Three writings by Hannah M. Beal, a girl who has been taught some things about dying, ca. 1853-1862

[Maine, 1853-1855 / unidentified] This item was featured in the catalog Mark Making, pt. 3: Pedagogy. 1: Penmanship copybook completed under the tutelage of Henry Dudley in Winthrop, Maine, over two weeks in January, 1855. Full of traditional penmanship exercise specimens from the course, a short essay, “The Differences,” also appears on the last 2-page spread and dated in another pen, “So. Durham, Sept 1853..” The essay expounds on the Columbus narrative with typical pejorative bias, “Schools are established and children are taught something better than to pursue the hunter, or fallow the canoe.” She appears to have copied the essay before the book was used for penmanship lessons—clearly proud of her writing, but fond of the handsome copybook, and probably saving it for “something special” (an unexpectedly relatable practice).   2: Six manuscript pages meditating on the funeral of a young friend, then revisited after the death of her “twin sister” a year later (1853, 1854). “I have b