Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Wanted - A Match Maker  -  1900
Paul Leicester Ford
46 pages
genre  -  Romance, short story
my rating  -  2 out of 5 stars

At the beginning of this story, Mrs. Durant is complaining to a friend about her step-daughter.  Constance is rich, beautiful, 23-years-old and unmarried.  It seems that Mrs. Durant's own daughters cannot attract the attention of the young men because Constance outshines them.  If only Constance would marry, then maybe Mrs. Durant's girls would have a chance. 

I have to admit that I almost didn't make it through the beginning.  It was rather tedious.  But after plowing through it, the story picks up.  While on her way home from running errands, Constance's carriage runs over a young boy.  When Constance learns that it will take quite a while for the ambulance to arrive, she insists that she will take the boy to the hospital in her carriage.  And it is there that Constance meets a young doctor. 


I did want to mention the unusual design of the printed book that I found on the internet.  There are 5 illustrations in the book, but it's the margin graphics around the text on each page that is interesting. The founding of The Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston in 1897 provided a select group of women a unique opportunity to shape innovations in the arenas of typography, illustration, calligraphy, and illumination.


The Society of Arts and Crafts taught workshops and even ran small schools that succeeded in providing women employment outside of nursing and teaching. The fact that a professional organization devoted to the advancement of what was then coming to be known as “the commercial application of art” would openly accept women into its membership was very unusual at that time.

This book is an example of the techniques taught through The Society of Arts and Crafts.  Margaret Armstrong designed the book.


 About the author  -

Paul Leicester Ford was born on March 23, 1865 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a bibliophile whose superb collection of Americana was valued at $100,000.  Paul was the great-grandson of Noah Webster.  An injury to his spine hindered Paul's growth, and so he was educated at home by tutors.

Ford's edition of The Writings of Thomas Jefferson is still regarded as one of the monuments of American historical scholarship, setting the standard for documentary editing. Ford's edition remains valuable for its accuracy of transcription from original manuscripts and its careful annotation of the documents chosen for publication.

Despite his physical handicaps, Ford was very active socially. At the age of 37, having edited and written more than 70 books, he was murdered in his Manhattan home by his brother, Malcolm Webster Ford, who then committed suicide.


2 comments:

  1. I might try this just to see the graphics! Sounds fun and if it is a short story how hard could that be?

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    1. The ebook that I got from Amazon did not have those graphics. Those pictures of the inside of the book I found on the internet. Let me know if you read the story. I would like to know your thoughts.

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