TOD, Helen T. NEEDLEWORK BINDING. ~ Floral Emblems.
38 pp. manuscript written out elegantly in black ink, preceded by the name of the calligrapher ‘Helen C. Tod’ and the date, 1832, with elaborate penmanship and decoration. 11.8 x 9.5 cm, bound by or perhaps for the writer in a full pink silk covers skilfully embroidered with her initials in an exquisite border of leaves and acorns in various coloured greens and ivory silks, the spine with green seams and silk crosses using the same colours. With a little green silk button and tie. In excellent condition.
A beautifully written and laid out ‘dual-dictionary’ of 274 flowers detailing their names in both English and French and their assigned emotion or message written in French.
The Victorians had a real interest in the language of flowers, or floriography, and this manuscript reflects that interest, Floriography opened a world of covert communication which coincided with a surge in interest in botany at that time. The first books on floriography were Elizabeth Wirt’s Flora’s Dictionary and Dorothea Dix’s The Garland of Flora, which were both published in 1829. This is an early example of the upsurge in sensitivity towards the meanings of each plant which was so prevalent at that time. The fascination survived for a long time - indeed Kate Greenaway published her Language of Flowers in 1884.
Tod is a surname which originated in Berwickshire and Midlothian, so it is fair to assume Helen Tod was from Scotland or perhaps the just over the other side of the border with England.