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MSS 097, Item 065, Eliza Howe Evertson Saltus commonplace book, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.
Processed and encoded by Evan Echols, September 2009.
Eliza Evertson of New York, New York, was a descendant of a line of Dutch admirals and married businessman and inventor Francis Henry Saltus. In 1855, she gave birth to Edgar Saltus, who would later become a well-known writer and socialite. In 1862 or 1863, Eliza and Francis separated after years of marital discord. Francis traveled to Europe his son from a previous marriage, Francis Saltus, Jr., while Edgar remained with Eliza.
This commonplace book was compiled by Eliza Howe Evertson Saltus in the mid-nineteenth century and passed on to her son Edgar Saltus. The volume contains clippings of poetry, short stories, news, and local events taken from various sources as well as handwritten notes and passages from various works such as Hamlet and the Bible.
The first page two pages of the volume attribute its ownership to Edgar Saltus and feature two statements requesting that any friend who borrows the book return it. Following this are three pages of poetry written in the same hand. There is also passage dated Feb. 10, 1827, and signed "E.E." (Eliza Evertson). After these first few pages of handwriting, the main body of the volume begins. The majority of the content consists of various clippings pasted on to or laid in to the pages. The subject matter of the clippings ranges from works of poetry, stories, and anecdotes to events in the news (both local and international). There are also clippings that list facts such as dates of Revolutionary War battles and monarchs of England.
Interspersed throughout the volume are pages of handwriting. Many of the pages contain passages copied from literary works such as Hamlet, various scientific journals, and original essays or works of poetry. There are also handwritten notes, recording items borrowed, money owed, and other information related to everyday affairs. In addition to instances of handwriting practice, the latter part of the volume contains material written in French.
While the material is for the most part undated, the few dates in the volume are from the 1840s or 1850s. The extent to which Edgar Saltus contributed to the book is unknown.
The binding on the volume is fraying and the spine and many of the pages are loose. At some point, pages and sections of pages were removed from the book.
This item forms part of MSS 097 Diaries, Journals, and Ships' Logs collection.