~Reviving A Lovely Tradition~
A Common Place Book
A Common Place Book
There was a time when a sigh of lavender would rise to greet me whenever I opened the cover...a wisp of my mother's spirit returning to remind me of the day when she gave me this gift.
--Marianne Metcalf, March 30, 1835
During precious moments of solitude, ladies often retreat to a cozy sitting room tucked beneath the eaves, allowing time for quiet contemplations and to record sweet memories, fond remembrances and "notable observations" in the company of their own pleasant thoughts and harmonious reflections.
In earlier days, ladies often kept a journal known as a “commonplace book,” which served as a beautiful repository of the things they held most dear, and where memory and sentiment were mingled with joy and pleasure, and where happy thoughts, favorite quotations and little observations of life were contained. In these elaborately embossed volumes, which served as favorite objects of admiration and offered “pleasant recreation and leisurely amusements,” collections of written inspirations were beautifully recorded, providing a glimpse of the thoughts and beliefs that motivated the many famous figures and antebellum ladies throughout history who kept them. This quaint old tradition, originating in the 16th Century, was particularly favored in England during the Victorian Era, and often contained photographs of friends and loved ones, along with pressed leaves, dried flowers, and silken ribbons woven throughout the pages. And though some regarded the commonplace book as little more than a “sentimental trifle,” these beguiling mementos served as treasured heirlooms, recording bits and pieces of a woman’s life and leaving an indelible mark for all the world to remember them by.
In earlier days, ladies often kept a journal known as a “commonplace book,” which served as a beautiful repository of the things they held most dear, and where memory and sentiment were mingled with joy and pleasure, and where happy thoughts, favorite quotations and little observations of life were contained. In these elaborately embossed volumes, which served as favorite objects of admiration and offered “pleasant recreation and leisurely amusements,” collections of written inspirations were beautifully recorded, providing a glimpse of the thoughts and beliefs that motivated the many famous figures and antebellum ladies throughout history who kept them. This quaint old tradition, originating in the 16th Century, was particularly favored in England during the Victorian Era, and often contained photographs of friends and loved ones, along with pressed leaves, dried flowers, and silken ribbons woven throughout the pages. And though some regarded the commonplace book as little more than a “sentimental trifle,” these beguiling mementos served as treasured heirlooms, recording bits and pieces of a woman’s life and leaving an indelible mark for all the world to remember them by.
