Although Daniel Russell records copies of his own sermons in this notebook, the style is common for auditor notes. The oblong format (not unlike the modern reporter’s notebook or steno pad) allows the recorder to go all the way to the edge of the paper. In notebooks bound like standard book, writing space is lost in the gutter near the spine of the book. Note also that Daniel Russell reserves minimal margin space at the left-hand edge of the paper for structural markers and scriptural citations. This narrow margin is more typical of auditor notebooks than are the wide margins of Richard Russell’s book. For a handmade version of this same oblong format, see Michael Metcalfe’s book in the next gallery.

Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society.