The cover of the book is of birchbark embroidered with moosehair. Inside are blank paper pages. The binding is sewn to the gathered paper with silk.

The moose hair embroidery is of very fine gradations of colour; the size of motifs suggests Ursuline nun manufacture. There is no inscription.

Florals

A commonplace book is a little notebook (friendship book) in which people and their friends wrote little details in or little poems in. Practice dates from the late 18th century to early 19th entry. A practice more associated with women. Peabody Musuem has an example that is fully written.

1750-1825 based upon practice of book.
The British Museum record contains an extensive discussion of dating this book depending on the paper. This has a large watermark of a figure on a horse, not a postilion. Underneath is 'WILLEM.FREDERIK ERF.PrV.ORANJEN'. The ERF means heir in Dutch, so that this "Prince William Frederick heir of Orange' should be identifiable. The explanation was provided by A.R.DOnnithorne of BM Conservation Dept. and M.Royalton-Kisch of the BM Prints and Drawings dept. The dating depends on similarities between this watermark and those in the following book: H. Vorn 'De papiermolens in de provincie Nord-Holland.' Haarlem, 1960. See numbers: 186: Horseman, with 'WKH Fryso,' from the factory of the well known papermakers D&C Blauw. 1753: 187: Horseman with 'Prins Willem de Vyfde.' 1788: 188: Horseman with 'Willem Frederik erf Pr V Ornagen,' undated.
The paper in the book is closest to number 188, but it is reasonable to suppose that the paper dates to approximately the same period as the previous two papers.
This kind of book may have been prepared for a missionary or religious purpose; there is an example in the 1988 Glenbow Museum catalogue "The Spirit Sings" in the Vatican.

Donated by Estelle Sosland through the American Friends of teh British Museum. Purchased from Anthony Jack.

Unknown artist, commonplace book. Currently in the British Museum, AM1994,02.5. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2007; GRASAC item id 25572.