60: blank
Page 61: a circular engraving, a cutpaper depiction of a vase of flowers, and a pencil portrait of "William Penn" signed "Helen Maria Arnold."
Page 62: blank
Page 63: newspaper clippings and engraved and hand-drawn pencil portraits
Page 64: pinned to this p. is the lower title cut from the engraved portrait on the facing (next) p. "Lancelot Blackburne DD/Lord Archibishop of York Primate of England & Metropolitane/and Almoner to his Majesty aged 68 Dec y 10 AD 1726".
Loose and stuck between pp. 64-5 is a pencil portrait of "Addison."
Page 65: an engraved portrait marked "Leeman pinx" and "Geo Vertue Sculp. 1727"
Page 66: blank
Pages 67-8: glued to the cut edge of a detached p. are the front and blank back of ink sketches of stick figures
Pages 69-72: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 72-3 is a small watercolor titled "Burns' Cottage."
Page 73: newspaper clippings, 5 engravings and a watercolor floral spray
Page 74: grisaille rendering of a landscape
Page 75: an engraving by Perkins after Westall, a mezzotint of the dead Christ, 2 newspaper clippings, and a circular engraving. In pencil beneath the mezzotint is "more than 100 years old Veronese".
Page 76: blank
Page 77: a newspaper clipping and 9 engravings
Page 78: blank
Page 79: a printed card titled "Columbia College Commencement/1825", 2 engravings, and a watercolor cutout of a bird
Page 80: blank
Page 81: newspaper clippings and 2 engravings
Pages 82-4: blank
Page 85: an engraved portrait and 4 circular engravings
Pages 86-8: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 88-89 is a grisaille rendering of a grimacing face
Page 89: newspaper clippings and 4 engravings
Page 90: a pencil landscape dated "1827"
Pages 91-3: blank
Loose and between pp. 93 and 94 are several feathers.
Pages 94-5: glued to the cut edge of a detached p. are the front and blank back of a pen and ink sketch of a skeletal-looking frontiersman
Page 96: newspaper clippings
Page 97: blank
Page 98: 2 engraved seascapes
Page 99: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 99-100 is a hand-colored fashion plate
Page 100: 2 engravings
Page 101: blank
Page 102: newspaper clippings and a stipple engraved portrait of Elias Hicks
Page 103: blank
Page 104: a lithograph of a church dated 1823
Page 105: blank
Page 106: a lithograph of a blasted tree dated 1823
Page 107: blank
Page 108: a lithograph of a stone [church?] dated 1823
Page 109: blank
Page 110: a lithograph of a landscape with a ruin dated 1823
Page 111: blank
Page 112: a lithograph of tree trunks dated 1823
Page 113: blank
Page 114: a lithograph of a church dated 182[5?]
Page 115: blank
Page 116: a pencil portrait titled "Dr Franklin".
Pages 117-123: blank
Page 124: a lithographed portrait of Charlotte Corday
Pages 125-7: blank
Page 128: a lithographed portrait of Hortense Eugenie
Pages 129-133: blank
Page 134: a lithographed portrait of Louis XVII
Pages 135-9: blank
Page 140: a lithographed portrait of Lord Byron
Pages 141-3: blank
Page 144: an engraved portrait of Flavius Josephus
Pages 145-9: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 149-150 is a Biblical engraving
Page 150: a Biblical engraving
Pages 151-3: blank
Page 154: a Biblical engraving
Pages 155-9: blank
Page 160: a Biblical engraving
Page 161: blank
Page 162: a Biblical engraving
Page 163: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 163-4 is a piece of blank Bristol board
Page 164: a sepia rendering of a landscape
Page 165: blank
Page 166: a grisaille rendering of a landscape
Page 167: a crayon head of a bearded man
Page 168: newspaper clippings, a grisaille rendering of a grimacing face (very similar to one seen earlier), and a part-crayon/part ink sketch of a standing man in a robe
Page 169: blank
Page 170: a fashion plate dated 1825
Pages 171-3: blank
Page 174: a grisaille rendering of a landscape with boats on water
Pages 175-177: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 177-8 are a small watercolor of a full-length soldier and a profile pencil line sketch of a man
Pages 178-9: blank
Loose and stuck between pp. 179-180 are: a watercolor of a floral spray with sketches and writing on the back, a watercolor of a floral spray with an ink line drawing of leaves in a wreath on the back, a piece of cut paper with two depictions of floral sprays on dome-shapes (needlework patterns?)(this piece bears a watermark reading "BISSELL & PEASE"), a watercolor of a floral spray signed "H F Smart", an unsigned watercolor of a floral spray, a wash drawing signed "H. M. Arnold," 2 watercolors painted front and back (perhaps to be held up to light for viewing?), an engraving of "Greenwich Hospital," and a watercolor on card with a black border showing a mill at far right fronting on a body of water. The latter is inscribed on the reverse in pencil "Painted by my grandmother/H. M. Arnold/My grandfathers Cotton mills on/Rifton Falls, Walkill River/Called Arnoldton in his honor."
Pages 180-257: blank
Pages 258-9: glued to the cut edge of a detached p. are the front and blank back of a print of shells
Loose and stuck between pp. 259-260 is a cutout watercolor floral spray
Pages 260-269: glued to the cut edges of detached pp. are the fronts and blank backs of prints of shells
Loose and stuck between pp. 269-270 is a sketch of a church in Lincolnshire
Pages 270-274 (end of book): blank

Some artists unidentified.
Label TextThe album may have been compiled by Helen Maria Arnold, who lived in the vicinity of Poughkeepsie, New York (see "Provenance"). The drawings, verses, etc. comprising the contents were executed by numerous people, with Arnold herself contributing only an occasional piece.
InscribedSee "Marks."
MarkingsGold tooled on the leather spine is "SCRAP/ BOOK". The book contents have not been completely transcribed. (See "Description," where some wording is given under "Page Descriptions"). No watermarks found.
ProvenanceThis scrapbook was acquired by Hollins (CWF's source) along with an album (acc. no. 1992.1003.3). The two books were found together in the mid 1980s in the attic of a house in Fairfax, Virginia. The house was owned by a Mrs. Cox (now deceased); her husband (then deceased) had been a good friend of Hollins's father. In cleaning out her attic after her husband's death, Mrs. Cox discovered the books and gave them to Hollins. The books had no personal meaning for Mrs. Cox. She thought that perhaps the Helen Maria Arnold named on the cover of the album was some relation of her deceased husband's since he was from New York state.