Page:Bijou Almanacks.pdf/3



Details of the first three of these tiny gift volumes, which measured 3/4 inch by 1/2 inch can be found in the advertisement that follows. Letitia Landon’s poems therein belong to a class of poems that were her own original conception, first published as Medallion Wafers in 1823: commodity poems. Once again she is keeping herself at the forefront of media development and, although the poems in the Almanacks were designed to be sold as commodities they are, as such, each a little jewel.

Because these volumes are so small, it is unlikely they will be scanned and all the texts have been taken from other sources. The only poem I have been unable to track down is King William IV., in the 1838 volume. However, the accompanying illustrations cannot be traced. A contemporary source and the advert that follows attribute the engravings to T. H. Jones but the etching of the texts appears to be the work of Benjamin Rees Davies.