 |
September 11, 2008 |
|
 |
|
|
Meece's Doodle?
FOUND by Talia
in Santa Fe, New Mexico
A few months ago I told a friend of mine about how I had been fixing up a book I own from the 1890s by deacidifying the pages and repairing the bindings. He mentioned he had some 19th century school textbooks in his garage that were falling apart, and I offered to see if I could fix them too. When I opened up a book (printed in 1840) called "The History of Napoleon Buonaparte" (sic) I found this picture in the back, which even my friend hadn't noticed. Some bored student drew this on a blank page near the end of the book. I have a little bit of knowledge of fashion history, and by the hairstyle I would guess it to have been drawn sometime around 1850. There's a fair bit of writing in the book that tells some other info: on March 5th, 1842 it was "J.A.B. Fitzgerald's book" but in May 1859 he gave it to A. Beale Meece, who ultimately sold it to a certain Gelby Moore on October 31st, 1861. A.B. Meece seems to have written his name in the book several times, and might have been the artist of the mysterious cartoon.
Sign in or register to start a profile and keep track of your comments. You may also post without creating a profile, but you'll have to answer some tough spam protection questions.
Forever May 30, 2006 |
Have Your Paint... March 17, 2007 |
The Not Rotten Thing October 16, 2005 |
Saturn Devours Youth February 25, 2006 |
 |
|
 |
         |
We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
A cartoonist/amateur historian*, once overjoyed at the acquisition of "Buonaparte" (hence the obsessive inscriptions), fallen on hard times and forced to sell his books to that certain Moore fellow. Une histoire triste.
*A doodler/dabbler!
Our finder seems to have snooped about for information on our cartoonist, a very cursory internet search reveals. By far, this is the most informative find description I've read.
Ahhh...so THIS is the Meece, not more than one moose.
He's only half there...did the hunters cut his head off too?
Definitely not a portrait of Buonaparte. (Being Corsican, that's probably how he spelled it.)
Awesome FIND! I too, ejoy reading more descript details on the FIND...if available?
But this...is a keeper!
THANKS, Talia!!
^^ENJOY^^ Sorry for my *typos'* today! Not fully alert until 11am...it's now...7am. Too early for me...
How amazing! Wonder if this is A B Meece's self-portrait or the guy sitting at the next school desk.
I love bits of history like this -- really brings the past to life.
That looks like a guy I know. Except for the hair.
@Baby Basil ... I honor your Meece-Moose connection with the other Found, but I'm wondering whether the connection isn't that this one is a schoolmate's idle portrait of John McCain (while, of course, the other Found for today shows some of McCain's running mate's handiwork).
Great details about the find!
When I first saw it, I thought it looked like pictures I have seen of Napolean... Maybe Meece Moose was trying to sketch him... I don't know about schools in the 1850s, but I had a teacher who would give extra credit to students for drawings of class-ralated subjects.
@Girl in a cube: I agree. This does look a lot like Napoleon. Maybe the "A.B. Meece" is the artist's signature and not a lable of the artwork itself.
"Waterloo - Promise to love you for ever more"
For a second there, I thought I was watching "Antiques Roadshow".
The bug eyes are freaking me out. Almost more than the moose parts.
Girl in a cube, did your teacher give extra credit for drawings made in your actual textbook??
Elvis goes emo.
could have been AMANDA BEALE, doodling in her textbook instead of reading her Nepoleon lessons, drawing profiles of her dreamboat lover, Clarence Witherspoon MEECE. And, as young girls have done since the time of the pyramids, she wrote what would be her married name over and over in the book "A. BEALE MEECE," "A. B. Meece," and so on.
I used to do a little deacidifying of the pages and repairing of the bindings in college - but now I'm clean and sober.
Librarian-- Sadly, no extra credit was given for margin doodlings, which one would think would add to the book's value, rather than the opposite... Especially if the artist grew up to be famous or something-- wouldn't you want to know what drawings President Bush left in his 8th grade math book?
(Initally, I actually had written "famous and successful," but I changed it after I continued on with the Bush reference. Hmmm.)
You're right, Lucky. Napoleon's got Bette Davis eyes...
Two posts prior should be directed to mona lisa... Oops. I need an edit feature for these boards.
Those rust stains or whatever make it look like the hunters got to Napoleon (pls note spelling) too...looks like they cut his cheek and he bled all over his topcoat.
creepy.
1850 huh, my first thought was civil war veteran. Pretty close.
Napoleon Buonaparte is one of the contemporary spellings I think. Spelling was more flexible in th' olden days :
Also, the guy in the portrait has a serious problem with black dandruff.
The stains on the paper make it look like this poor guy got shivved.
What I think needs to be said is that this is an interesting find. You have a bit of history right there. I'm sure you can have it appraised, because surely there are collectors who would be willing to pay quite a bit to have something like that.
Neat.
Question for the found guys:
Is this the oldest find send to Found? If not what is?
Just curious.
Fellow in the pix looks more dooms-day Mayan than Napoleonic. Finder probably stumbled on real jewel, perhaps. Could just as well be fanning the collective desire to discover the next Picasso in grandma's trunk box. I like the 'impressionistic' [faux?] aging though. I can't help but notice that the sgnature in the painting reads like "A B Fleece." F-l-e-e-c-e! Ready to pay $Millions for this pix, anybody?
That's Pigpen's grandpa.
i think this is a little strange; one of my teachers is named meece. o.O
anyway.
this is obviously a sketch of a.b. himself - of course he has that dreaded hooked nose and low chin, so characteristic of the meece lineage. the haircut is clearly one of the most fashionable. the profile sketch suggests someone of prominence perhaps?
all in all, a great find :) and i'm glad this meece isn't decapitated.
@Phil in UK, I believe 'Buonaparte' was the original spelling (Italian for 'good in parts'?) and Napoleon himself changed it to 'Bonaparte' perhaps to make himself sound less Italian (but as evry skoolboy kno, he was a Corsican. OvCorse).
JuannaBanana- I'm thinking the exact same addage...it might be worth something to a collector...plus, being signed and all.
TALIA in SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO...*pleeease* come and check out all the postings to your FIND!!! Have this drawing/doodle appraised...or something, Antiques Roadshow probably has a Web site...I'd be all over that!
I love it when the FINDER'S owners are notified by FOUND magazine that their FIND is up on display at the magazines FIND of the day...as soon as I get that in my email...I'm there!! As, I'm sure most of us would be!
I love those meeces to pieces. Did someone say that already? Guess I'd better go read the comments.
(Guess I'll have to sign in. Can't do the math problem.)
This is one of my favourite FINDs. I often buy old books, hoping to discover something like this. The sketch looks like it's been taken directly out of one of those rudimentary "How to draw a profile" art lessons.
@the call is coming - I'm also curious to know what the oldest item sent to Found is.
I think that this is an amazing find. I wish I could find something like that.
His head's like a thumb with features.
@Clover: All this time I thought it was "I hate meeces to pieces!!!" I can't believe I've misunderstood the dynamic between Mr. Jinks and Pixie and Dixie for so long.
Peter Lorre.
Hi Anne, we learned about your town in third grade. :)
Looks like Meece was eating pasta sauce while writing this.