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![christmas annuals token 1839 presentation page](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7502/15796817160_220b1021d4.jpg)
If you were a holiday shopper in the 1830s, one item on your list might well have been an annual gift book—an anthology of illustrations, poems, stories, and essays, in an affordable but decorative binding.
Several examples of 19th century holiday gift books are now on exhibit in the ZSR Library Special Collections & Archives Research Room (ZSR 629). A Token of My Affection: 19th Century Christmas Annuals will remain on view through January.
![christmas annuals keepsake 1832 mary shelley](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8629/15958361106_d6f333aca0_z.jpg)
![christmas annuals garland 1831](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7564/15982133011_5c48f013c4_z.jpg)
Gift annuals became popular in the early 19th century, as mechanization of the printing and binding processes began to make books in general more affordable.
Publishers appealed to gift-buyers by packaging their books in decorated paper, silk, or leather bindings.
![christmas annuals token with box](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8641/15798447317_a4c07e2f09_z.jpg)
![christmas annuals1848 cover](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7530/15796906030_3efd237dc7_z.jpg)
ZSR Special Collections holds a complete run of one of the most popular American annuals, The Token: A Christmas and New Years Present. Published in Boston, it was produced by Samuel Griswold Goodrich, a prolific author and publisher better known by his pseudonym, Peter Parley.
![christmas annuals tokens spines](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7556/15798175859_92e29045e1_z.jpg)
The Token, and its competitors in England and America, sought to appeal to both gift-buyers and young readers. Most of the early 19th century annuals are eclectic anthologies that strike a balance between educational and morally uplifting content intended to satisfy parents and other elders, and sentimental or mildly sensational stories that would keep the recipients entertained—and asking for next year’s volume.
![poe purloined letter](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7506/15984441455_2bb70b96ce_z.jpg)
The contents often included original contributions from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mary Shelley, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
![christmas annuals mary shelley](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8590/15982144881_db71d6e354_z.jpg)
The heyday of the holiday annual anthology was the 1820s-1840s. The genre persisted throughout the 19th century, but later annuals had to compete with other types of gift books and with a flood of non-holiday-specific publications timed for the Christmas market.
![mrs lirriper 1863](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7518/15983770812_be910110b2_z.jpg)
![beetons fortunate island](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7575/15982125291_84f2fe1007_z.jpg)
Some gift annuals were published by religious, social, or philanthropic organizations. These served the dual purpose of raising funds for the organizations and for spreading their messages.
![christmas annuals temperance](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7470/15798908529_7573e786fd_z.jpg)
Illustrations were an important part of the gift book package. Early in the 19th century, the new technique of steel engraving allowed for a high level of detail even in small illustrations. In the 1840s, the invention of color lithography made it possible for the first time to mass produce color illustrations.
![christmas annuals1848 lithograph title page](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7524/15984187945_7f3277a9b4_z.jpg)
![christmas annuals pears ad](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8561/15796864750_51c8393ec0_z.jpg)
Few of the holiday gift books in ZSR Special Collections are in pristine condition. Most have been well-read, and many bear traces of their original owners.
![christmas annuals bookmarks](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7519/15982128791_055e5b685f_z.jpg)
![christmas annuals token inscription mary davis](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7535/15984164025_a85f3cdc6c_z.jpg)
![girls own annual crayoned illustration](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7537/15984204785_70a0ed5f32_z.jpg)
Those of us with reading material of any kind on our holiday wish lists can’t help but feel a kinship with our fellow book enthusiasts from the 19th century and their quirky, charming, and well-thumbed gifts!
For more information about the exhibit, contact Special Collections & Archives.
2 Comments on ‘A Token of My Affection: 19th Century Christmas Annuals’
This is an excellent account of one of the gems in Special Collections. Thanks for this timely post….I especially love the bookmarks and penmanship.
A bookmark of human hair…a gift for the reader who has everything! Thanks for this entry. The pictures are beautiful!