I am very excited about this lot which includes a vibrant watercolor painted heart with interior hex signs by Chandler Darlington of Darlington Corner, Chester County, Pennsylvania, circa 1840. Darlington signed his heart in the middle as you will see in the 3rd photo below. This beautiful painting is framed in a period black painted frame which measures 11 5/8" x 15 3/4". An early brass hanging loop is at the top of the frame.
Darlington was quite the Pennsylvania school boy artist as shown, not only with this heart, but by his heavily illustrated school workbook titled "Mensuration by Chandler Darlington". Mensuration is defined by Merriam-Webster as "1: the art of measuring; and 2: geometry applied to the computation of lengths, areas, or volumes from given dimensions or angles." The Mensuration workbook is a hard-backed book covered with marbled-paper; measures 8 1/4" x 12 3/4"; and contains 188 pages, all completed and all intact (a number of the pages are loose but none are missing). As you will see below, the book fascinates me so much that I added too many photos of the pages. Darlington started the book on January 11, 1841 and ultimately finished this workbook on December 11, 1842. As the photos show, Darlington learned a lot of practical mathematics which could have been applied to carpentry, building design, paving, bricking, many different fields. Ultimately, after all of this complicated math training, Darlington became a harness maker.
A second workbook by Darlington is also included and it is title "Chandler Darlington's Book Containing a Treatise in Algebra" and was commenced on January 27, 1844. It is also a marbled-paper hard-back bound book which measures 7 3/4" x 12 1/4". The spine on this book is disintegrated but almost all of the pages are still attached. This book is not as heavily illustrated as the first and Darlington did not completely fill the book, which he finished on December 11, 1844.
Also included (found folded and tucked inside the Algebra book) is the marriage certificate and his wife. Chandler Darlington married his first cousin Mary Jane Brinton on September 1, 1853 in Philadelphia. The marriage certificate is witnessed by Edward Brinton and Phebe A. Heyburn [?]. The certificate is also signed and bears the stamp of Charles Gilpin, Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. The marriage certificate has some paper splits where it has been folded for the last 158 years. To help preserve it, I've framed it on acid-free handmade paper in a period black painted frame which measures 13 3/8" x 15 1/4".
According to my research, Chandler Darlington was born in Darlington Corner on January 19, 1828. His parents were Thomas Darlington of Westown, PA and Mary Brinton of Thornbury, PA. His family first immigrated to the colonies before 1695 (I traced great-grandmother, Hannah Pierce as born in Thornbury, PA in either 1694 or 1695 and have been unable to learn whether her parents were born in America or England). Chandler married his first cousin, Mary Jane Brinton (Chandler's mother Mary Brinton was the sister of Mary Jane's father Thomas Brinton). According to the age given in the 1880 census, Mary Jane was born about 1832. Together they had at least two daughters and a son, all of whom were living with them in 1880. All genealogical research will be included with this lot.
As you can see, this is a really exciting group of items from a long-time Philadelphia area family. It will complement any folk art, Americana, or Pennsylvania-specific collection. Please email if you'd like larger format or more photos. I can't photograph every page of the workbooks, but I have even more than I include with this listing.
(#4839) Sold
