Physical Book Details: Mary and Her Cat
Important information about the physical details of Mary and Her Cat book
The front and back cover of the book are made out of marble boards. Which is the pigment (acrylic paint). The paper is suspended on paint, while the pigment stays on top of the water and then a chopstick is used to make/create the swirls. Then use paper coated in alum. The red parts of the book 3 quarter bound (the spine is made from leather and the two red corners are leather as well). This was a cheaper way to use leather, but it also allows the book to look fancy.
The words are scrunched into the page really tiny in order to make them fit into such a small book, especially when it comes to the pictures. Some of the words are literally on placed on top of the bottom of the pictures. You can tell that the book is a cheaper print job, they were in a hurry. The printing company did the words and the pictures at the same time. They used a different press for the pictures and the words.
The little holes that are in the book: (the book used to be a punch bound pamphlet, which you can tell becasue the holes are in the gutter). It was a pamphlet that wasn't previously bound. Someone just decided to give it a cheaper, but pretty binding by placing it within a hardback cover. Someone had glued the first 2 pages onto the book. Some of the words in the book are 2 or more syllables (to make it easier for children to sound out words).
How the book felt, when holding and leafing through the pages
The cover & back cover of the book felt hard, but smooth. The actual pages within the book are both fragile and soft. While holding the book it feels small and fragile, easily breakable or damageable. It was the perfect size for a little child's hands to hold the book while a parent read to them.
Mary and her cat : in words not exceeding two syllables.
The name Mary Scott (The second mother of Sir William Crookes) is on the top of the crest, that someone had handwritten in there with pen. There is a picture of an elephant balanced on top of a knight's helmet. Underneath the helmet, there is a knight crest.
Sir William Crookes Summary
There is no current information regarding the connection between Sir William Crookes & the Mary and Her Cat book. It can be assumed that he was the last known purchaser and owner of the book, because he had stamped his crest into one of the front pages. Another reason why he could have bought the book is because he had children later on in his life, that would have had it read to them as a bedtime story.
Sir William Crookes was born on June 17th, 1832 and died on April 4th, 1919 in London, England. His father, Joseph Crookes was a very rich tailor and real estate investor and his mom, Mary nee Scott Crookes (the second wife of Joseph Crookes). He is the eldest child of 8 siblings (his other eight siblings had died at a young age). William's two brothers from the first marriage took over the tailor family business, which left William the ability to pursue his own aspirations. At the age of 18, he decided to go to the Royal College of Chemistry to study organic chemistry in 1848.
Below are the 33 images that taken using a student's phone. Some images show a student holding the book in their hands, someone else showing how small the book is compared to their right hand, measuring the book size with a ruler, and actual pictures of the book. The book size when using the ruler was 8.5 cm by 12.9cm