This is quite a trove--two 19th c. marble covered sketchbooks filled (every single page) with graphite drawings by a Lucy Jones, along with a hand-written (undated) obituary tucked into one of them, which describes Lucy as a school teacher with a "cunning hand" in "housewifery, needlework, drawing and painting, flower culture and in many other occupations requiring taste and patience and skill of eye and touch." One of the sketchbooks shows Lucy learning to draw--and very quickly she makes the leap from typical drawing lesson drawings to much more accomplished ones. In the second sketchbook (which my documentation shows first) she shows herself to have become quite skilled indeed. Some of the pages are loose in these and I thought of plucking some to sell individually, but decided to honor Lucy by trying to keep them together, at least for now. I've included a couple of my favorites first, then pretty comprehensively shown the contents of both. I of course love the most unusual among them the most, but all of her drawings have a lot of life in the them, with landscapes and drawings of houses and estates invariably including scenes within scenes.

Sketchbooks/pages measure 12" 1/4" x 9 1/2". 26 pages filled with drawings total. The one done second (pictured first) is 16 pages, with drawings on right side page and blank on reverse with tissue separating. Earlier sketchbook is 10 pages, same format. Photos show contents. Most drawings are separated by sheets of blue or green tissue. Many are loose but all are in very good condition with only the most minimal of toning toning