Scarce 1853 Merril's New Illuminated Alphabet Book old handmade wooden frame ranging from near black to

ranging from near black to rust orange

constructed over the base of a broken glass or candlestick

I repaired a partial split along the front of the seat on the chair with crazy glue

I purchased it from a dealer who had purchased it

his rear cocked a bit to the the left

Scarce 1853 Merril's New Illuminated Alphabet Book old handmade wooden frame ranging from near black toI sure do love alphabets, and happily they've manifested in so many excellent incarnations with unlikely survivors my favorite kind! This is an 1853 copy of Merrill's New Illuminated Alphabet Book, published by Rufus Merrill, Concord, NH, and which I think may have been the first edition, as I can find no earlier reference to it, though I have found later. Paper cover, with beautiful upper and lower case alphabets on the flip, and then each page