230 - Album Amicorum that belonged to Marguerite Spire (October 12, 1878 – ?), wife of Léon Delahodde. A 12mo-sized leather-bound album covered with fabric painted with floral motifs, featuring a flyleaf monogrammed "MS" within a floral border

Album Amicorum that belonged to Marguerite Spire (October 12, 1878 – ?), wife of Léon Delahodde. A 12mo-sized leather-bound album covered with fabric painted with floral motifs, featuring a flyleaf monogrammed "MS" within a floral border Presented in Lille on March 10, 1901, to Marguerite Spire Nearly 50 handwritten pages in French and English by friends and family members, also containing graphite and red chalk drawings and watercolors; entries dated from the late 19th century to 1928 (Minor wear and foxing, frayed cloth cover) A testament to an ancestral tradition, the album amicorum, or friendship book, is in a sense the forerunner of our social media. Originating in humanist and Protestant circles of the 16th century, the friendship book contains maxims, quotations, and affectionate messages from loved ones. It was in the 19th century that the content of the liber amicorum diversified, incorporating drawings, collages, watercolors, and various other forms of artistic expression. Our copy also reflects the era and the place of women, who, in their friendship books, are often confined to the roles of wife and mother. The motifs, too, evoke a feminine world—in the conventions of the time—as evidenced by the numerous floral depictions. The handwriting still bears the Gothic influences of the late 19th century.