Account Book of an unidentified New England Butcher, later repurposed as a general account book by James Wallace.
Henniker, N.H.[?]: [1847-48; 1901-1906].
Tall octavo (42 x 17 cm.), [approx. 150] pages. An account book of an unidentified New Hampshire butcher working in the 1840's. The individual accounts identify customers at the top of each page, with names including John Slade, Joseph S. Newhall, Hammon Hall, William Oliver, Nathaniel Mansfield, G.H. Hardy, and others. Items sold include Lamb, Beef, Veal, Mutton, Shin Beef, Shank Beef, Beefs, Toung (sic), Chickings (sic), Pork, Sausages, Suett, Soup Bones, and on a separate page Calf Skins, Tripes and Tallow. The free front end paper bears the inscription, "James Wallace Henniker, N.H.", though the hand matches the writing of the keeper of a second account (1901-1906). The center of the book bears a section with a Household Inventory and Accounts (8 pages) of Lizzie P. Gove, conducted by Ella Brock Brooks, both of Manchester, N.H., and likely in Brooks' hand. This cataloguer assumes this accounting was conducted on the death of Gove, as it commences with the inventory on January 1, 1916, and ends in July of 1917 with a final accounting. A few additional leaves laid-in, evidently related to Gove. The Gove section is separate and distinct from the first two sections, which frequently encroach on each other, Wallace using blank spaces on the pages of earlier accounts. While the book cannot be considered "neat" as a result, the text (especially that of the earliest accounts), is legible and the text block and binding are sound. A few pages excised. Marbled, paper-covered boards, over half calf; boards somewhat rubbed and scuffed. Orange cord tied through the central signature with a loop for hanging the book. The front paste-down of the blank book is stamped, "Sold by, C.P.F. Emmons, 47 Main Street, Charlestown". Near very good.
Price: $600.00