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Dresden paper trim, holy card, and Victorian scrap sample book
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us] 3420 Walnut Street, 6th Floor (Monday-Friday, 10 am to 4:30 pm), 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
The creator of this sample book is unknown, but may have been named Mr. Kilot.
It is unclear what business this sample book may have been used for, but the samples appear to be Dresden paper trim, or Dresdens, and Victorian Scrap, which were used for card, ornament, and bakery decoration.
Dresdens and Victorian Scrap were chromolithographed and embossed paper decorations, mostly produced in England and Germany, that were popular in the late 19th century.
Sources:
"Die Cuts - Guide to Value, Marks, History." Worthpoint Dictionary, www.worthpoint.com/dictionary/p/books-paper-magazines/paper--type/die-cuts. Accessed 8 Dec. 2025.
"Victorian Scrap & Tinsel Ornaments: History & Values." Adirondack Girl @ Heart, 18 Nov. 2025, adirondackgirlatheart.com/victorian-scrap-tinsel-ornaments/.
This sample book contains 57 pages of Dresden paper trim, Dresden paper trim, holy card, and Victorian scrap samples possibly compiled by Mr. Kilot in Belgium after 1876. These samples include pricing information and finishing options, including "fin or" and "½ fin or".
The volume is written mostly in French with some German present. There is an advertisement for Eiermann & Fabor fabrique de bronze en poudre (p. i-ii), a German company that appeared in the Catalogue officiel général; préliminaires, section Belge, sections spéciales for the Exposition Universelle in Antwerp in 1894. There are also holy cards produced by Boumard & Fils (p. 3-6). The majority of the volume features embossed Dresdens, 2 pages feature chromolithographed Victorian Scrap (p.12, 19), and 6 pages feature holy cards (p. 3-6).
At the end of the volume, there is a "repertoire des numeros" (p. 40-41) that includes the sample's number along with the page it is found.
Sold by Zwiggelaar Auctions (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2022.
Subject
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
- Finding Aid Author
- Kelin Baldridge Smallwood
- Finding Aid Date
- 2025 December 8
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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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.