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 ...
Read more about Children's Books and Toys
(London): Dean & Son, (1860). Octavo. (6)ff. A collection of hand-colored engravings accompanied by rhyming stories about fictional people. Each story adopts a humorous tone, though some also bear moral lessons. Throughout its nineteenth-century lifespan, the publishing firm of Dean and Son specialized in innovative printing processes used in the..... More
London: Dean and Son / W. Kent & Co., (c. 1860). Octavo. Three volumes in one. (24); 30; (32)pp. A collection of three illustrated children's books published together by Dean and Son under the name Dean's Coloured Picture Book: The Home First Book. The titles herein are "The Nursery ABC..... More
Ashland, OR: Jubilation Press, (2010). Square octavo. (15)ff., accordion-fold. One of 100 copies. This brightly-colored abecedarium is a celebration of boys' creative, youthful spirits. Each letter is illustrated and surrounded by phrases and words beginning with that letter. For example, the letter "I" shows a child ice skating with his..... More
Paris: Didot, Typographie de Firmin, (c. 1810). 125pp., + (8)ff. Eight engravings on beige paper. The absurd adventures of Pierrot, born from a turkey's egg to La Fee Gourmande, and dedicated to gourmandise from that moment on, until his gluttony proves too much and dooms him. An extremely rare cautionary..... More
Chicago: Wilcox & Follett, 1945. Oblong 24mo. (8)pp., accordionfold. Each page richly illustrated in color with scenes of firemen patrolling the streets, operating safety equipment, and caring for civilians in a variety of locales, including cities, plains, and ships. A charming historical look into the operation of fire safety. Bound..... More
NY: Shackman, 1967. An uncut rectangle of cloth printed with three replicas of large, antique doll patterns, measuring 18 by 24 inches. The dolls are elaborately costumed in fancy nineteenth-century dresses with puffed sleeves and full skirts: one wears a dress with a tiered skirt trimmed with lace, a lace..... More
London: Pollock's Rag Toys, 1967. Two hand-printed pieces of cloth with uncut patterns for very large rag dolls, measuring 22 by 25 inches. The costume styles date from the early nineteenth century. The first pattern, Little Lizzie, is a young girl dressed in a Regency-style empire dress in a blue..... More
London: J. Drewry, (c. 1790). 12mo. 24pp. Decorated with the cover illustration, title-page vignette, and six text figures from woodcuts. An early appearance of this popular rhyme, which first appeared in 1765. The Osborne catalogue notes that John Drewry "is considered to be Derbyshire's most notable typographer and its first..... More
Catskill, NY: Nathan Elliot, 1818. 32mo. 54pp. "Third American Edition" of one of Mary Sherwood's most popular moralizing tales. Stab-bound in plain wrappers. Advertisments to lower cover, few chips to upper, else near fine. More
Leipzig: Pavla Riube, (c. 1880). Small quarto. 8pp., + six plates laid in throughout. The chromolithographed images illustrate the major events of the story commonly known to English-speaking audiences as "Sleeping Beauty," from the princess's birth, to the pricking of her finger on the spindle, and, finally, to her reawakening..... More
Flansham: Greenleaf Press, (1915). 16mo. (16)pp. Inscribed, "With best wishes from the folk at Flansham. Xmas 1915," and illustrated with nine tipped-in engravings. The publication and illustrations were done by Stuart, Robin, and John Guthrie, the sons of James Guthrie of the Pear Tree Press. This is the first book..... More
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
Print Club of Cleveland, 1950. Woodcut measuring 21 by 14 1/2 inches. One of 250 copies, signed and dated by Antonio Frasconi, an artist born in Uruguay and known for his distinctive woodcuts and numerous illustrated books for children. In this depiction of Aesop’s fable, a hungry, curvaceous crocodile tempts..... More
(Paris: c. 1850). Twelve hand-colored lithographs decorate the twelve question cards included in this game, which quizzes children on the scope and purpose of subjects, such as grammar, geography, architecture, and astronomy. Each question card is followed by a response card, which gives the appropriate answer. History, for example, is..... More
Paris: Librairie Gründ, 1950. Quarto. 237pp., + 48 plates, nine of which are in color. One of 700 copies. This authoritative text and bibliography on the French “Game of the Goose” and its derivatives is illustrated throughout with images relating to the game, including many whimsical geese. The plates are..... More
NY: The Childrens' Book Council, 1977. Octavo. x, 198pp. Signed by Edward Gorey, who provided the cover design. A catalog of winners of various awards for childrens' books. Bound in decorated wrappers. Rubbing to edges, else unsullied and near fine. More
San Francisco: Troubador Press, 1979. First softcover edition. Signed by Gorey. A collection of hidden picture puzzles, codes, and mazes features some of Gorey's signature characters. A near fine copy, in pictorial wrappers, somewhat rubbed. (Toledano B64a). More
NY: Looking Glass Library, (1959). 24mo. (16)ff. True first edition. One of 600 copies. Inscribed by Gorey. A quirky vignette of bug social life, printed in four colors. This is Gorey's fifth book, and one of the most rare. Faintest soil, else fine in printed wrappers. (Toledano A5a). More
(NY): Random House, 1982. First edition. A macabre pop-up book, in which the family MacFizzit sets out "to visit the varied distractions of Hickyacket Hall." No price sticker, else fine in illustrated paper over boards. (Toledano A83a). More
Yarmouth Port, MA: Edward Gorey House, 2013. Oblong octavo. (30)ff. loose sheets. One of twenty-six lettered copies. An "appalling alphabet" of the dooms of twenty-six children, ranging from Amy, who falls down the stairs, to Zillah, who drinks to much gin. As in all lettered copies, after the alphabet comes..... More
Yarmouth Port, MA: Edward Gorey House, 2013. Oblong octavo. (29)ff. loose sheets. One of 100 numbered copies. An "appalling alphabet" of the dooms of twenty-six children, ranging from Amy, who falls down the stairs, to Zillah, who drinks to much gin. Gorey's signature embossed on title and colophon cards. Housed..... More
San Francisco: Troubador Press, 1982. Octavo. 40pp. Signed by Gorey. Three paper cats may be cut from the stiff rear cover, dressed in designated costumes and placed in front of morose and romantic sets drawn from Gorey's books. General edgewear, else near fine in pictorial covers. More
NY: Harcourt Brace, 1999. First edition. One of 750 copies, signed by Gorey. An adventure in verse of a man and his companion, the Bahhumbug. The end of their journey marks the start of the new millennium. With Bahhumbug beanbag toy, well-dressed in suit, tie, and spats, and standing a...... More
c. 1964. Four sheets, three of which measure 8 1/2 by 11 inches; the single sheet of text is smaller, measuring 8 by 6 inches, and is on blue paper. The pages reveal the unfolding of Gorey's creative process in developing the story and preliminary illustrations for his book, The..... More
NY: Dodd, Mead, 1978, 1979. Three 16mo volumes. All first edition reissues. All signed by Gorey. The set includes The Willowdale Handcar, a story about an adventure by handcar for no particular reason; The Gilded Bat, following the "rather monotonous" life and death of a prima ballerina named Maud; and..... More
