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UNNAMED ARTIST : SAM'S PICTURE BOOK 1893 [HANDPAINTED CLOTH PICTURE BOOK]

[UNNAMED ARTIST] SAM'S PICTURE BOOK 1893 [HANDPAINTED CLOTH PICTURE BOOK]. 4to. Handsewn cloth-covered boards, with handpainted covers, and twelve cloth pages with two full-page paintings sewn back-to-back to make each leaf. Blue polka dot and pink floral cloth wallpaper serves as endpapers. The pages have some thumbing, and a few pencil marks, but the images are fresh and the colors bright. The front cover is slightly faded where the text begins; a much-loved book. Most of the paintings give the impression of having been skillfully copied from family photographs. The first page is captioned "Ma, Sam, and little Jaky" - Jaky being a black and white terrier of some sort, and Sam being a little boy of about a year. Seven of the paintings feature family dogs: pointers, Boston terriers, bulldogs. One painting is a seaside lawn baseball game in Mattapoisett (Massachusetts). Another is a waterside group of five boys with their toy sailboats, captioned "The Cannonville Yacht Club." Other images: "Granpa's Cows;" "Johnny, Nell, Peggy, Chops, and Judy" (sleeping dogs); "Sam and Johnny" (the toddling Sam with a Boston terrier); "Helga" (the pony? drawing a cart with two girls, another girl leading the pony); "Lex" (a pointer lying on the grass); "Johnny;" "Gran, Ma, Peggy, Jake, and Terry," the latter three being dogs; "Pa and Unlce Louis Bathing at Mattapoisett" (both men in bathing costumes, Pa holding a dog under each arm); and "Ma in California" (Ma patting the ear of a saddled mule). The overall impression is of the sweetest days of a bygone era, a happy family of the upper class at play. The family and artist are not identified.

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