Call Number:

Item 0180

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

Spanish; Castilian

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0097, Item 0180, Spanish calligraphy manuscript, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

approximately 1850-1899 (inclusive)

Creator:

Creator unknown

Form:

Penmanship

Abstract:

This Spanish calligraphy manuscript is a notebook of penmanship exercises created by a 13-year-old girl (Juanita?) in the mid-nineteenth century.

The first page of this manuscript reads “Hecho por la Jta. S. F.[?] á la edad 13 años,” which roughly translates as “Made by Jta. S. F[?] at the age of 13.” The creator practiced her penmanship throughout the manuscript.

Information derived from the collection.

An unknown 13-year-old created this calligraphy manuscript sometime in the mid-nineteenth century. The writer was probably female, as indicated by longer passages at the end that referred to the daughter (“hija”) and used feminine possessive pronouns. “Jta.” may have been an abbreviation for “Juanita.”

The creator first practiced her calligraphy by copying out the alphabet, then by copying out lists of words in alphabetical order (e.g. “Escena. Feo. Galgos. Higo.”). The last two pages contain longer passages on respect for one’s parents and religious matters. The creator referred to several Biblical figures, including Herod (“Herodes”) and Holofernes. She also referenced several place names, including Madrid, Cartagena, Guadalajara, and Granada. In the last passage, the creator used “vuestra” (second person plural, “your”) and habláis (second person plural, “you all say”) which are grammatical forms typically used in Spain and not Latin America.

The manuscript is a sixteenmo with 22 leaves of text written in ink on the rectos only. It has a black leather cover with gilt-stamped ornamentation on the front and back and marbled end pages.