Middle Eastern pressed flowers album, between 1876 and 1888.

Format:

Other

Language:

Arabic

English

Hebrew

Subjects (All):

Botanical specimens.

Middle East--Description and travel.

Middle East.

Genre:

albums (books)

dried flowers

Penn Provenance:

Gift of Herman B. Allyn, 1933

Physical Description:

1 box (0.1 linear foot)

Place of Publication:

between 1876 and 1888.

Language Note:

In English and Arabic. In English, the text generally identifies a location or the type of the flower and a Bible reference.

Biography/History:

This pressed flower album was created by "the girls in the Sidon School under Miss Harriet Eddy." Miss Harriet Edy was a Presbyterian missionary in Syria from around 1875 until her death in 1929. After she earned her education in the United States, Eddy began her work in 1876 at the Sidon Seminary where "scores of pupils [were] taught lessons in neatness, in order and precision, in domestic economy, as well as in literary branches ... [with] prayer and Bible study [as] the pillars that support[ed] the well arranged structures of seminary education." (Herald and Presbyter). Initially, "only Protestant students were received, but as of 1878, the school consisted of a boarding secondary department of forty-six students – all Protestants – with a day school of sixty to eighty pupils, representing 'all sects,' but primarily Muslims," (Fleischmann, page 40). By 1880, a school for Muslim girls had been established by the Ottoman government. In 1888, Eddy married Reverend Franklin Evans Hoskins, and left the Sidon Seminary. According to a letter from the donor, the album was bound at the Beirut Press with a cover made of olive wood. The British Library states that there was a tradition of making olive-wood covered flower albums which were marketed for pilgrims coming to the Holy Land. While many of those were printed, this is a handmade volume, with the flowers affixed to the pages either by sewing or adhesive. It is unclear how the donor, Herman B. Allyn, obtained this volume of pressed flowers. Allyn (1860-1939) was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, earning degrees in art in 1882 and medicine in 1885. After earning his medical degree, he worked in various positions at the Philadelphia Hospital, Girard College, St. Joseph's Hospital, and the Women's Medical College.

Summary:

This volume contains pressed flowers from cities across the Middle East region including Antioch, Bethlehem, Damascus, Jerusalem, Mount Carmel, Mount Lebanon, Nazareth, Sidon, and Tyre. On each page, there is an arrangement of dried flowers (sometimes in a shape, such as a cross, a star and crescent or an anchor), and text in English and Arabic. In English, the text generally identifies a location or the type of the flower and a Bible reference. Identified flowers/plants include almond, "bitter herb," cedar needles, daisies, ferns, fig leaves, grasses, henna, immortelles (curry), Kharub (carob), lentiles, mustard, olive leaves, pulse, reeds, rose of sharon, saffron, and thorns. On occasion, when a page is titled, "flowers of ...", there is a mix of unidentified flowers arranged together. This is the case for Bethlehem, the Antioch, Tyre, and Jerusalem. The volume has olive wood covers and is lacking a spine.

OCLC:

1444039758