The Gift Annual
Published annually and intended as Christmas and New
Year's presents, gift books typically contained collections of improving
essays, sentimental poetry, and expensive engravings. Bound in luxurious
and brightly colored bindings, gift annuals became a publishing phenomenon
in England in the 1830s.
Gift books were written largely by women for a female audience, and offered a socially acceptable and well paid venue for women to publish their writings.
[top] The Book of Beauty or, Regal Gallery. Edited
by the Countess of Blessington. London: D. Bogue, 1849. [bottom] Fisher's
Drawing Room Scrap-Book. London & Paris: Fisher, Son & Co.,
1848.
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Copyright
© 2002 Division of Rare & Manuscript
Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853
Phone Number: (607) 255-3530. Fax Number: (607) 255-9524
For
reference questions, send mail to:
rareref@cornell.edu
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