Since then, Williams has put considerable effort into discovering the origins of stone books, as well as adding to her collection. She now boasts thirty-one, ranging in size from her first find to a delicate reddish one just an inch long and a half inch deep and wide. All are somewhat fragile and if dropped will break or chip.

Although she and fellow collector and dealer Steve Wiman, of Austin, have scoured the Internet and libraries trying to learn as much as possible about the books, they’ve only been able to come up some educated guesses.

From their research, it appears that most stone books were produced in the United States, Europe and Australia from the mid-nineteen century through the mid-twentieth century. “That doesn’t mean they weren’t made in more places,” says Williams. “It just means that’s all we’ve found so far.” Wiman believes that carvers of gravestones created many of them as an additional memorial for the families of the deceased; many of the books the two collectors have found are inscribed with “R.I.P.” or “End of the Day,” and several resemble Bibles. Williams owns one inscribed with the name “Ella Maude Collier”and decorated with vines, and

another inscribed “Garden of the Gods,” with an axe, pick and hammer as the decoration. Many of the marble books have a wonderful creamy colored surface.

Other books were made as travel souvenirs. Williams found one inscribed “Hot Springs, South Dakota, Soldiers Home,” and dated 1915. Another book is carved to look like it has a latch on the side, and is decorated with two flowers.

Williams says sometimes she has trouble reading the inscriptions on the covers. One that stumped her for quite some time had drawing of a Native American on the cover. Finally deciphered the line: “The Indian scalps his enemy but the white man skins his friend.”

Wiman came across his first stone book at the Heart of Country Show in Nashville. It was carved with Masonic symbols, and probably dates back to the mid-1800s. Later, he found one with tintype photos, complete with names and dates, set into the marble. His most unusual and poignant purchase was a book carved out of coal, commemorating the death of a coal miner. Wiman says that he has been surprised repeatedly by his finds: once, while vacationing in Belize, he came across grave markers in a cemetery that were carved stone books. He also found books of glass and wood, and small lockets made of stone to resemble books. “I love them because they can be crude or graceful, simple or ornate,” Wiman explains. “It

has become a compulsion to find them and to find out more about them. Their mystery is their allure.”

Ann Williams, Antiques and Design:
www.hillcountryhouse.blogspot.com

Steve Wiman:
http://www.uncommonobjects.com