This Good Old Book

Haven't had an inscription in a while, this seemed like a good candidate.

The ink is a bit faded and the handwriting is a little loopy, so I will do my best.

If you see something I don't, let me know in the comments.

This good old book
Anny man or woman this book ?? take ?? will work him down with a stake.
William G. ?? fine boy he is verry smart in school he reads well and ?? good

Found in "A Plan Practical System of Arithmetic" by Nathan Daboll. Published by Hosford, Albany NY, 1821.

Edit: Thank you all for the help! Updated text here:

This good old book.

Any man or woman this book does take I will knock him down with a stake.

William G Kettle (?) is a fine boy, he is very smart in school, he reads well and ciphers good.

William Kettle he is a rover

-Click to enlarge photos-
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7 comments:

  1. LaurenMay 5, 2011 at 12:52 PM

    I'd say the missing words are "dos" and "siphers," misspellings of "does" and "ciphers." What a great inscription!

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  2. Baby FridayMay 5, 2011 at 12:53 PM

    I think it's "This good old book/ Enny Man or Woman this book dos take/I will nok him down with a stake". Can't make out the rest of it, although it looks like it's signed "William and Rover".

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  3. MarioMay 5, 2011 at 1:23 PM

    Barring misspellings in the original text: "This good old book. Any man or woman this book does take I will knock him down with a stake. William G (Last name) is a fine boy, he is very smart in school, he reads well and ciphers good.

    William (Last name) he is a rover"

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  4. Love This SpaceMay 5, 2011 at 2:06 PM

    I agree with the others. I got: "Enny man or woman this book dos take, I will knok him down with a stake. William G. Kettle. For a fine boy. He is verry smart in school. He reads well and siphers good. William Him he is a rorer." Maybe rorer is funny?

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  5. Sue JacksonMay 5, 2011 at 3:51 PM

    I love this blog! I remembered hearing about it a while back, so I looked for it today.

    I posted a link on my own book blog because my son found a fun forgotten bookmark in one of our own books recently!

    http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2011/05/found-bookmarks.html

    Great blog -

    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  6. TriciaMay 19, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    I think the first Kettle looks more like a Kittle (but the word on the second page doesn't look like either Kettle or Kittle...)

    ReplyDelete
  7. EssayelMay 28, 2011 at 1:55 PM

    I think the last word is Rorer - roarer - meaning a loud disorderly person.

    ReplyDelete