In the February 1850 issue of The Lady's Book, Louis A. Godey, publisher, declared:
These lexia, or perhaps in deference to the times we should say "collection of leaves," examine the Lady's Book, its publisher, its editor, and the world that both created, and was created by, it."In 1830, a "magazine of elegant literature was cast, doubtingly, upon the uncertain stream of public favor--its name the Lady's Book and Louis A. Godey the publisher. It was a novel enterprise at the time, and few thought it would outlive the first year of its nativity. It soon became apparent, however, that its management was in the hands of one who knew the want of the time, and had the tact and taste required for its supply."
Lady's Book: The Collections
You may choose from two collections. The first provides highlights from the volumes from 1855 through 1858 that include some examples of the illustrations, fiction, editorials, literary notices, and fashion and needlework patterns. It also includes some background material, links to other Godey's on the web, a sample of a typical Table of Contents, as well as a simple list, with links, for all the images currently in that collection.
The second collection, housed at our digital library, contains three full issues of the Book from 1855, as well as a partial issue from 1852. These issues are somewhat searchable and are composed of full page images so you can read the Book as it would have appeared originally.
1) Go to the "samples" collection
2) Go to the "complete issues" collection (currently unavailable while we replace the server and revamp the collection)