Help with the particle も

Question

If you look at my translation of the sentence below from a text book (soumatome N3 dokkai), I think you will agree that I have guessed the meaning correctly but can anyone explain the grammar to the first phrase in bold? The particle mo seems to have a wider usage than that given in most books or perhaps there is an omitted phrase?

「かわいい写真たてもうれしかった けれど、それより、 黙ってプレゼントを用意してくれていたことに感激した。」

"I was very happy with the photoframe (?) but more than that, I was touched that she prepared a present secretly, without revealing anything."

Context: I have put quotation marks but to avoid confusion, this was an entry to a young woman's diary, trying to think of a nice birthday present for her friend.

Answer 1

Let me shamelessly steal the explanation by sawa and an example by Chocolate to make up a slightly different explanation.

も signifies that there are other things than the thing to which も is attached. It is sometimes used with けれど or a similar conjunctive, and in this case the thing to which も is attached is contrasted to something else, which is often more important than the thing introduced with も.

かわいい写真たてもうれしかったけれど、それより、 黙ってプレゼントを用意してくれていたことに感激した。 Although the cute photo frame made me happy, (it was not the only thing that made me happy, namely) more importantly, I was moved by the fact that he/she had prepared a present without saying a word.

勉強も大事だけど、たまには息抜きしなきゃ。 Although studying is important, (it is not the only important thing, namely) you have to take a break once in a while.

Answer 2

My first thought was that the frame was so cute, I was happy... も as an intensifier usually/often appears concatenated with other particles but can show up by itself. Even with the new info on the context, I'm not sure also is the way to go. Could this be truly ambiguous? If we had audio it might be clear: the frame was sooo cute vs the frame was also cute...

Answer 3

も means "also", which means there is something else on top of which something is added. You might be tempted to assume that this "something else" should have been introduced into the context in advance, but in this case, it is not. It is introduced in the part that follows this expression.

I was also happy for the pretty picture stand, but rather than that, I was surprised by the fact that she had prepared a secret present.