A Cinderella moment
Last Monday, one of my favorite dealers contacted me, telling me he had a letter he thought I'd like to buy. He explained a few of the details as to why he thought it was Mount Holyoke related, and quoted me a price. It was cheap, so I trusted him on the details and sent him a payment.
I got it on Saturday, and sat down to read it tonight. I'm really impressed this particular dealer figured out it was Mount Holyoke related, because I don't think I would have figured it out easily myself! It had no envelope, so no clues there. It was datelined Boston, 1854 which doesn't scream Mount Holyoke, since MH is 100 miles away in South Hadley.
But buried in the middle of the first page was the writer's return address, which gave the dealer a first and middle initial, and a last name. And the writer mentions a Seminary in the letter, though not a full name. I imagine he suspected the Seminary was Mount Holyoke because this was a Massachusetts letter, put the student's name into my website's search engine, and found the writer's biographical sketch.
It turned out I did have another letter that student wrote to the same woman, a cousin of hers. The letter I just got on Saturday mentioned the letter I already had ... it was like Cinderella presenting the second slipper, to bring those two letters back together again! I love moments like that.
Here's a link to the first letter: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~dalbino/letters/text/louisa01.html
And here's the second letter: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~dalbino/letters/text/louisa02.html
I got it on Saturday, and sat down to read it tonight. I'm really impressed this particular dealer figured out it was Mount Holyoke related, because I don't think I would have figured it out easily myself! It had no envelope, so no clues there. It was datelined Boston, 1854 which doesn't scream Mount Holyoke, since MH is 100 miles away in South Hadley.
But buried in the middle of the first page was the writer's return address, which gave the dealer a first and middle initial, and a last name. And the writer mentions a Seminary in the letter, though not a full name. I imagine he suspected the Seminary was Mount Holyoke because this was a Massachusetts letter, put the student's name into my website's search engine, and found the writer's biographical sketch.
It turned out I did have another letter that student wrote to the same woman, a cousin of hers. The letter I just got on Saturday mentioned the letter I already had ... it was like Cinderella presenting the second slipper, to bring those two letters back together again! I love moments like that.
Here's a link to the first letter: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~dalbino/letters/text/louisa01.html
And here's the second letter: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~dalbino/letters/text/louisa02.html