An old man reads from a large book. Published as early as 1902 in the American Amateur Photographer, the photograph was captioned with the following quote:

“Thoughts of eternity the mind doth fill At midnight, when the world is still.”

Morris Burke Parkinson (born: July, 1847-1926) worked for many years as a portrait photographer in New York City before moving to Boston in the very early part of the 20th century, where he maintained a portrait studio at 423 Boyleston street. He is perhaps best known for the two allegorical and widely reproduced photographs of four-year-old child model Josephine Anderson, depicted as Cupid Awake and Cupid Asleep.