Most people, when asked about their favorite book, will invariably include a book they read as a child. Hemingway famously proclaimed that "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn". Twain's book, like its predecessor, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, were books whose intended audience was young readers. Such books speak to us on multiple levels. As literature, they are well-crafted and clever with memorable characters and conflicts, but they matter to us for more than these reasons because we discovered them at a formative period of our lives. Their ideas helped to form our own, and so they are more personal ...
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Leipzig: Abel & Müller, (1921). (19)ff., printed rectos only. This boldly illustrated German children’s book tells the story of Mampampe, a young African boy who, despite his mother’s warnings, leaves home in order to explore the wilderness and runs into a fearsome lion. The covers and each page are illustrated... More
Paris: Paul Bernardin, c. 1880s. Small quarto. (12)pp. Illustrated with six bright chromolithographed plates, printed on coated canvas. Each letter of this French alphabet is represented by objects that start with that letter, such as "abricots" and "arlequin" for A, and "lapin" and "lanterne" for L. The book also includes... More
(c. 1970s-80s). Pictorial Arabic alphabet poster, each letter of which is presented beside an image of an object beginning with that letter, with the full word beneath. The full word is written with the harakat or tashkil phonetic aids, which provide the correct pronunciation for children who are learning to... More
N.P. c. 1950s. Six wooden boards bound with leather cord. Printed in black and hand-colored throughout. Contains simple sentences for all twenty-six letters of the alphabet, accompanied by an illustration of the action described in the text. Each letter not only represents a noun, but also refers to the name... More
Prado, Marseille: (c. 1930s). A black four-flap enclosure containing materials for a children's pochoir alphabet. The enclosure was held closed with a paper label printed in red and green, reading "Toujours je dessine, colore et m'amuse avec mon Alphabet Pochoir. Modèle. Déposé." Inside is a seven-part accordion-fold piece of card... More
NY: American Tract Society, 1848. 32mo. A collection of eight tracts bound together, each 16 pages long, with separate title pages. Illustrated throughout in black & white, including a title-page vignette for each story, by Johannes Oertel and Edward Bookhout. Included here are the stories "Elisha," "Little Dave," "The Stolen... More
NY: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1977. Small square quarto. (14)ff. First edition, inscribed by Anno. Illustrated throughout with Anno’s delicate watercolors, this engaging counting book shows how numbers and mathematics are part of the everyday world around us. A former teacher who has become one of Japan’s leading illustrators, Anno... More
Alnwick: W. Davison, (c. 1820). 24mo. A single sheet of card folded into three panels. Illustrated throughout with wood engravings, including a hunting scene and a depiction of a man giving alms to a beggar. On the inside are two lessons in one-syllable words, Roman capital and lowercase letters, a.... More
Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee WPA, (c. 1935). Quarto. 14ff. First and presumably only edition. Title-page vignette and eleven brightly colored prints by Kendrick Bell. The accompanying rhyming verse touches upon each animal depicted. The Milwaukee Handicraft Project was an offshoot of the WPA that was founded by a faculty member of... More
(c. 1956). Watercolor and ink on paper, measuring 11 by 8 1/2 inches (28x22cm). Matted and framed. Signed by Bemelmans. This shoulder-length portrait of Bemelmans’s most enduring character is done in the later, bold style encountered in Madeline and the Bad Hat, and it shows red-headed Madeline wearing her characteristic... More
Piccadilly: John Stockdale, 1797. 24mo. 99, (iv)pp. A "new edition," with twenty-three woodcuts. Illustrated throughout with a frontispiece and woodcuts showing scenes from Little Jack’s life by John Bewick, the younger brother of the famed wood engraver and illustrator Thomas Bewick. John Bewick was apprenticed to his brother for five... More
