1870s Pittsburgh scrapbook of local news, theatricals, drawings, etc kept by daughter of Thomas Marshall Howe (Pittsburgh's leading citizen)
Pittsburgh: 1870s. Hardcover. 9 x 7 inches, leather backed cloth boards, very good, light wear, neat restoration along outer joints. Approximately 80-100 sheets of various colored paper, filled in on both sides, , flyers, with mounted newspaper articles, drawings, theatre programs, invitations, etc., kept by Florence Howe (1849-1929), daughter of Thomas Marshall Howe, a businessman, banker, industrialist, politician, etc., considered Pittsburgh's "leading citizen" of the generation before Carnegie & Frick. Florence Howe would eventually marry George Wilkins Guthrie, a respected well known attorney in Pittsburgh (the Guthrie name comes up in this scrapbook fairly often; the two families were part of the same social set). Florence signed and dated the flyleaf 1870, at the family residence, Greystone. There is a 7x5" photo of Florence and members of her family at Cape May in 1872, clippings that report marriages, deaths and other local news, as well as those articles that mention her father, Thomas Howe. There are two pages of designs for a stylized "H" for Howe, possibly to be used for family stationary or for a bookplate. Of specific interest in the news to Florence was the opening of Mrs. Jarley's Wax Works (there is reportage about this as well as ephemera and programs from the venue itself). Of interest to Pittsburgh historians are the many programs of the amateur theatrical group "Crusaders" that would perform comedies, burlesques and dramatic plays in the residences of wealthy Pittsburghers through the 1870s; we note that Florence Howe appeared in at least two of these and the dozens of programs attest to the central place these at-home theatricals had in Florence's life, and at least one Crusaders event took place at the Howe residence. Also of interest are seven comedic pencil sketches or cartoons, likely by Florence herself, or one of her relatives/friends. She was also partial to newspaper verse and there are several pages of clippings of poetry. A very interesting and amusing scrapbook with great Pittsburgh chops, coming from one of the most prominent families of the period. The Howe residence was called "Greystone" and sat near the Fifth Ave. entrance of Chatham College, part of Millionaires' Row back then. There was a gate house, still extant, facing Fifth Ave. The main Greystone mansion stood on the hill above this gate house. The property also had a notable natural spring; following the devastating Johnstown Flood of 1889, the Howe family was inspired to make the spring's water accessible and free to the public, and the first structure around Howe Springs was built by the architectural firm Alden & Harlow in 1896 as a posthumous memorial to Thomas Howe by his wife, Mary A. Howe. Oil tycoon Michael Late Benedum razed Howe's original Greystone and replaced it with a much-praised 23-room mansion, also called Greystone, built by A. W. Vantine. This replacement mansion was built in 1911 in the grand Edwardian Classical style. This new Greystone was gifted to Chatham College on April 26, 1960 and renamed Benedum Hall. It was sold in 1985 to Greystone Associates, which turned the estate into six high-end condos. Very good. Item #h45578
Price: $375.00