Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Book - Birthday Book, Raphael Tuck & Sons et al, The Dickens Birthday Book, 1901-1911
Birthday Books are personal record books for names and birth dates of friends and relatives. This book includes a quote from Charles Dickens for each day of the year. The books were published in many editions, with different publishers, illustrators, covers and designs.
This Dickens Birthday book was presented as a gift to fifteen-year-old Clara Skirrow on January 19th 1911, by Mr and Mrs B Watson, perhaps the 'Benji Watson' in the book, whose birthday was July 1st, 1887. The entries in the book include several with the surnames Watson and Skirrow. Interestingly, names are entered in various writing styles, perhaps because each entry was written by the person of that name, similar to an autograph book. Curiously, there are two entries for Connie Watson, one in brackets on March 16th, the other on March 23rd, without brackets.
The artist, Pilford Fletcher Watson (1892-1907), was born in London. He moved to Sydney, where he became a prominent and well-established artist and a founding member of the Academy of Arts, Australia, established in 1891. His works included local scenery, architecture, and the interiors of historic buildings. Many of his pieces were bequeathed to the State Library of New South Wales.
The firm, Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd, was a printer and publisher that operated in London from 1866 to 1960. Its logo was the artist's easel, palette and brush. The firm that specialised in greeting cards and produced puzzles. It also became the world’s largest postcard publisher. In 1960, the firm amalgamated with others to become the British Printing Corporation.
The fly page states that Ralph Tuck & Sons, Ltd. was the publisher to Their Majesties, the King and Queen, and Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales. This would suggest that this book was published from 1901 to 1910, when King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and Prince George and his wife Princess Mary were permitted to use these titles.
NAMES LISTED IN THE BIRTHDAY BOOK (the museum has photographs of every entry in the book, which are available on enquiry): -
January 1 Mrs J (or S) Watson
January 11 Wilfred Skirrow, 1904
January 16 Elsie Watson, 1897
January 17 Elsie Hartley, 23/06/2012 [error?]
January 21 Frances Victoria Haieck
January 29 Annie Skirrow, 1884
February 14 Willie Illingworth
February 17 Bessie Watson
February 19 Mrs Butterfield, 22 Apperley Rd, Idle [UK]
February 27 William Ernest Futter ?
March 13 Carrie Barker
March 16 Connie Watson
March 19 Hilda Graham
March 20 Mrs W. Illingworth
March 23 Connie Watson
April 5 Mrs Ruth Ann Skirrow
April 6 William Dickinson Goldsbrough
April 11 Norman Goldsbrough
April 16 May Jessen
April 19 Mrs A Dixon
April 20 Mrs S Watson
April 23 John Fred Stansfield, 1912
April 24 Reginald Goldsbrough
May 12 Bertha Ellis
May 18 Gladys McInnes
May 28 Mrs Arthur Watson
June 3 Jack Watson, 1910
June 10 Mr James Watmough
June 18 Miss Hilda Hodgson, 1895
June 26 Sarah Atkinson, 1894
June 30 Mary A Bannister, 1896
July 1 Benji Watson, 1887
July 1 Ester Watmough, 1896
July 2 Clara Skirrow, 1896
July 2 Aunt Jinni
July 2 Aunt Hannah
July 10 Ellen Gertrude Connolly
July 11 Violet Mathieson
July 23 Hady Rogers
July 26 Sarah Atkinson
August 2 Allan Watson
August 3 George Skirrow
August 6 Thomas Skirrow
August 6 Gladys Patten
August 8 John Waite, 1909
August 21 Lilian Pattison, 1909
August 25 Ethel Watson, 1889
August 25 Evellyn Goldsbrough
September 4 Miss Frances Barker
September 12 Ernest Hartley, 1888
September 14 Harry Stansfield, 1895
September 20 Harry Padgett
September 25 Leslie Watson
September 26 Florrie Wise, 1896
September 27 Dorothy Watson, 1909
October 1 Madge Ferrier
October 3 Elizabeth Padgett, 1896
October 5 Violet Altridge, 1895
October 13 Elsie Hodgson, 1893
October 18 Arthur Watson
October 21 Emily Bradshaw
November 14 Mr A Dixon
December 27 Laura Hartley, 1890
December 29 Arther Skirrow, 1894
December 29 Dolly GrahamThis early 20th-century Birthday Book is significant for containing quotes by the famous writer Charles Dickens. It is also connected to the popular and prolific publisher and printer, Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd, and the renowned illustrator and artist, Pilford Fletcher Watson.
Ownership of a rare and beautifully presented book like this indicates the value placed on keeping records of family and friends, and remembering their birthdays, in the early 1900s.
The book is highly significant for the entries of local family names, some with birth dates.
Book: small book with padded maroon leather hard cover and embossed with gold text on cover and spine; cover also has a gold motif. The pages include coloured illustrations, sketches, and lines for personal entries. The first pages are about Charles Dickens.
Title: The Dickens Birthday Book, with six illustrations in Colour by P. Fletcher-Watson
Publisher: Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd, Britain
Printed in England 1901-1910
Artist: P. Fletcher-Watson
This padded red leather hardcover book has embossed gold text on the front cover and spine.
The six colour illustrations throughout the book were by artist P. Fletcher-Watson; one is a portrait of Dickens.
Each day has a quote from Charles Dickens' works and blank lines below.
The drawing on the fly page depicts a stone building with side pillars and a logo in the centre of the horizontal beam.
It has a gift inscription for Clara Skirrow on January 19th, 1911. There are handwritten entries under many of the dates, some include years that range from 1884 to 1912, and one includes an address in the U.K..
Embossed on cover and spine: “The DICKENS Birthday Book”
Handwritten in black ink: "From Mr & Mrs B. Watson / To Clara Skirrow / With Best wishes / January 19th 1911"
Illustration on fly page: Logo [artist's palette, brush and easel]
Publisher information:
“Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd, London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Montreal,”
“Publishers to their Majesties the King and Queen, and T.R.H. the Prince and Princess of Wales”
“Printed in England”
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Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
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