Description:
The Birthday Oracle, or Whom Shall I Marry: Guess at the Character or Appearance of Your Future Husband or Wife. Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, 1883. (105 x 85 mm) pp. 248, [8]. Machline binding with photo of Old Aberdeen Cathedral. Leather spine with gilt panels. Floral endpapers and decorative edges. Full gilt foredges. Ornamental border printed on all pages. Names written adjacent to birthdays, with dates ranging from 1880s to 1950s (several dates pre-date book's publication indicating birth year of person rather than date inscribed). Includes handwritten index of names (19th c.).
This Mauchline-wear binding relic of the Victorian era shows continued usage from the 1880s to the 1950s— following the hopes of several (possibly related?) families through height of the Spiritualist movement, through the First and Second World Wars into Britain's Post-War period. The Birthday Oracle falls into the Victorian middle class fervour for accessing knowledge from beyond the veil. Though true Spiritualists… Read More