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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



obliged to you for the information which you have furnished. 

 There are several matters concerning these brooches upon which I 

 should be glad to have you enlighten me. 



First, what is the earliest record that you have of the manu- 

 facture of these brooches? 



Second, for what purpose were they employed, that is, how worn 

 upon the clothing? 



Third, what distinctive names are given to the various types of 

 these brooches respectively? The single heart and crown brooch 

 I assume to be copies from the Douglass crest, but I am not so 

 sure what name would be given to the double heart brooch, N. G. 

 44, page 359 of your catalogue. 



Are there any sets of tools, dies and punches in your museum 

 which were used by the makers of this silver work? I have col- 

 lected several sets of these tools which were used by the Iroquois 

 Indians for cutting out the brooches, so that there is no question 

 that the Indians themselves imitated them. If you have any refer- 

 ence to old documents which tell of the distribution of these orna- 

 ments to the Indians in Canada and other British Indians in North 

 America, it would be of material assistance to have a note of 

 them. 



Under separate cover I am sending you several bulletins of this 

 museum which may interest you in your comparative studies. 



Respectfully yours 



[Signed] Arthur C. Parker 



Archeologist 



Under date of Jan. 9th, 1909, Dr Anderson replied: 



Dear sir : The earliest period for the manufacture of the heart- 

 shaped and other shapes of the Luckenbooth brooches is a matter 

 of inference, and may be 17th rather than 18th century. I do not 

 know any record mentioning them specifically. The name, " Luck- 

 enbooth brooches," is an. antiquary's invention, because they were 

 sold in the stalls or Luckenbooths around St Giles's Church in 

 the High street of Edinburgh. But they were not confined to 

 Edinburgh or to the Luckenbooths there. 



They were worn by women and children in the fastening of a 

 bodice or collar or such part of dress. Being so made they were 

 inserted for the fastening of thick stuffs. 



There are no distinctive names given to the different types of 

 these brooches, unless by descriptive phrases, such as heartshaped, 

 crowned hearts, double hearts, crowned or not as may be, etc. 



I do not think the brooches that partake of the heart shape were 

 made in imitation of the Douglass crest, or have any relation to 

 the family or traditions of the Douglasses. They were mostly 

 used as love tokens, or betrothal gifts, and the choice of the heart 

 shape or the crowned heart or the double heart for these purposes 

 is sufficiently obvious. Moreover they frequently bear inscriptions, 

 initials or posies, for instance on one in the museum is the inscrip- 



