Publications
Shaker Cut-and-Fold Booklets: Unfolding the Gift Drawings of Emily Babcock
By Sandra A. Soule
January 1, 2014
Tags Shaker Studies
Shaker Studies, no. 8. 97 pages, illustrations, 2014.
ISBN: 978-1-937370-10-7 ($35)
Stark images and inspired messages appear in Shaker cut-and-fold booklets, one of the more unusual forms of gift drawings created in the early 1840s during the Shakers’ internal revival known as Mother’s Work. This study unfolds some of the puzzling aspects of these heavenly communications. The Shaker concept of union is embodied in the mysteriously decorated, interleaved sheets bearing prophetic spiritual messages. New findings about the visionary activities of Emily Babcock point to her as the instrument of these uniquely constructed gift drawings. This volume features full color facsimiles of a number of examples.
