Scarce 1853 Merril's New Illuminated Alphabet Book old handmade wooden frame I repaired a partial split

I repaired a partial split along the front of the seat on the chair with crazy glue

were done by Erastus Salisbury Field (1805-1900)

Wired on the back for hanging straight away

And I think he did a terrific job

I'm not sure if 3-dimensional objects can actually qualify as trompe 'loeil

Scarce 1853 Merril's New Illuminated Alphabet Book old handmade wooden frame I repaired a partial splitI sure do love alphabets, and happily they've manifested in so many excellent incarnations with unlikely survivors my favorite kind! This is an 1853 copy of Merrill's New Illuminated Alphabet Book, published by Rufus Merrill, Concord, NH, and which I think may have been the first edition, as I can find no earlier reference to it, though I have found later. Paper cover, with beautiful upper and lower case alphabets on the flip, and then each page