Provenance- The Stillwell Family Ciphering Book was donated to Historic Huguenot Street by Richard Ordway in 1978 and is part of a bigger collection of 24 ciphering books that were hand \written. Those ciphering books were part of an even bigger collection of Stillwell/ Johnson Family papers which dates range from 1789-1943. I was unable to find any more information on the provenance of this book specifically on the Sojourner Truth Database but the collection of books was represented by a multitude of families including the DuBois and the LeFevre families, some of the most influential families known to Huguenot Street. (Ciphering Book Collection (Ca. 1730-1849)).

The Stillwell Family Ciphering Book includes various economic concepts like  ‘Reduction’ and the values of currencies based on location. I know, riveting. But beyond that, this book offers a look into the academic and philosophical world of the Stillwell Family and gives us a look into the mind of the wealthy in the 1800s (New York Heritage-Digital Collections).

Physical Description- This book has a brown exterior with pale yellow pages in the inside. When given a closer look the seemingly semi-bendy exterior of the book has multiple shades of brown featured in small bubbles that look similar to a petri dish of bacteria under a microscope or multi-shaded stone pavement. The edges of the exterior of the book are rounded and a lighter shade of brown. The spine of the book looks scratched fairly consistently and has a small rip towards the bottom that exposes the pages of the book. The pages of the book are written in medium brown ink and most of them look like they have some type of liquid spilled on them that seems like it could be coffee. The handwriting is a neat cursive that varies in size depending on if the writing is a title or not.

Narrative– *I submitted a ticket to the research department of the library to find out more about the specifics of the family and their relation to New Paltz so I can go more into depth for my final draft*

When you think of the objects surrounding the history of education in the US, what do you think of? Maybe it’s quills and feathers. Maybe it’s one-room schoolhouses and long rulers. The history of education in the US is a bulky one filled with arguably more good than bad, but nonetheless, the influence of the objects and materials that once shaped young minds is irrefutable. One object that is often overlooked in its influence on Western education is the ciphering book. A ciphering book is a textbook-like, handwritten booklet that was used frequently in the 18th century to teach people about mathematical concepts ranging from fractions and geometry to economics and applied math. Along with math, these books also covered spelling, handwriting, and other English topics (New York Heritage Digital Collections). These books often included examples, problems, and exercises and were used by educators as their main form of reference and handy teaching tool. Ciphering books’ use didn’t end in the classroom, though. These became students’ personal reference books to use later in their lives as well. (Library, Rauner). 

One ciphering book that offers an in-depth view of the peak of their use, the 1800s, is the Stillwell Family Ciphering book in the Historic Huguenot Collection. This ciphering book deals with the application side of math in this time period and was used by the Stillwell Family for answering what they deemed “practical questions”. These practical questions included mathematical concepts relating to international trade and the value of the dollar in different US states at the time (Ciphering Book Collection (Ca. 1730-1849)). 

What stuck out to me about this ciphering book in specific was the family’s philosophical takes intertwined within the pages and pages of applied math. The more practical and direct rules and guidelines were very common for these ciphering books but the addition of big-picture takes on education as a whole was not as common, and more telling in my opinion of the headspace of the author of this book. The description of this book on the Huguenot Street website features a quote from the author of this book. It states, “Commendation commonly animates the mind” (Ciphering Book Collection (Ca. 1730-1849)). The author of this book believed that praise would help people think more effectively. As much as ciphering books and that way of learning has changed drastically compared to today, that concept still remains in education and just society in general. Two more quotes that were even more shocking to see in a ciphering book, in my opinion, were first, a take on happiness that read, “He who cannot be happy without great pains will always find his pains greater than his happiness”, and second, a take on ownership that read, “The possession of enjoyment is better than the enjoyment of possession” (Ciphering Book Collection (Ca. 1730-1849)).

 These perspectives on concepts are not only discussed today but also widely agreed with. It’s often hard to stop yourself from slipping into a mindset that regards history as just history-A time and place that’s separate from the here and now. But it’s important to remember that although the physical elements of history change, the human condition of the inevitability of pain and the search for happiness remains constant. 

References–

Library, Rauner. “Rauner Special Collections Library: Ciphering Books.” Rauner Special Collections Library, 14 Nov. 2014, raunerlibrary.blogspot.com/2014/11/ciphering-books.html. Accessed 30 April 2023.

“Ciphering Book Collection (Ca. 1730-1849).”Historic Huguenot Street, www.huguenotstreet.org/ciphering-book-collection. Accessed 30 April 2023.

“MSS208_001_002_p001.”Nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org, nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694coll153/id/1899/rec/1. Accessed 1 May 2023.