Library Company of Philadelphia
Come Youths this Charming Sight behold! / With Laurel Plum’d, a Pen of Gold!
One of over 200 engraved plates from George Bickham’s The Universal Penman (London, 1743) for World Calligraphy Day.
The introduction to this book, titled Your Hidden Skeleton (1910), explains that this is “a novel autograph
book which reveals the secret skeletons of your friends through their
handwriting.” In the featured image, Louise S. Venning signed her name then folded the page to create her “hidden skeleton”.
This book and many others are on view now in our main gallery as part of our current exhibit, The Living Book : New Perspectives on Form and Function. thelivingbook.librarycompany.org
Your Hidden Skeleton, (Philadelphia,1910). Gift of descendants Cordelia H. Brown, Lillie V. Dickerson, Mary Hinkson Jackson, and Georgine E. Willis in honor of Phil Lapsansky.