(N.p. c. 1886). A signed original drawing in ink over pencil by Birch, who is best known for illustrating Burnett’s classic work for children, Little Lord Fauntleroy, published in 1886. Fauntleroy is immediately recognizable in his plumed hat and lace-trimmed velvet suit, standing near a little girl in a costume... More
1986. Original ink designs for an alphabet formed from cats, signed and dated by the artist. Blegvad was a prolific children's book artist, whose atmospheric ink drawings are often compared to Gorey and Sendak. His illustrations graced more than 100 picture books, of which the best known is probably Mary... More
Buffalo, NY: Breed, Butler & Co., 1862. 64pp. Well-known Bible stories retold for children by popular children's writer Barrow under the nom de plume Aunt Laura. This title is part of the Aunt Laura series of moral-instruction books, noted by Bradbury as "high spots in any miniature book collection." Bound... More
NY: D. Appleton and Co., 1866. Octavo. (v)ff., 192pp. First edition, second issue. With forty-two illustrations by John Tenniel. Carroll’s enduring tale of a child’s dreamworld was first issued in 1865 by Macmillan and Company of London, but Carroll and Tenniel were unhappy with the print quality of the illustrations... More
New Haven: Babcock, Sidney, (c. 1845). 16mo. 16pp. Illustrated with title-page vignette of the Crucifixion and seven wood engravings. A collection of seven stories from the Old and New Testaments, retold for children: Moses Viewing Canaan; Samson Carrying Away the Gates of Gaza; David and Goliath; John Baptizing Christ; Water... More
Worcester, MA: J. Grout, Jr., (c. 1840). 32mo. 24pp. Illustrated with a frontispiece, title-page vignette, four woodcuts, and a tailpiece. Bound in green printed wrappers illustrated with a small vignette to the front cover, and a larger woodcut of a man herding cattle to the rear cover. Corners of covers... More
Worcester: Jonathan Grout, Jr., (c. 1840). 32mo. 24pp. Illustrated with a frontispiece, title-page vignette, six woodcuts, and a tailpiece. Bound in green printed wrappers, illustrated with a small vignette to the front cover and a larger woodcut of a man next to a stream to the rear cover. Gift inscription... More
New Haven: S. Babcock, 1840. 32mo. 16pp. A moral chapbook with many engraved illustrations throughout. The titular explanations are told from a mother to her daughter. They primarily deal with the origins and uses of various textiles, but by the end of the story they encompass all living things designed... More
York: J. Kendrew, (c. 1823). 24pp., including covers. Illustrated with fifteen woodcuts. One of the 24-page penny books published by Kendrew, which were stitched in a single gathering and then pasted into printed covers later. Often the covers were illustrated with wood engravings and verses that were not relevant to... More
New Haven: Sidney Babcock, (c. 1840). 64mo. 16pp. A near-miniature chapbook illustrated with nine woodcuts, including a frontispiece of Emma, the older sister, giving her baby sister Caroline a flower, and a title-page vignette of girls jumping rope. A tale about learning to share and being patient and kind to... More
Concord (NH): John F. Brown, 1837. 64mo. 16pp. Engravings throughout. Descriptions, with both moral and functional value, of various objects, including a windmill, a cannon, a tent, and a barge. In printed pale orange paper wrappers. Foxed, else near fine and very scarce. Signature of former owner on title page. More
York: J. Kendrew, (c. 1820). 48mo. A collection of verses for children, illustrated throughout with woodcut vignettes on nearly every page, and a large cut of a preacher at his pulpit to the rear cover. Slight split starting to spine, else near fine in white printed wrappers. (Davis 42; Gumuchian 1577-1579). More
New Haven: Babcock, Sidney, (1841). 24mo. 24pp. Illustrated with eight full-page wood engravings of animals, including lions, a tiger, and a bear, as well as a title-page vignette of a horse. Each illustration is accompanied by tales of encounters with these animals and sensational stories. Bound in illustrated yellow wrappers... More
New Haven: Babcock, Sidney, (c. 1840). 24mo. 24pp. A chapbook illustrated throughout with a title-page vignette, a full-page frontispiece depicting two girls who have put aside their playthings in order to read with their teacher, and five additional full-page wood engravings illustrating the rhymes. These nursery rhymes provide lessons about... More
