Periodical

Description

Volume XXXVI No. 936 issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, published September 6, 1873. Cover illustration is an engraving titled "New York City - Street Characters - A Sunday Temperance Lecturer Holding Forth to a Group of Wayfarers Along the East River Front." On pages 416-418 are an essay and five engravings of scenes of Shakers at the Church Family of Mount Lebanon. On page 416 is a half-page engraving, "A Shaker Schoolroom." It shows two brothers, one standing and one seated, both holding books. Before them are a group of four young boys holding books. In the left foreground two boys are seated at a slant-top desk, one boy turned to face the viewer. In the background are two more rows of desks; on the wall behind them are boards with the alphabet and numbers. The engraving is signed "Matt Morgan" at bottom right. The Shaker teachers shown are believed to be Brothers Calvin Reed and William Calver, who were the teachers of boys at that time. The original sketch on which the engraving was based still exists; the perspective has changed and the posture of the boy looking at the viewer has been altered to draw more attention to him. On page 417 are four engravings. At the top is an engraving titled "Business Office of the Shakers" showing a scene in the Church Family office, which has a woodstove at center, a long standing desk with a round end at left, and six brothers, two of whom are seated at the rear. In the center of the page are a pair of matched engravings, the left titled "Entrance to the Shaker Women's Rooms," and the right titled "Entrance to the Shaker Men's Rooms." Both show a closed door flanked by and topped by sections of peg rail on which bonnets, hats, and brooms are hung. At bottom is an engraving titled "Sleeping Room of the Men Shakers," showing a retiring room with three beds visible, a stove with a super heater at center, and two brothers, one seated in a rocking chair by the stove and the other standing behind the stove. The image is the earliest known depiction of a Shaker retiring room, and the only one to appear in the 19th century that shows the wall curtains that the Shakers hung from peg rails to retain heat. The original sketch for this engraving does not include the brother standing near the doorway but does depict the seated brother who was Becker's escort for the visit and can be seen in the engraving of the ironing room as well.

Notes

Becker visited the North and Church Families at Mount Lebanon in March of 1870. It was recorded in the Church Family record: "[March] 5 Sat.: One of the editors and one of the Artists of 'Leslie's Pictorial' of New York come here to make observations, take notes, make drawings, &c, &c, to publish concerning the Shakers." The engravings were not published until 1873, in a series of four installments over the course of ten months. The reason for the delay is not known, but it may have been in order to wait until more time had passed since the publication of Houghton's views of the Shakers in The Graphic in 1870.