Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking On (19th Century Canadian Magazine Imprint)

Toronto, ON: Toronto Willard Tract Depository / Archer G. Watson, Manager, 1890. Paperback. Good Only. R.B.. Publication date of 1890 taken from "Recent Testimonials" ads verso front cover, dated Feb. & April, 1890 (originally published in Boston by D. Lothrop and Co. in 1882). Staple bound color illustrated wraps, line block frontis repeats front cover chromolithograph, engraved line block title page, 4to (10-3/4 inches [27.3 cm] tall), pp. 64, illustrated with six in-text line block illustrations, foliated chapter-head initials and a caption tailpiece at foot of terminal page, ads inside front and rear covers. Volume with edge wear and toning, three one inch tears through text block (two at spine and one at fore-edge), interior leaves with some closed tears, stains and soil, rust to staples, a four inch tear to foot of both covers at spine folds with most of spine panel still being present. A rare survivor - given the format and intended use - of 19th century Canadian publishing history, with no copies available in the trade and just a single copy held by the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto. OCLC accessed 8/16. Toronto Willard Tract Depository was an evangelical publishing company of religious tracts, hymn books and stories and the only one of the Bible, tract, and Sunday-school societies which engaged in significant local production other than annual reports. It was started by William Holmes Howland, a philanthropist and acknowledged business phenomenon of his day, who also served two terms as Mayor of Toronto. Ref. The History of the Book in Canada, Vol. 2, p. 548. Isabella Macdonald Alden "... edited her own magazine, "The Pansy" for over 20 years, was a regular columnist for the "Christian Endeavor World," and many other publications, lectured on the Chautauqua circuit, and still managed to write or edit nearly 200 books in her lifetime" isabellamacdonaldaldendotcom.