Photo 1 of 2
About this piece
Illustrated Monthly Hearth and Home, "A Journal of Choice Literature for the People," Vol. VII, No. 2 (Old Series No. 145), May 1891, printed at Augusta, Maine and published by P. O. Vickery. Newspaper-format story paper measuring about 10.9 x 15.9 inches. Used and toned with a center fold, edge wear and small chips, and a handwritten name in ink at the top right of the front page.
The front page opens the serial "A Beautiful Hand" by Ray Lindsay, author of "The Queen of Diamonds," with a large engraved illustration of a railway platform scene captioned "Mary," cried Mr. Paulet. The masthead is an elaborate engraved design of a family reading by the hearth.
The back page (numbered 16) is packed with period mail-order advertising: Cornish organs and pianos of Washington, New Jersey, a sewing machine offer, wall paper, scrap pictures, patent medicines, an Elgin typewriter, a "Great Closing-out Package" and more, with dense small-print household notes and reader letters.
A good example of the low-cost Augusta, Maine mail-order monthlies that reached rural homes across the country in the 1880s and 1890s. Pages have not been checked one by one for completeness.
The front page opens the serial "A Beautiful Hand" by Ray Lindsay, author of "The Queen of Diamonds," with a large engraved illustration of a railway platform scene captioned "Mary," cried Mr. Paulet. The masthead is an elaborate engraved design of a family reading by the hearth.
The back page (numbered 16) is packed with period mail-order advertising: Cornish organs and pianos of Washington, New Jersey, a sewing machine offer, wall paper, scrap pictures, patent medicines, an Elgin typewriter, a "Great Closing-out Package" and more, with dense small-print household notes and reader letters.
A good example of the low-cost Augusta, Maine mail-order monthlies that reached rural homes across the country in the 1880s and 1890s. Pages have not been checked one by one for completeness.