“Don't Speak to me, but Write on this”: The Childhood Almanacs of Mary and Katherine Byles

In mid-eighteenth-century Boston, Mather Byles Sr. gave almanacs to his daughters to use as diaries and commonplace books. This collection, now residing in Ottawa, offers a rare glimpse into the everyday musings of two colonial American girls and highlights the importance of annotated print, a frequently neglected historical source.