New Scanned Volumes of the 1859 Ladies’ American Magazine Now Available
Mid-Victorian Gossip, Romance, Scandal, and Fashion~ these scanned PDF volumes of the Ladies’ American Magazine from 1859 have it all!
Volume 1: January- June (430 pages)
Volume 2: July-December (411 pages)
Early Civil War (1861-1865) appropriate fashion is included in this scanned 1859 volume of the Ladies’ American Magazine, along with searing gossip columns, fiction and poetry (especially romance), recipes, garden hints, craft diagrams and patterns including knitting, crochet, sewing, and embroidery, and some wild Victorian takes on their contemporary world.
The PDF documents for both volumes 1 and 2 are text searchable for ease of research! (Please note that some text may be excluded from the search function)
[I’m still working on prepping the Pheasant Dress PDF pattern for round 2 of pattern testing but am currently sick, the pattern tester call is planned for release in the next two weeks.]
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A small sampling of highlights include:
Volume 1:
-January: Victorian exercise tips, commentary on female immigration and the value of female labor, a satirical horoscope for ladies (and men), and a recipe for green pea soup with cayenne pepper
-February: commentary on the ‘rank injustice’ regarding how women’s education is regarded, a crime report about a man who bit a woman on the arm, an article discussing tyrannical men (in regards to the editor’s analysis of several divorces), and period instructions for making an aquarium
-March: advice for drying leaves and the affects of flowers on the health, an admonishment to ‘always be polite to foreigners’, followed by a story about a rude American getting beat up by a visiting German after making racist comments, and instructions for making a necklace in imitation Pearl
-April: a comment on ‘the humanizing influence of the female presence’, a letter to the editor from a woman who’s husband is ‘addicted to punning’, crochet instructions for a ‘doyley for a cake basket’
-May: roasting men who ‘persistently underrate(s) women’, which ends up turning into a multi-paragraph curse- ‘May the man who penned that never see another bonnet!’, commentary on the injustice of women being excluded from industrial pursuits, instructions for a crocheted opera mantle
-June: a page full of recipes including Salem Cookies, Potato Cheesecake, (stuffed) Rock Cod Baked, and Salmon Collared, houseplant advice, absolutely roasting a mean hater who wrote a sexist letter to the editor (and publishing most of the letter), instructions for a knitted, structured bonnet ‘Garden or Opera Hood’
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Volume 2:
-July: advice for husbands from a wife’s perspective, commentary on horseback riding being graceful form of exercise for women, a description of color changing ink, a few sets of riddles, a patchwork quilt pattern
-August: comments on the art of dress and what is suitable for certain ages, body types, and complexions, a nice letter to the editor naming and praising their servant and wishing her well in her upcoming marriage, some interesting recipes including for a dry curry, almond rock, and lemonade
-September: advice to husbands from wives, a humor section with terrible play on words, commentary on ‘a dissertation on punning’, a pattern for an evening dress bodice with accordion sleeves
-October: roasting a ‘highly respectable lady’ for being a tyrannical employer to her servants by not allowing them to sit when they dine, and an assortment of refreshing drink recipes
-November: admonishments for husbands who ‘think their duty is done if they provide food and clothing, and refrain (possibly) from harsh words. Ah- is it?’, instructions for arranging the hair, fashion commentary including the economic effects of the end of the war in Italy
-December: ‘’Caught in her own net,’ as the man said when he saw (a woman) hitched in her crinoline,’ recipes including for chestnut bread, tomato sauce, apple dumplings, and summer salad, fashion commentary briefly mentioning the Harper’s Ferry riots before addressing the infamous society Diamond Wedding between a wealthy Cuban planter and an American daughter of a US naval officer
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The Ladies’ American Magazine was most likely a regional publication based out of New York, similar to the well-known Godey’s or Peterson’s, but with a much smaller audience. (Unlike the other two publications, I couldn’t find any free, digitally available copies of the Ladies’ American Magazine for 1859 at time of writing. As was common in the time, some of the crafts and illustrations may be found in other publications, but the accompanying text will often be different).
Based on my research comparing the three magazines for 1859, the Ladies’ American Magazine was likely directed towards a lower to upper middle-class audience. Unlike Peterson’s dour, morality-tale heavy content or Godey’s upper-class lens, I found the Ladies’ American Magazine to place a heavy emphasis on romance, women’s opinions, and humor.
-This is a scanned PDF copy of an antique book and is not a physical product-
Important Notes:
In order to preserve my original 1859 copy of the Ladies’ American Magazine, I scanned the book with the spine intact. While I tried to keep the pages readable, the pages were not scanned flat and may be curved, off-center, and/or at an angle. Some pages may be transparent, missing or damaged.
I’ve tried to keep the price of the scanned copy low to reflect this. Please Note! Refunds are unavailable for this digital product.
(If you’d like to have a certain page re-scanned or would like to check if a missing page is present in the original book, please feel free to reach out to me via Etsy!)
The content of this book dates to 1859 and includes some offensive racist, classist, and sexist portions, among others. Joseon Modern Designs (JMD) does not endorse or hold these views.
This scanned volume may include historical recipes, instructions, and advice, among others, from 1859 that are offered for historical, educational, and entertainment value only. It does not constitute medical or legal advice.
The Ladies’ American Magazine, 1859, is within the public domain. However, Joseon Modern Designs holds the copyright (2025) for the scanned images found within this PDF. Distribution and resale of this PDF is prohibited, as well as using JMD’s scanned images for commercial use.