This June 1854 number of Godey’s Lady’s Book is a representative issue of the most influential American women’s magazine of the nineteenth century. Famous for its hand-colored fashion plates, the magazine combined the latest styles with fiction, poetry, needlework patterns, and advice on household management.
Under editor Sarah Josepha Hale, Godey’s shaped the taste and domestic ideals of a generation of American women. Its fashion plates are now prized records of mid-century dress. For historians of costume and material culture, each issue is a dense primary source. This number is offered here as a free EPUB download.