Wreath from the Woods of Carolina

[2]Painter, musician, sculptor, and writer Mary Ann Bryan Mason [3] (1802-81) was the first woman in North Carolina known to have written and illustrated a children's book, titled A Wreath from the Woods of Carolina [4] (1859). Nine colored lithographs of native wildflowers [5] distinguish the volume from the children's literature of the late antebellum [6] period, and the first ten chapters begin with a Bible verse. The book's ten stories attempt to teach piety and morals to children through relatively heavy-handed didacticism. The book was published in New York by the General Protestant Episcopal Sunday School Union and Church Book Society.

Additional Resources:

Mason, Mary Ann Bryan. A Wreath from the Woods of Carolina. General Protestant Episcopal Sunday School Union and Church Book Society. New York: Pudney and Russell. 1859. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/item.aspx?id=maa [7] (accessed August 17, 2012).

Whitford, John D. [8] "Rambles about Town: Pollock Street from Queen to Middle." The Daily Journal [New Bern, N.C.], January 7, 1883. http://newbern.cpclib.org/research/whitford/bhn18830107.htm [9] (accessed August 17, 2012).

Carroll, Yvonne. "Applying Critical Thinking Skills Utilizing “A Wreath from the Woods of Carolina." Eastern North Carolina Digital Library. http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/lessons/zmaa.pdf [10] (accessed August 17, 2012).

Image Credits:

Colored engraving of the title illustration. Mason, Mary Ann Bryan. A Wreath from the Woods of Carolina. General Protestant Episcopal Sunday School Union and Church Book Society. New York: Pudney and Russell. 1859. http://books.google.com/books?id=ARZAAAAAYAAJ&ots=Tf_xuMmePR&dq=Wreath%20from%20the%20Woods%20of%20Carolina&pg=PP15#v=onepage&q&f=false [4] (accessed August 17, 2012).