One pressed dried rose which had been worn by the English poet George Gordon Byron on his lapel when he toured the frigate U.S.S. Constitution, anchored off Leghorn (Livorno), Italy, on May 21, 1822. The rose was given as a memento to Catharine Potter Stith, who was on board the ship with her husband Townshend Stith; the following day Byron sent her a volume of Goethe's Faust accompanied by an autograph note. The faded red rose consists of the blossom only, minus stem and leaves. It was later surrounded by a piece of dark brown paper (8.5 x 26 cm) with a black ink border and inscription: "Moore's Life of Byron." Both were pressed between two sheets of glass and enclosed in a two-part wooden frame, painted black with a gilded liner and held together by means of mending plates and screws. A paper tag (9 x 3 cm) was tacked to the top of the frame and bears the inscription in ink: "Dr. E. Brandegee / Berlin / Connt." Dr. Elishama Brandegee (1814-1884, Yale 1833, 1838 MD) was the husband of Ann Florence Stith Brandegee (1821-1901) and son-in-law to Catharine Stith
Description:
compositions, and a shortstory published in
Subject (Name):
Brandegee, Elishama, 1814-1884., Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824., Stith, Townshend, Mrs., 1795-1839., and Constitution (Frigate)