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Mary Ralph remembrance album

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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Mary Ralph's remembrance album focuses on religion from her time as a missionary for the Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, and New York City 1835-1855. Album comprises poems written by a number of authors including: Ralph (p.16, 26, 30, 111-115, 143, 150-152, 212, 235) her friends, and other church members. Many of the poems are allegories for departing the Earth and resting in heaven with God. Several pages are notes addressed to Mary from friends and family about her upcoming travel and missionary work (p. 12, 28, 86, 120-121). Mary notes the death of her mother on June 13, 1846, and the death of her youngest brother, James, on August 29, 1847 (p. 63).

Included are hand drawn illustrations of angels with the artist's signature, Maria da McDutchess, as well as several plates in the album depicting portraits, animals, shipwrecks, and angels. Laid in are two newspaper clippings discussing the death of a woman and a poem about women's devotion to her husband and god, and Mary's Methodist Episcopal Church membership card. Decorative black leather boards with embossed designs. Cracked hinges and heavy foxing on the inner pages. Original pagination appears in the upper right corner. Pages 54-55, 100-101, 112-113, 160-161, 184-187, were missing/torn from album.

Sold by Between the Covers (Gloucester City, N.J.), 2020.

Samantha Dodd processed, wrote, and encoded the finding aid, 2023.

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Finding Aid Author
Samantha Dodd
Finding Aid Date
2023 June 27
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

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