Civil War Soldier's Ivory Pocket Diary, as in Gettysburg Museum (SOLD)

This is another great piece being offered, it is a Civil War Ivory Pocket Diary. It measures 3 ½” x 1 ¾” and has six pages of natural ivory (Monday through Saturday). Being that Sunday was a day of rest, that page was always left out. The inner pages are protected with a thicker ivory outer page cover at front and back with a hinged clasp to keep it closed.

Daily entries were made upon the appropriate flat hard slabs of ivory, usually with a lead pencil and could be easily erased when no longer needed. There is an example of this diary in The Civil War Collector’s Encyclopedia, by Francis Lord and I also used my personal one in my recent book “The Civil War Soldier – His Personal Items” (see pictures). There is also one in the collection of the NPS Gettysburg Battlefield Museum (see pictures).

I’ve had a few of these over the past 25+ years, but now they rarely show up. The ivory has aged beautifully, and this example is in very nice condition. There are some faint markings, but difficult to make out. It would go great in a display of a soldier’s personal effects.