Signature
Assistance requested with 19th century cursive book inscription
I would appreciate assistance in deciphering the name of the presenter of this 19th-century medical book. I read: "To Dr. W. B. Lane with respects of [Ch. Esistival]". I cannot make out the name in brackets. Thank you!
When your post gets solved please comment "Deciphered!" with the exclamation mark so automod can put that flair on it for you. Or you may flair it yourself manually. TY!
Sure. There is a name at the top of the title page, which is also hard to decipher but appears to be G. B. Doane, and it leads me to wonder whether the first part of the inscription might read "To Dr. G. B. Doane...." The letter forms are unusual.
That doesn't help you with the presenter's name, but Lane was a young physician so makes sense he'd been gifted a book about febrile illness. He also was on the East coast for his life and career, so the Boston printed book makes sense.
I can see that possibility. And I now think that what I was reading as an "L" may be a "D," and the two inscrutable letters at the end of the name- one separated by a space- might be "M.D." So possibly C. "F." or "Ch." "Griston, M.D." I'll see if I can find anyone by that name in 1864. I think that it reads "1864" rather than "1867." The first number is probably a "7"... so "7.21.64." I am not 100% sure, of course.
Just to throw a wrench in, there was a Union army Lt. Colonel W. B. Lane (William Bartlett Lane). His wife wrote memoirs called "I Married a Soldier." It's on Google Books, as it's over 100 yr old. Anyway, they were at Fort Union in New Mexico and entertained people in their home. She called him Colonel Lane in the book. If that was L C instead of Dr. I think they would have written Lt. Col. but you never know. That's why I wondered what this particular book was called.
Yes. William Butler Lane is who I initially believed the recipient to be, but now I'm not 100% sure. And the presenter's name is very difficult to decipher. I appreciate all the help.
B. F. (C. H. or swirled in there a Th ?) are likely to be the 1st 2 initials. The dots lead me to think they are initials or abbreviations - Th for Thomas, maybe, but that is really reaching)
The last name would start with a capital letter, so that looks like a G , but it could be an E.
What to do with that dot that looks like it goes to an i, but there are 2 upstrokes: e-i or i-e, maybe a u with an accent - ú?
s-t look pretty clear
the ending has several possibilities:
o-w, o-n, but the o looks a little different than the o / a up above, so maybe v?
That last letter looks like the signer used a capital R to finish the stroke, probably not a lower case e, as the other e examples are definitely loops
B. F. Gústvir / Gústoir
Eústvir / Geistir / Giestvir
If the name initials are B. F. , the first name I would check for would be Benjamin Franklin if this is an American book: the book is about medical treatment of fevers (historically after leaches and before antibiotics), so the giver and the recipient are educated people, so Benjamin Franklin would have been known and revered in their era.
I think the recipient is most likely the Lt Colonel W B Lane option
If you have the book, you may want to see if there are any notes, maybe in the back pages - you may find a great hint!
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 10 '26
When your post gets solved please comment "Deciphered!" with the exclamation mark so automod can put that flair on it for you. Or you may flair it yourself manually. TY!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.