Oracles from the Poets: A Fanciful Diversion for the Drawing Room.
New York: John Wiley, 1848. First published by Wiley in 1844. A collection of quotes from British and American poets organized into fourteen sections with questions as headings, including “What is your character? (Gentleman),” “What is the character of your lady-love?” and “What is your destiny?” Each section contains sixty quotes. To play the game, a player is selected as the “questioner.” The questioner then reads out a heading to the other players, who respond with a number between one and sixty. The corresponding quote in each section answers the question. For example, a player who selects number three in the “What is the personal appearance of him who loves you?” would be awarded with the following answer from the Merry Wives of Windsor: “He hath but a little wee face, with a little yellow beard.”. Contemporary ink ownership signature to front flyleaf. Foxing to leaves. An attractive, bright copy--very good or better. Contemporary dark brown calf richly decorated in gilt. Pale yellow endpapers. Twelvemo. 242 pp. Item #17512
Caroline Gilman (1794 - 1888) was a journalist, novelist, and poet, born in New England, though she relocated to South Carolina after she married Unitarian pastor Samuel Gilman in 1819. She was the creator of Rose-Bud, a magazine for children, in 1832. Her works include Recollections of a Houseeper (1834), Recollections of a New England Bride (1834), and the proslavery novel Recollections of a Southern Matron (1837). Her collections of poetry include Verses of a Lifetime, which celebrates the landscape of the South.
Price: $450.00