Our frequent donor David Doret recently gave this charming metamorphosis print to the Prints and Photographs Department. The lithograph depicts the exhibit displayed December 21-29, 1858 at the Boston YMCA Christmas Fair fundraiser in the Boston Music Hall

For the admission price of 15 cents, a visitor to the bazaar could see a recreation of the building facade, bed chamber, and sitting room of the birthplace of Boston native son Franklin. The lithograph was one of two executed by Boston lithographer J. H. Bufford for the exposition’s daily circular “Spirit of the Fair.” This print, published in the December 23, 1858 edition, accompanied a descriptive article as well as an advertisement for the exhibit.

With the raising of a flap, the lithograph transforms from the exterior view of the house to the interior scene witnessed by the exhibit visitors. The rooms, recreated from designs provided by Boston antiquary Dr. Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff, contained furnishings “of undoubted antiquity” from local individuals to replicate a quaint domestic setting. The Franklin family reads, knits, and weaves near the hearth as baby Benjamin rests in his cradle.

According to other editions of the fair circular, the display also served as a venue for “old-fashioned” singing and as the backdrop for children to visit with Santa Claus. The young guests could watch Saint Nick arrive via the chimney throughout Christmas Day. These playful uses of the actual display certainly reflect the whimsical nature of this lithograph now in the Library Company’s collection.

Erika Piola, Visual Materials Cataloger