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Curious Hieroglyphick Valentine
Printmaker: Unknown
Valentine card of cream laid paper, roughly 8vo size with a lithograph of black ink (uncoloured). A rebus valentine printed within a rectangular border of leaves punctuated with quivers of arrows, bows and flaming hearts. The title is printed in upper-case, double-edged lettering: "CURIOUS HIEROGLYPHICK VALENTINE". The translation of the rebus is as follows: "Fair is the morning the bird leaves its nest / and sings a salute to the crown. / The sun in full splendor embroiders the east / and brightens the dew on the lawn. / Tis Valentines day and my love I address / This page can boast of a flame / So pure and so true I want words to express / but I ask you to give it a name, / And while my dear love on this page you gaze / heave a sigh for a heart that is true. / And believe that it such warm affection conveys / as exists for no other but you." The inside pages are blank.
The John Johnson Collection (Bodleian Library, Oxford) holds a hand-coloured example of this rebus valentine, which is dated circa 1840s. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8493000/8493948.stm. The John Johnson Collection example is also reproduced in Frank Staff, _The Valentine & Its Origins_ (1969), no. 97, p.77.The Fitzwilliam version is clearly a later reprint and is one of a series of cards on cream laid paper with uncoloured lithographs, apparently all later reprints, mounted together in album P.14348-R.
Bequeathed by Dr J. W. L. Glaisher, 1928
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
Accession number: P.14348-R-14
Primary reference Number: 206602
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Curious Hieroglyphick Valentine" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/206602 Accessed: 2024-04-26 02:37:28
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/206602
|title=Curious Hieroglyphick Valentine
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-26 02:37:28|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-206602
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<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp77/P_14348_R_14_1_201606_amt49_dc2.jpg"
alt="Curious Hieroglyphick Valentine"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Curious Hieroglyphick Valentine</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
Accession Number: P.14412-R-17
Accession Number: P.14591-R
Accession Number: C.97-1961
Accession Number: P.14592-R
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