Anon.; Mabel Hamilton (Subject).  THE BABYHOOD JOURNAL: A Record of Baby's Doings from the day of its birth.  New York: The Contemporary Publishing Company,  (1899).

A completely filled-in example of this title, each page offering textual details and photographs (mostly cyanotypes) of subject Mabel Hamilton, born in Los Angeles in 1899. Ivory cloth over beveled boards, gilt lettering and decoration to front panel, 2 pp printed instructions "The Use of the Babyhood Journal", 2 pp requesting "The First Years Landmarks". Remainder of book with blank space to enter details and additional pages offering two b/w photos of babies or children. Pages are hand-numbered, text is in a single legible hand and many of the photographs are captioned.  Oblong, 11" x 8-1/4"; [75] pp.  Staining limited to rear cover, covers otherwise with mild soiling and wear. Interior pages rippled from application of photographs and text with some ghosting seen from adjacent photographs.  Very Good condition.

This journal offers a fine example of how a baby book could be used as well as a number of historical views from the early 20th century. Accompanying the extensive text within this album are more than 65 cyanotypes along with a number of additional photographs. Mabel was born in Los Angeles and also chose to live her adult life there (this according to an article in the June 26, 1941 Arizona Republic). Her family was well off, and Mabel traveled to a number of places at an early age. Pictured (and captioned) are various places including Los Angeles, Catalina Island, Pomona, Eureka, Iron Springs (Arizona), Lincoln Park (Chicago), Oak Park (Illinois); there are also additional images that are not captioned.