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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(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.....
Prado, Marseille: (c. 1930s). A black four-flap enclosure containing materials for a children's pochoir alphabet. The enclosure was sealed with a paper label printed in red and green. Inside is a seven-part accordion-fold piece of card, printed in color on one side. Each letter has a cutout stencil, as well...
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...
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.....
San Francisco: Arion Press, 1987. 12mo. 356pp. One of 400 copies. The first English edition of this collection of fables by Elizabethan translator Arthur Golding, who is best known for his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses that was so influential to Shakespeare. With etchings by Marcus Gheeraerts from Mythologia Ethica of...
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...
(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...
(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.....
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...
Buffalo, NY: Breed, Butler & Co., 1866. 62pp. One of six titles in the fourth series of miniatures authored by popular children's writer Barrow under the noms de plume Aunt Fanny and Aunt Laura. Noted by Bradbury as "high spots in any miniature book collection," the Aunt Fanny volumes offer...
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...
Buffalo, NY: Breed, Butler & Co., 1863. 64pp. A moral tale about the contest for the best composition in Miss Derby’s class at Pendleton Academy, from the set Little Walter’s Library. General fading to covers, some rubbing on edges, lacking title page, else very good. A.e.g. Bookplate. (1 5/8 by.....
Waikiki (Honolulu): Fisher Corporation, 1946. Quarto. (126)pp. Illustrated with twenty-nine color plates by Marcel Cailliet, which richly depict different aspects of a Hawaiian luau. Images of the food, dancing, music, and people together evoke the joy and excitement of a traditional luau. Each illustration is preceded by a transparent guard...
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.....
Portland, ME: Bailey & Noyes, n.d. 64mo. 16pp. A moral tale of two orphaned children and the retribution of their wicked uncle, with six woodcut illustrations. The images show a depth of detail, with particular care applied to the leaves on the trees and the feathers on an angel's wings.....
London: Simpkin, Marshall and Son, (c. 1865). 32mo. 30pp. Illustrated throughout with detailed wood engravings depicting creatures for each letter of the alphabet, from the Welsh goat and hare to the yellow-hammer bird and zebra, as well as a frontispiece of a spaniel and a decorative tailpiece. Each animal is...
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...
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...
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...
(Sandbornton, NH): Sandbornton Press, 1835. 48mo. 16pp. Eleven woodcut illustrations of animals, accompanying descriptions of each. The animals presented include a monkey, spaniel, and walrus. Each description provides information on the animal's physical characteristics and behavioral habits. Some, as in the case of the ass, add mentions of the animal's...
Concord, NH: Boyd & White, 1839. 16mo. 16pp. Illustrated with numerous woodcuts throughout. The title page notes that this is the fourth number in the seventh series; the previous year, the Riddler was in the sixth series, suggesting that this was an annual. Although many of the riddles were likely...
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...
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...
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...
NY: Kiggins & Kellogg, (c. 1865). 8pp. One full-page engraving and six half-page engravings. Each image is accompanied by explanatory text on the object's creation and function. Examples include a tub, a raft, and a bed. In plain paper wrappers, with advertisement for Kiggins & Kellogg at rear. Remarkably crisp...
