How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

Massachusetts, Bridgewater Normal School, ca. 1844. Oblong 12mo. (36) pp. Manuscript copybook, signed by Charles N. Hall on verso of title-page, and containing 32 pages (recto and verso) of his penmanship studies and other copied passages. Stiff paper wrappers, manuscript on front wrapper "Charles N. Hall"; text block loose, with sheets starting or sprung; scattered soiling.

A 19th century manuscript copybook, including a copy of a poem mentioning late Abolitionist printer Elijah Lovejoy. Titled "Mob Notoriety in Certain Places" Reads in part: "...Alton alone is with the laurel crowned; Here, only blood is crying from the ground! This city, crimsoned now with scarlet dyes, Reflectes its image on the vaulted skies. Vicksburg 'tis true with Alton may contend-The last, however, can her cause defend. The former only killed a gambling crew; Alton an editor and Christian slew! The proudly claimes the press to have o'verthrown, (The press which causes tyranny to groan)-To have made a martyr also to the cause Of truth and mercy, and Jehovah's laws. Vicksburg, away! Nor ever dare to claim, To vie with Alton on the rolls of Fame."

The penmanship studies above are the work of a Charles N. Hall (d. 1899), completed while he was enrolled at Bridgewater Normal School (now Bridgewater State College) in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Bridgewater opened on September 9, 1840, and was one of the first Normal schools in the United States, with its initial mission being the training of school teachers. Hall enrolled on April 8, 1844. Several of the penmanship drills within show the repetitious writing of various quotes, single words, and pen strokes, including "Kings as well as mean men must die," "Be slow in choosing a friend," "Flee from every evil thing," "Idleness has no advocates but many friends," "Monuments will decay," and "All earthly bliss will fade and die."

Other entries by Hall record some of his student expenses for textbooks, as well as a four pages of journal entries documenting his various day to day activities while enrolled. Massachusetts was the northern epicenter of abolitionist sentiment, so it's no surprise he was exposed to issues of William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator. The unattributed poem "Mob Notoriety in Certain Places" first appeared in the January 19, 1838 issue, but was presumably reprinted.

Elijah Lovejoy (1802-1837) was an Illinois Presbyterian minister, abolitionist, and newspaper editor of the Alton Observer. For years Lovejoy ran abolitionist sentiments in his southern Illinois paper, much to the chagrin of local pro-slavery sympathizers from nearby Missouri and Kentucky. On November 7, 1837, an angry mob of protestors stormed Lovejoy's warehouse in Alton, and he was killed in the subsequent exchange of gunfire. His death was lamented in abolitionist societies and publications across the country, as he became a martyr of anti-slavery cause.

Portions of this copybook are published in Script and Scribble The Rise and Fall of Handwriting by Kitty Burns Florey (2013).