What I like about this ledger of expenses, in addition to being an early one, and a beautifully written one (which is easy to read throughout) is how much information is packed into the four pages here, spanning 1816-22, such that in dense and concise fashion it creates a vivid portrait of a life and times. I started to dig into it--there are a number of different names that appear, from that of a doctor to that of a tax collector to names of individuals its keeper paid for work, etc.--and have found records for a few of those specific individuals in and around Portland Maine, not far from where I found this, but there is lots more digging and piecing together one could do. The keeper of the ledger looks to me to read Berea Weston but I don't think I have that right! (I am thinking, perhaps it is an abbreviation for Benjamin, but I am not completely sure.) Whatever the case, they were busy having a lot of work done on and to their property--one might guess in the thick of the process of settling an estate: building dams and hauling rocks, fencing pastures and repairing stone walls, making doors and repairing barn floors and also buying a lot of shoes for the all members of the family and a few others too! I see a lot of expense ledgers around but this is really a good one, and with some effort one could probably determine the specific property the expenses applied to.

11 3/4" x 14 1/4 unfolded. Double-sided. Good antique condition, ink strong and readable throughout, paper not at all brittle.