Internet Archive, a non-profit library offering access to more than 13 million books, movies, music and more, recently posted the Diary of a Little Girl in Old New York.

The book is the 1849-1850 diary of Catherine Elizabeth Havens, a precocious ten year old girl from a prominent family in New York City.

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The book not only offers a lively picture of a developing city, through Catherine’s stories of family, friends, school and play, it gives us a unique peek into what daily life for a young girl in mid-century New York was like. And it’s just delightful!

The book’s forward summarizes it just perfectly…

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 The Library of Congress donated this book and many others for public access. The book is available for reading and for download via Internet Archive.