Manuscript Group 979 Anna A. Thomas (fl.1833 – 1880), Commonplace book, 1833-ca.1880
Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs
Manuscript Group 979
Anna A. Thomas (fl.1833 – 1880)
Commonplace book, 1833 – ca. 1880
.1 linear feet / 1 volume
Processed by Irina Peris
December 1999 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Biographical Note:
Anna A. Thomas (fl.1833-1880) was a student of the Newark Young Ladies Institute in the years 1833-1835.
Provenance Note:
The source of this collection is unknown.
Scope and Content Note:
The commonplace book of Anna Thomas contains entries from the years 1834-1835, 1853, 1858, and the late 1870s to early 1880s. The volume consists of language exercises, essays, poetry, arrangements of dried flowers, and newspaper obituary extracts and clippings. The handwriting of the later entries differs from that of the earlier text, suggesting two authors.
The main subject of the commonplace book is death. The essays and poetry explore the topic through both romantic and religious treatments. The included obituaries give a more realistic account of deaths occurring in Newark in the second half of the nineteenth century.
