WOMAN MUSICIAN, PIANIST, LISBON FALLS, MAINE 1918-1938 SCRAPBOOK

Item #1022

10” x 13 1/4” scrapbook of 46 leaves/ 40 pages (double-sided).

Pianist Margaret Whittier of Lisbon Falls, Maine curated this scrapbook. Items within are from the years 1919-1938.

As a young lady, Miss. Whittier was a student of a prestigious Miss Wells, and Margaret Whittier was her most esteemed student. The majority of material are of newspaper clippings granting praise, such as the following:

“Miss. Whittier memorizes easily, playing her entire program without the musical score. She is a performer exceptional in refinement of musicianship, artistic interpretation and command of the piano’s resources. Her personality is charming and it is a pleasure to watch her movements at the instrument as well as to hear her play.”

And

“How exquisite can be the human instrument, for the moment, of the creative genius of the great masters of music was realizable here.”

Miss. Whittier dedicated her love and attention to her music studies. She was a member of the Lewiston-Auburn Philharmonic club, a student of the New England Conservatory of Music, and appears to have become a teacher herself as in 1937 she became a member of the Maine Teachers’ Association.

Most yet not all of the scrapbook is dedicated to her musicianship. Herein can be found the report cards of her youth (1918-1924), ticket stubs, hotel pamphlets, dinner receipts, recital programs, birthday cards Christmas cards, wedding invitations, pressed flowers, and a few handwritten notes of awe and appreciation. There are also several handwritten essays on lined composition paper on subjects: Ancient History and Greece, as well as Latin and English exercises. A couple of newspaper clippings highlight poetry Miss. Whittier enjoyed, and one handwritten poem which possibly was created by Margaret herself, as follows:

Oblivion, Jan. 1933

Tis little I can give you
Yet I can give you these—
A little naked dwelling, to dress it
As you please.
And a low moon, a gold moon
Swinging in the trees.

And maybe in the quiet
When the stars out thong
Your beating heart will tell you
How you were not wrong
To count not gold or silver
Sweeter than my song

So have you well or stay you
And I will go or stay.
Tis little I can give you
Save love for everyday -
And little golden heads
For when your head is grey

As with most scrapbooks, a few pages are detached and a few items are missing. Still quite a lovely keepsake from a woman musician.

Price: $200.00