“When this you see, remember me” — an autograph book from nineteenth-century Texas

Tucked away in an envelope, in a box, on a shelf in the basement of Carroll Library is a tiny book embossed with a picture of a rabbit.  Smaller than a smart phone, this wonderful little object is an autograph book that once belonged to Ida Ainsworth of Liberty Hill, Texas.  It’s dated 1888 (though a few pages seem to be from 1887), and is signed by her friends and family, and by her teacher.

If you’ve never seen one, an autograph book is meant to be a keepsake.  They were customarily filled with rhymes and memorable sayings, each signer choosing a page and trying to come up with a poem that no one else had used.  Autograph books’ popularity has declined in recent years, but you can still purchase one for graduation or your next trip to a Disney theme park, and there is even a book of autograph rhymes if you haven’t had a chance to memorize anything beyond “Roses are red, violets are blue….”

Though autograph books may still be found, with a few exceptions, the messages in Ida’s book are strikingly different from those a modern student would write.  They are often touching and sober, recalling the passage of time, the parting of friends, and the inevitability of death.   They reminded me a bit of memento mori, and I thought of all of Ida’s friends who have long since passed. 

Yet, even as it brings to mind the dead, this little book also stands against time’s stream, as each page becomes not only a memento mori but also a memento mei—“Remember me!” Dear Ida,  Dear Reader,  remember my youth, my laughter, our friendship.  Remember me as I was in this moment.

Dust to dust…the saying applies to people and to books.  Those of us who work in libraries and archives are in the memory business.  Though we do not know who Ida was, or anything of her friends and family, we preserve the memento they have left behind, and hold it for the researcher who may someday come to recreate the story of these lives, and others, that make up the story of Texas.

My Friend Ida A. When this you see remember me.  Henry T.  Jan 2 [?] 88

July 5th 1888  Dear Ida. Speak of me kindly When life drems are ore.  Speak of me gently when I am no more  Tinae Gillaspy

Dear Ida A line is enough to Ask rememberance  Your Schoolmate  Emm H.  Liberty Hill Nov. 28 1888

Dear Ida, Poor ink  Poor pen  poor writer  Amen.   Your Nephew Walter Lasseberger  

Dear Ida- Think often and always kindly of your true friend.  Francis

Dear Ida Remember a beautiful life ends not in death.

Little Friend:  In the golden chain of friendship regard me as a link.  Your friend Hollie Cates  Liberty Hill Jan 21 1888

Dear Ida.   Will you sometimes think Of me with kindness and Love. Liberty Hill, Jan. 19 1888  Your friend  Nora Gillaspy

Dear Ida.  Love many trust Few and Always paddle your own canoe.  Is the wish of your friend Elie

To Ida  If you wish that happiness  Your coming day and years may bless  And virtues crown your brow;  Remain as as you are wont to be  Faultless as you’ve been knon to me  Remain as pure as you are now.   Is the wish of—   Sister Mattie

My little student.  Always remember with true affection.  Your teacher Jean S. Fry. –19, ‘87

To Ida  Love me little  Love me long  Do not flirt for that is wrong.

Dear Ida  When you get old and canot see put on your specks and think of me  Your friend and Schoolmate Marine

Dear Little Ida,  Who does the best his circumstance allows, Does well;  Acts nobly; Angels could do no more.  Lovingly,  Mother  Liberty Hill  Feb 10th 88

1 Comment

  • Ashley

    October 27, 2011 at 7:15 pm Reply

    It seems an autograph book is akin to a yearbook–at least these would the 1880s versions of signings I collected in bygone yearbooks. I recently made a joke to a student that included the phrase/acronym, “KIT.” That’s how I remember signing middle school yearbooks, of course. At the time he laughed politely. Later, he admitted having to look up the meaning of KIT afterward. He told me that no one signs yearbooks anymore. I guess they’ve gone the way of the autograph book.

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