Poignant and Unusual Large 1840s Paper Lace Valentine with Mirror, Verse, and Original Envelope antique green paint Some foxing on the blank

Some foxing on the blank postcard back

which through very simple means manages to invoke many many things at one

The year 1855 appears on one plate

Her body is all wood with mortise and tenon joints

Poignant and Unusual Large 1840s Paper Lace Valentine with Mirror, Verse, and Original Envelope antique green paint Some foxing on the blankI've got an eye out for early Valentines every day of the year, this one dating to the 1840s and, rather miraculously, still accompanied by its original envelope, mailed to a Catherine Stowell of Paris, Maine, with postmark on the envelop and traces of the red wax seal still attached. Clearly it meant a lot to our Catherine! and one might guess she married the young man who sent it to her. What really sold me on it is the mirror at center of the