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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Philadelphia, Balitmore, New York, Boston: Fisher and Brother, (c. 1850). 32mo. 9pp. Eight hand-colored etchings, as well as a hand-colored front cover. Each page bears four lines on the joys of coming home from school, from games to meals to family. Bound in paper wrappers, with some insignificant wear along... More about Happy Home
Banbury: J. G. Rusher, (1814). 64mo. 16pp. Illustrated with engravings throughout, which follow Whittington's rise from poverty to mayoralty, with the help, and occasional troublemaking, of his cat. Bound in paper wrappers, somewhat toned and with a tear along the tail of the spine. Near Fine. More about The History of Duke Whittington, Lord Mayor of London; With the Adventures of His Cat
Banbury: J. G. Rusher, (c. 1810). 64mo. 16pp. Illustrated throughout with engravings depicting the stages of Tom Thumb's journey, including falling into the king's lunch, riding a butterfly, and battling a spider. Below each are two or three stanzas of verse describing, often humorously, the events. Bound in plain wrappers... More about The History of Tom Thumb
(Derby: Richardson, n.d. (c. 1835). 48mo. (12) pp. (wrappers included in pagination). Title-page vignette and six small woodcut illustrations. Rare provincially-published abridgement of the Dick Whittington tale, known only in one institutional copy. Front wrappers toned, otherwise near fine. More about The History of Whittington and His Cat
Banbury: J. G. Rusher, (c. 1820). 32mo. (16)pp. Each page begins with an engraving, followed by a poem, that adds to the cast of characters in Jack's house. Then follows some moral lyrics, likewise accompanied by exemplary images. Bound in blue wrappers with ragged bottom edge, pages unopened, else a.... More about The House that Jack Built; an Entertaining Story, for Children
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 about The House That Jack Built; To Which is Added, Some Account of Jack Jingle
Banbury: J. G. Rusher, (c. 1825). 64mo. 16pp. Illustrated throughout with wood engravings, exemplifying Jack's crafty ploys toward slaying the titular giant. Bound in blue printed wrappers. Fine. More about Jack the Giant Killer, a Hero Celebrated by Ancient Historians
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 about The Little Sisters; or Emma and Caroline
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... More about The Little Sketch-Book; or Useful Objects Illustrated
Portland, ME: Bailey & Noyes. 32mo. 16pp. Illustrated with woodcuts throughout. A volume filled with short, lyrical hymns aimed at simplifying and presenting moral lessons to children. The woodcuts emphasize this point of childhood learning; the largest of them, which occupies a full page, depicts a boy and a girl... More about Mary's Book of Hymns. Seventh Series No. 7
(N.p. c. 1850). 24mo. (8)pp. Illustrated in black & white throughout. The intrigue of this booklet originates from its likely pirated content. The engravings are eclectic—an image of a rabbit is accompanied by the British royal seal and the seal of the Ancient Order of Foresters—and poorly printed. Also included..... More about Mavours First Spelling Book
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 about The Medley
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 about The Mother's Gift. By a Lady
NY: J. P. Dinsmore, (c. 1870). 32mo. (8); (8)pp. Two pamphlets bound tete-beche and with separate publication statements. New Rhymes bears Dinsmore's imprint, while Songs for the Little Ones was printed by Seth W. Fowle & Sons in Boston. Both pamphlets are of similar structures, with poems framed by advertisements... More about New Rhymes for the Nursery. Bound with: Songs for the Little Ones
NY: Kiggins & Kellogg. 64mo. 8pp. Illustrated with six woodcuts, plus a title-page vignette. The images are highly detailed for their small size—a ship at sea buffeted by rolling waves under thick clouds, and a fish at the end of a fishing line with an entire landscape scene behind it..... More about The Picture Book; with Stories in Easy Words: for Little Readers. First Series No. 7
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 about Select and Amusing Anecdotes of Animals
Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1827. 48mo. 16pp. Engraved frontispiece and title page, as well as several devices in text. A moral tale told through the nature of snow-drop flowers, the lesson providing greater resolve in Christ's provision and righteousness. The final two pages rephrase the lesson into a poem... More about The Snow-Drop
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 about The Snow-Drop; A Collection of Nursery Rhymes by Authors of Original Poems
NY: Kiggins & Kellogg, (c. 1850). 48mo. Illustrated throughout with full-page black & white engravings and smaller vignettes. This near-miniature chapbook contains a tale about American colonization and independence, told to a young audience in order to explain the significance of the July 4th holiday. Fine in printed buff wrappers. More about Story for the Fourth of July
Boston: Taggard & Thompson, 1858. 16mo. 31pp. Nine full-page color engravings, illustrating key scene's in the titular fox's antics in his journey to find food for his family. He finds a farm, confounds the animals, and captures a goose, only to again resort to his cunning ways to escape the... More about The Story of Mister Fox. Good Little Pigs Library Vol. 3
Wendell, MA: J. Metcalf, 1828. 16mo. 16pp. Illustrated with numerous woodcut vignettes. The text consists of two stories: that of William and Ellen, who are made to suffer a number of unfortunate mishaps as a result of the handiwork of a naughty boy, who gets his comeuppance in the end;... More about Story of William and Ellen
York: J. Kendrew, (c. 1820). 48mo. 31pp. Illustrated with woodcuts of Tom Thumb's adventures, including a run-in with a giant, a flight in the talons of a bird, and a ride on a pony. Tom Thumb's journey consists of a series of crafty conversations and escapes, tricks and the occasional... More about Tom Thumb's Folio; or, a New Penny Play-thing for Little Giants
Otley, UK: William Walker, (c. 1830). 24mo. (32)pp. Twenty-eight hand-colored engravings of a variety of animals, ranging from a wolf to a peacock to an ass. In addition to its own illustration, each animal receives a full page of text describing its habitats, eating habits, and uses for humans. In... More about Uncle Buncle's Painted Exhibition. A Natural History of Beasts and Birds
York: J. Kendrew, (c. 1820). 48mo. 30pp. Playful woodcuts decorate each page, depicting bizarre scenes, such as the devil hugging a witch, a tailor riding a goose, and a monkey shaving a goat. Each is accompanied by rhyming verses lending whimsical comentary. Bound in orange wrappers, pleasantly crisp with scant... More about The World Turned Upside Down; Or, No News, and Strange News
New Haven: Babcock, Sidney, (1841). 24mo. 24pp. Illustrated throughout with engraved vignettes and a full-page frontispiece of a mother reading with her two children. Mrs. Barbauld's famous prose hymns have been reinterpreted in verse form here by Mary Belson. Part of Babcock's "Moral, Instructive and Amusing Toy Books" series. Some... More about Poetic Gift: Containing Barbauld's Hymns in Verse
