Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9501030092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Medium
A mistaken bid at an auction landed a Hampton man a rare 18th-century children's book with moving pages.
Believing he was bidding on a box of Civil War photographs, Robert Hiatt paid $3, only to find that the box contained Civil War-era mementos. Hiatt's disappointment vanished, however, when he discovered a rare Colonial manuscript among the old family photographs and cards.
``I opened it, and it had a date of 1780 on it,'' Hiatt said.
The manuscript is handwritten and includes pen-and-ink drawings with a watercolor wash. The images change when the reader folds the upper and lower sections of the pages up and down.
Hiatt took the manuscript to several book dealers, historians and curators, who believe it is a metamorphosis-type book, which was used for the moral instruction of children in the 18th century.
Metamorphosis books were printed on the penny presses of the period and sold on street corners, said John Ballinger, one of the owners of The Bookpress in Williamsburg.
``The ones I've seen deal with the ephemeral nature of life and are warnings to shape up your life,'' said Barbara Luck, curator of paintings and textiles at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center in Williamsburg.
The manuscript Hiatt discovered at the Kansas auction teaches that wealth cannot save man from death, Hiatt said.
``It's very Puritan and gloom and doom - typical of that period,'' he said.
Because only wealthy people could afford to send their children to school, most parents used metamorphosis books to educate their children at home, said Brent Tharp, assistant curator at the Yorktown Victory Center.
``Fables or moral stories were the best way to teach children morals, reading and the alphabet,'' Tharp said. ``What's unusual about this is it's not a printed book but was made by an individual with pen-and-ink drawings and watercolor wash.''
The uniqueness of Hiatt's manuscript has caused many to speculate about its origin. ``It's my suspicion that it is most likely copied from a printed children's book,'' Ballinger said. ``This one was probably drawn by a child. There is more of a folk art quality about it.''
``The images in his book actually appear in a printed book that's dated 1814 or 1817,'' Luck said. ``The printed book could be based on earlier images.''
While other examples of metamorphosis books do exist, they do not survive well.
``These kind of things took a lot of rough use,'' Tharp said. ``He's made an incredible find. It's so valuable because it is such an unusual piece to have survived.''
Estimates of the manuscript's value vary.
``One like mine in 1982 that had some pages missing sold for $950,'' Hiatt said, quoting one book dealer. ``Since mine has all the pages, it would be more valuable.''
Ballinger offered a lower estimate.
``It's more of a street art; it's not really high art,'' he said. ``My estimate is somewhere between $250 and $600.''
Still, Hiatt says he is not interested in the book's monetary value.
``My wife, Linda, and I love history, and I believe it belongs to all of us,'' he said. ``We've agreed to donate it to the Yorktown Victory Center. I think it would be a good home for it.''
by CNB