Stories Told by Grandma Blackmer. Illustrated by Ernest A. Blackmer

Chicago: O.C. Blackmer, 1876. About very good.. 48pp. plus interleaved blanks with seven manuscript illustrations. Original half leather and cloth, edges red. Spine chipped, lower portion separating, corners lightly worn, boards slightly bowed.Minor internal soiling. A charming family press production, otherwise unrecorded. The work was published by Orlando C. Blackmer, with the contents composed by his sons, Percy (text) and Ernest (illustrations). It is dedicated to family members Florence and Norma Thompson, and the final page celebrates "the daughters of America... blessed with equal privileges with her sons in the means of common education." The start of each "story" has a hand-colored initial, while "the end" is illustrated with the shadow outline of a woman weeping. Stories include "Old Blue Beard"; "The Gold Leg"; "The Courageous Lad"; and "The Boy Who Couldn't Tell a Story", among others. A wonderful example of domestic book arts production in post-Fire Chicago.