Anchor-shaped scrap book

Anchor-shaped book that contains a variety of silhouettes and images along with inscriptions. The inscription is psalm 16.6 and translates as “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance”.

The cover is midnight blue and embossed with gold designs including vegetative and floral forms as well as a crown. It is bound at the bottom of the anchor, though the binding is quite loose. Three golden clasps are mounted on the book’s cover – two on the right and one at the top. Only the lowest clasp (closest to the bottom of the anchor) is still relatively complete. Pages are edged with worn gold. [Clasps may have originally been on all arms of the anchor]

The book is lined on the inside covers in a brown silk or silk satin. The title page (p. 1) features a quotation in Italian from Psalm 16 as above. The opposing page (2) features a portrait at the top of a William IV in a hand-drawn frame. Below it is a coloured print of Brighton Pavilion. Below that print is the name of the woman who presumably owned the book: Cecilia Bosanquet Broxbournebury 1832 (nee Franks). At the bottom of the page is a depiction of a rose with a thistle and clover on each side.

The book thus sits, according to Maya Wassell Smith, “somewhere between commonplace book, scrapbook, and souvenir”. It is a highly unusual object, reflecting a range of interests and concerns from the period.