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ANNE PATEAT : 1937 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A WHIP SMART YOUNG WOMAN, STUDYING ENGLISH AT A WOMEN'S ONLY COLLEGE, PARTICIPATING IN ITS TIME HONORED TRADITIONS, AND TRAVELLING THROUGH THE GRAND CITIES OF PRE-WAR EUROPE

8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. On offer is the lovely and interesting diary of a young female art student, studying at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her name is Anne Pateat and she is quite the character, describing her life in a comprehensive and lovingly detailed way, writing of her many adventures and readings, her thoughts on art and shakespeare, and a myriad of other ripe topics for a young woman’s mind in school to think over. She is obviously quite the student, as evidenced by the fact that she is a member of Silver Shield Honors Society, Junior Editor of The Acorn (a campus literary magazine), member of the English club and Field Hockey team, and an avid participator in the Meredith College Crook Hunt, in which the Junior Class, of which Anne and her friends belong, hunts for a crook (or shepherd’s staff) hidden by the senior class. It is a tradition that has been in Meredith College since 1906, and the diary is filled with numerous attempts to find the crook on campus. “When 10 O’clock (P.M.) came around almost 6 of us started crooking and we were the usual sorry sights. We walked down the R.R. bend when we came to the highway. Maxie leafed around like a kangaroo and some one in a roadster stopped to find out what the trouble was. He went on when we started tearing back down the tracks. The next gentleman who stopped to investigated backed his car up and sat on the tracks and stared at us for several minutes. We were scared to death at first and ran wildly in all directions - but finally we stared him down - still no crook.” While at school, her life is filled with frequent work for her English classes, lots of Shakespeare, Robert Browning, and other formative authors. In July, Anne takes an exciting trip across the Atlantic on the famous ‘Queen Mary’ to London, Paris and then Edinburgh. “On board the S.S. Queen Mary and we almost didn’t make it! We went down to the dock at 10 to be early for a 12 o’clock sailing and, lo and behold, the thing pulled out at 10:30! Shudder, shudder, at the tho’t of missing it! It is quite the most wonderful ship I have ever seen” Her trip across the Atlantic is well and humorously noted and when she arrives in England she writes, “the long awaited day is over and the family is together! And what a family! They took peculiar to me and they primped on me because of the way I talk - so it goes. My first impression was that they all looked pale - but they improve on acquiescence and keep me roaring with laughter.” She even takes to calling her family the “thundering herd.” Her trip makes up the last two months of entries in the journal and contains detailed accounts of everything seen and done in the European cities visited. “Boy, oh boy, oh boy! have we ‘done’ Paris!” The entries stop on August 21, but pick up again September 9th. “I vowed to start this little animal again when school commenced and it did in a big way.” However, only two entries were written before it stops again. Finally, on September 20, she writes, “I’m making another brave attempt at keeping this poor thing alive!” but only a few days later, on October 1st, she writes her last entry in the book, after which she stops writing in the journal for good. The diary as a whole is an absolutely fantastic look into the life of a strong, humorous, artistic young woman in the last few years before WW2. It’s a fantastic document of Meredith College, of pre-war America and Europe and of a wholly unique life. The front and back cover are in good condition, showing some scuffing and wear but are still very structurally sound. The pages within are free of major discoloration, rips, or tears. The handwriting is legible and readable throughout, in blue ink. There is some fading of the ink at points, but it does not affect legibility. The book is approximately 380 pages in length, of which around 300 have writing. OVERALL: VG. Sample text: “Friday May, 28, 1937. The last exam is over and I’m a senior in College! Wonderful day this afternoon. I went for my final hour in the library and it felt wonderful. Lee took me down to Mac’s for supper and we drove around for a little while. Carl was there for supper and was right much fun....After I came back this P.M. I sat in the course and talked...”; “Friday, June 4. Most of this day I have been closeted with Kristen and it’s got me going - this morning I did tear myself away from it long enough to go to town with Pris and buy me some silk to make a suit and 2 patterns - the things will be real pretty when they’re made up. Every time we tried to get stuff to match the blouse (for the suit) wwe had to bike out to sidewalk with a bolt of cloth to see if it was o.k. By light of day. At 12 we [went] to the Doctor’s Office and I got stuck with a typhoid shot. The only insult I can see (or feel) is a sore arm - I guess sleepyness is just my natural state. Pris went to a bridge party at 3 all dolled up in a leg bow hat among other things - and she came home without the Prize. ‘Happy’ has gotten so that she has to be scratched in a very winsome manner - It rained dogs and cats this aft and eve for a while.”; “Tuesday August 10. Boy, oh boy, oh boy! Have we ‘done’ Paris. This A.M. and aft. we took a conducted tour around the city and ‘did’ Napoleon’s Tomb (he’s buried in 6 coffins to prevent desecration) saw Heloise and Abelard, Musset’s tomb, a beautiful memorial to the Dead, drove around the exhibition, etc. This aft. we went to Notre Dame and saw the exquisite rose windows. There are some cardinal’s hats hanging in the ___ and when they fall from old age the souls of the deceased are supposed to leave purgatory. And this P.M. from 9 until 3 we have done the night life, and have we done it! Several cabaret's and ended up at the Moulin Rouge dancing. The floor show there was grand and so was the orchestra. An English girl was the only other girl besides me so we didn’t lack for partners. The Champagne flowed without cease. After the Moulin closed we ended the evening at a street side place with coffee (at least I did). The Eng. girl was the only one who spoke French so we all had a charming time.” (Background: Anne Poteat Rose, 94, born 1911, died Sunday April 24, 2011 at the St. Francis Home after a period of declining health. She was born in the Kaifung region of China to her Missionary parents, Gordon and Helen (Carruthers) Poteat. She graduated from the Shanghai American School and then sailed back to the United States to attend college at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., where she earned her BA in English. Anne then met her family in Oxford England where they were able to tour England and Scotland. When their tour was complete, the family returned to Pennsylvania on the Queen Mary. Anne then earned her Master's Degree in English at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1943, she began training with the Red Cross and went to France to work with the troops. She helped out on air bases and followed Gen. Patton's troops through Germany and the Red Ball Express. In 1945 she returned home to Chester, Penn. While her father was teaching at Crozer Theological Seminary, Anne met Rabon Rose and they later married. Anne and Rabon moved about the country as the ministry called him. They served churches in LaGrange, N.C.; Austin, Texas; Champaign, Ill.; and Vero Beach, Fla. In 1955 they moved to New Hampton, New Hampshire. They both found teaching positions in schools in the area. Anne taught Senior English and Humanities at Franklin High School for 26 years before retiring. Anne was active within the community, participating with the garden club, helping with the selections of new books at the Gordon Nash Library, and sang with the Pemigewasset Choral Society. She served on committees and sang in the choir at the New Hampton Community Church.). Manuscript. Book Condition: Very Good

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