Scarce 1853 Merril's New Illuminated Alphabet Book mid-century ledger quite a character

quite a character

Boxes approx 3 1/4" x 2 1/2" w

finding it just exactly what I wanted it be

who writes of kissing her miniature (I presume a miniature painting of her) which he also describes showing to a number of his relations to great approval

Scarce 1853 Merril's New Illuminated Alphabet Book mid-century ledger quite a characterI sure do love alphabets, and happily they've manifested in so many excellent incarnations with unlikely survivors my favorite kind! This is an 1853 copy of Merrill's New Illuminated Alphabet Book, published by Rufus Merrill, Concord, NH, and which I think may have been the first edition, as I can find no earlier reference to it, though I have found later. Paper cover, with beautiful upper and lower case alphabets on the flip, and then each page