This is a schoolbook: an 1857 edition of McGuffey's Fifth Reader. In the 1860s it fell into the hands of William Sibbet of Wooster, Ohio. Young William's goal in life was to perfect his signature.
William started out inside the back cover of the book, I think, practicing his Ws and trying out different styles for his surname. (And down there at the bottom, for some unknown reason he tried writing with his left hand, or his right if he was a southpaw.)
(Click on images to enlarge)
There are a couple flyleaves missing there: we have probably lost some of the record of William's artistic evolution.
Feeling more confident in his style, he moved on to a front flyleaf, and signed his name over a previous, lesser iteration. Later he enlisted the help of his friend, A. French, who on November 16, 1864 displayed his skill in colored pencils.
Some interloper named Charles wrote his name above it, but he was a flash in the pan and we hear no more of him. (And at the bottom, more left-handed whimsy.)
That same November day, William turned over to the next flyleaf and, in an inspired synthesis of his own and French's styles, created his masterpiece:
Two years later, William was out of school, living in the Exchange Hotel in Wooster, and not giving a tinker's dam about penmanship.
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