Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 947

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Ann Jane Mitchell McAllister commonplace book, 1832-1836, Ms. Coll. 947, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1832-1836 (inclusive)

Creator:

McAllister, Ann Jane Mitchell

Form:

Poetry, Commonplace books, Poems, Manuscripts, American -- 19th century, and Excerpts

Abstract:

This commonplace book belonged to Ann Jane Mitchell McAllister of Philadelphia, PA. The entries in this book date between 1832 and 1836, before she married William Young McAllister. Her name is signed simply as Ann Jane Mitchell. This volume contains various copied poems by poets such as Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, and L. E. L. (Letitia Elizabeth Landon). There appear to be two hands active in the volume and the poems are copied from literary magazines such as Blackwood's Magazine, The Literary Gazette, and The Athenaeum.

Ann Jane Mitchell McAllister was the daughter of William and Margaret Mitchell of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1842, she married William Young McAllister (1812-1896). McAllister and his brother owned and operated a prominent Philadelphia optical and scientific manufacturing firm. Ann and William McAllister had seven children: Eliza Young, born in 1845; John born in 1846; Anna Mitchell, born in 1849; Frances Wardale, born in 1853; James Cook, born in 1856; Harry, born in 1858; and Oswald, born in 1860. Ann and William's daughter Anna Mitchell was an early woman physician in Philadelphia.

This volume of copied prose and poems kept by Ann Jane Mitchell McAllister spans the years 1832 to 1836. Written prior to her marriage to William Young McAllister, the book is signed Ann Jane Mitchell and A. J. Mitchell on the first and last leaves. Contained in the volume are various entries of poetry by Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, and L. E. L. (Letitia Elizabeth Landon). There are excerpts copied from literary magazines such as Blackwood's Magazine, The Literary Gazette, and The Athenaeum. There appear to be at least two hands in the volume and some copied verse has the inscription William Young. The Language of Flowers, is written on seven pages of the volume and contains the first verse of the poem followed by a list of flowers and their meanings. Laid in the volume is an illustrated leaf with a caption from Mayne Reid's The Quadroon, or, a lover's adventures in Louisiana.