Scarce 1853 Merril's New Illuminated Alphabet Book finely carved It measures 11 1/4" across

It measures 11 1/4" across and 2 5/8" tall

or at the corner of the desk

and it seems quite possible he and Stratton converged for the first time here

with a bit of green as well

and a leaf of advertising

Scarce 1853 Merril's New Illuminated Alphabet Book finely carved It measures 11 1/4" acrossI 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