Specimens of Penmanship written by Miss Wood at the High School, Oldham. WOOD (Mary).

Conducted by The Rev. Hugh Tait, B.A..

Two albums. Oblong 4to. [ 215 x 276 mm and 238 x 300 mm]. [6]ff and [7]ff. Each with an engraved title-page by Bean of Leeds, with Mary Wood's name added in manuscript (with original pink paper tissue guards), followed by specimens of her penmanship on the recto of each leaf beneath engraved headings. White glazed moiree paper wrappers with large gilt embossed card frame pasted to the front, the first containing a chromolithograph of an oriental scene with tent and river, the second with two birds and a nest. (The second rather soiled around the edges).
Oldham, [c.1885].

The engraved subject headings are "The Mother", "The Future", "Greece", "The Convict Ship", "Truth", "My Own Fireside" and "The Ocean", but young Mary Wood tended to repeat a series of lines, including "Eminence demands our earnest endeavours", "Condemn not without due consideration", "Learned men command our admiration", "Vicious persons sometimes torment themselves", and "Concealed resentments are sometimes dangerous". The specially printed titles incorporate an engraved view of Cambridge, perhaps as an aspiration.

Stock no. ebc7525