Rachel Leah Lindeman album

The Rachel Leah Lindeman album is a presentation album which was given to Lindeman on March 18, 1862, in honor of her birthday. The album, which contains thirty-four pages of photographs, poems, artwork (pencil sketches, ink drawings, cartoons, illuminations, watercolors, etc.), elaborate calligraphy, and pressed flowers dating from 1862 to 1877, is a fine example of a Victorian presentation album with colonial Indian influences.

The album includes eleven hand-illuminated poems. The first poem, an acrostic poem using the letters in Rachel Leah Lindeman's name, was written by a "dear friend" in honor of Lindeman's birthday. Subsequent poems include the following: "Wreaths of Memory" (illuminated border signed J. T. and dated June 3, 1856), "A Prayer" (dated November 26, 1877), "O for a heart to praise my God," "Sabbath 29th November 1863" by R. W. Chill, "The Lily and the Rose" (dated April 24, 1862), "The Lily of the Valley" (dated April 24, 1862), "Brougham Castle Westmorland" (with accompanying sketch), "Our Traveler" (with two accompanying cartoons), "Temple of Jupiter Olympius" (dated April 24, 1862), and "Lay of the Deserted Influenz'ed" (with accompanying cartoon). Most of the poems contain religious or floral themes and are written in elaborate calligraphy. At least one of the poems, "Sabbath 29th November 1863," was written by one of Lindeman's fellow church members at the Lall-Bazar Baptist Church in Calcutta. The poem's author, R.W. Chill, was both a member of the church as well as an agent of the Seaman's Friends Society which sought to convert American sailors in the ports of colonial India.

In addition to these calligraphic poems, the album also includes many sketches and drawings. Many, but not all, of the illustrations are signed and dated. Some of the common names and initials from the illustrations include: J. T., W. B. Nyss, H. H. H., and S. J. Two of the most unique pages of illustrations bear drawings with an Asian feel. One page near the front of the album includes an illustration depicting a vibrant floral arrangement with a stylized bird painted on the surface of a pressed leaf. The following page includes two small (approximately 3 x 4.5 inch) drawings on fine, silky paper of an Asian costume and boat. Other illustrations in the album depict British buildings (Westminster Abbey, Melrose Abbey, and Brougham Castle Westmorland), wildlife scenes, flowers, and Martin Luther, as well as a head-and-shoulders profile of an exotic woman. Many of the floral drawings are signed "W.B. Nyss," most certainly the lithographer W. B. Nyss who was working in India in the 1860s.

The album also includes several mid-nineteenth century portrait photographs. A few of these photographs depict British royals, including Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert. Another photograph underscores the background of the album's owner, Rachel Leah Lindeman, who resided in colonial India in the 1850s and 1860s. The oval photograph shows a young woman in indigenous dress looking away from the camera. The name "B. F. Simpson ferit." is written beneath the photograph as is the photograph's title "A Lepcha female." This photograph also appeared in the 1868 volume The People of India: A Series of Photographic Illustrations, with Descriptive Letterpress, of the Races and Tribes of Hindustan, Originally Prepared Under the Authority of the Government of India, and Reproduced by Order of the Secretary of State for India in Council (London: India museum, 1868). Additional photographs depict Rachel Leah Lindeman's family members including her "mother's father" and "Uncle Charles." Most of the photographs in the album are surrounded by detailed hand-drawn frames.

Finally, three loose leaves (pages 15-20) torn from the 1853 publication Cæsar's commentaries on the Gallic and Civil Wars: with the supplementary books attributed to Hirtius ; including the Alexandrian, African and Spanish wars (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853) are laid into the final pages of the album.