1928 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY HAND WRITTEN BY A LOVELY, FAMILY ORIENTED WOMAN IN DELAWARE, SPENDING EACH DAY THANKFUL FOR THE GIFT OF FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND HER DOTING BOYFRIEND

On offer is a thoroughly fascinating diary from the life of Mary Elizabeth Donovan, an active and interesting woman living in Smyrna, Delaware in 1928. Mary was born in 1905, making her 23 years old here. The diary presents her accounts of each day, her trips to family members around the state of Delaware, details from the lives of her brothers, Paul and Walter, and, most often and described in the most detail, her relationship with her boyfriend Roland. Donovan is obviously quite devoted to her family and relationships, as almost every entry in the diary concerns events, stories, and accounts of her family or her boyfriend. It seems little happens in her life that isn’t connected to her loved ones. Yet, her life is active and fun, and she seems to take quite a lot of delight in her daily activities. The entries rarely extend more than a page or two, and the longest ones are almost always on the weekend, where Mary describes her days and activities in much greater detail. The diary contains approximately 150 pages of handwritten diary entries, and the book itself is about 200 pages in total. The covers are full soft leather binding, with a fair bit of duct tape used to repair the covers and spine. The binding is still quite tight and the book holds together perfectly. The pages inside are in very good condition, showing almost no age-toning or rips and tears. The handwriting is neat and easily legible throughout. There is the occasional smudging and some pages are more faded than others, but the legibility of the content is not affected. This is a very fine diary, representing a lovely slice of life, and presents the life of a young woman at the end of the 1920s, kind, energetic and intensely family-focused. Text: “April 8, 1928. Easter. In the morning we went to dig daffodils. The woods was set afire, but extinguished. Roland and I went up to Longwood. Papa + Mother went to Aunt Florence’s. Uncle Paul was there. He stopped back for supper.”; “April 24, Tues. Twenty three years old. Got pair silk stockings from Mother and a venetian mirror from Papa.“; “June 9. Roland came up after the storm and we went to Dover. I got a white and black Crepe de Chine dress and black and white patent leather slippers. He stayed all night.”; “June 16. Paul has reached the age of 20 today. Roland called me from Federalsburg. Came up and reached Smyrna before I did. He bought Walter a nice white shirt.”; “August 26. Mother didn’t go to the beach but boys and Papa did. Roland stayed all night and he and I went to Wilmington. He had to meet students and I spent the day with Sara Leigh. We came back to Aunt Florence's for supper and spent the evening.”; “Nov. 11. Paul, Mother, Papa, Roland, and I rode down to Felton, Harrington, Milford, Milton and back to Uncle Ernie’s. In the evening we went up to Aunt Bess’s to see Grandma.” “December 31. As usual nothing, but the same thing happened ‘WORK HARD’ which is my favorite past time. The year of 1928 proved to be a very happy one for the Donovan's!” (Background: Not much information could be found for Mary Elizabeth Donovan. She was born on April 24, 1905, making her 23 years old in the diary. She would eventually marry her boyfriend Roland and take his last name, Pepper. They would settle down in Wilmington, Delaware. They would have at least one daughter, Pauline Pepper who would become a teacher at Shortlidge Elementary School in W. The year of her Mary’s death was not found.) OVERALL: G+; Manuscript; 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, MARY ELIZABETH DONOVAN, ROLAND PEPPER, SMYRNA, DELAWARE, ROARING TWENTIES, FAMILY LIFE, PRE WORLD WAR II, PRE GREAT DEPRESSION DELAWARE, PAULINE PEPPER, FEMINISM, WOMEN’S RIGHTS, WOMEN’S STORIES, AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, KEEPSAKE WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, ARCHIVE, DIARY, DIARIES, JOURNAL, LOG, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D’ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL