CHICAGO, ILL. -- The Art Institute of Chicago, in conjunction with Chronicle Books, has published a new gift box and accompanying book inspired by the museum's extensive collection of Nineteenth Century valentines.

Entitled Love's Messenger: Tokens of Affection in the Victorian Age, the book, nearly palm-sized at 4‹ by 6« inches and housed in a romantically decorated art box - much like the valentines it examines - celebrates the world of Victorian courtship and romance.

The text, written by Victorian scholar Debra N. Mancoff, explores courtship conventions, the changing role of valentines, and the meaning of their rich imagery, among other topics, using anecdotes and artifacts. A glance at a world of high sentiment and honorable intentions comes with a fascinating history of valentines in England and America.

Mancoff begins in Britain in 1797, when the first mass-produced valentines were curtailed in their appearance by pricey postage. The rise of the English middle class and their conservative morals in the 1830s, the accession of Queen Victoria, and her subsequent, devoted marriage to straitlaced Prince Albert, led to a more serious attitude toward the mechanics of courtship. The importance of hearth and home soon eclipsed the excesses of previous generations.

Needless to say, the valentine prospered in a society that encouraged romance and made much of feminine virtue at the same time; lithographed, handcolored images of sweethearts adorned simple cards with room for a handwritten note. "The valentine offered the one exception to the rule of feminine discretion," writes Mancoff. "A woman could not declare her love verbally, but she could send a valentine."

A national event grew from a previously obscure holiday with the advent of cheaper postage and a growing public preference for more elaborate valentines - made by respected London stationers using paper flowers, lace and ribbon. Americans caught the valentine fever by the mid-1800s, and one of the most successful makers was a woman, Esther Howland, who created the popular "Maybasket" design in the 1850s. Over time, improvements in printing and continued creativity through handmade symbols such as flowers, cherubs and love birds made a permanent place for the valentine, despite the lackluster, machine-made examples of today.

"Nostalgia surrounds the Victorian legacy," concludes Mancoff, "and in a world of mass-produced and disposable cards, many long for the heartfelt keepsakes of the past."

Interspersed throughout the institute's book are numerous illustrations of such valentines, including examples made of silk, satin, velvet, and embossed, gilded, and perforated paper lace; and others featuring movable parts, elegant floral arrangements, and hand-painted scenes of starry-eyed couples. There are even rare "cobweb" valentines, which reveal a hidden message or picture when lifted.

Images from Victorian periodicals on the manufacture, delivery, and receipt of valentines further enrich the reader's understanding of the culture that produced these playful, symbolic missives, as do extracts from Victorian poems, novels, and etiquette manuals.

Five intricately constructed and decorated replicas of Victorian valentines from the museum's holdings, which attest to the care lavished on these tokens of love, are also included.

Love's Messenger: Tokens of Affection in the Victorian Age numbers 64 pages, with 45 full-color illustrations. It is available for $18.95 at all four locations of The Art Institute of Chicago's museum shop. For information, 312/443-0849.