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: Laurie & Whittle, 1807. 1ff. Framed engraved writing sheet with a mirror over the blank area in the center usually reserved for examples of penmanship. The mirror is near-contemporary to the writing sheet, and together they create an attractive piece that perhaps could have served as decoration in a.... More
Boston: Ticknor, Reed, & Fields, 1852. Octavo. vi, (7), 256pp. First edition. First issue, with “lifed” for “lifted” on page 21, line 3. Illustrated with a frontispiece and six plates after designs by Hammat Billings. Hawthorne’s groundbreaking attempt to retell Greek myths in a style suitable for children met with... More
Akron, OH: Saalfield Publishing Co. 1973. Five pages of original artwork, individually framed, with the published booklet. These sheets offer a unique look at the pre-publication stage of the making of paper dolls. Published by Saalfield, which operated from 1899 to 1977 and was at one time one of the... More
c. 1964. Four sheets, three of which measure 8.5 by 11 inches; the single sheet of text is smaller, measuring 8 by 6 inches, and is on blue paper. These reveal the unfolding of Gorey's creative process in developing the story and preliminary illustrations for the book. The text page... More
1935-1938. Six original paintings, all signed by the artist. This set of paintings vividly depicts six different puppets, each with caricatured features reminiscent of the traditional style of Punch and Judy: rosy cheeks, mitten-hands, and large eyes and mouths. The six images display a nurse with an infant, a jester... More
London: Wallis, 1801. Complete set of ten 48mo. volumes held in a wooden box designed to resemble a bookcase. 64; 32; 64; 64; 64; 32, 32; (64); 64; 62, ii; 64pp. Nine volumes bear engraved frontispieces. The volumes on natural history, geography and astronomy, and botany all contain engraved plates... More
![Child's First Animal - Bird - Rhyme Book [cover title].](/pictures/thumb/27700.jpg?v=1512599742)
Newark / NY: Charles E. Graham & Co. (c. 1900). Quarto. (40)pp. Illustrated with sixteen bright full-page chromolithographed plates, including a magnificent two-page spread showing a yoke of oxen, plus another twenty-two pages of black & white illustrations. The book is divided into three sections: "Animal Pictures," "Our Bird Friends,"... More
(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... More
Otley, UK: Renwick, (c. 1940). Small octavo. (12)pp. A children's book with twelve illustrations, six of which are in full color, that depict scenes from the circus, including acrobats, clowns, and a variety of animals. With original artwork on separate sheets for all twelve images, including additional color overlays for... More
(N.p. c. 1850. Small quarto.(6)ff. A book of six "metamorphoses"—moveable illustrations that change according to how the reader arranges their pages. Each of the six images has eight panels, four upper and four lower, creating four cohesive illustrations. But has the reader flips through the panels, the lower ones will... More
(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
(Hamburg - Barmbek: c.1890). Quarto. (64)pp. Accordion-fold album. Each page has been interleaved with protective tissue. Throughout the album, on both the fronts and backs of the folds, are various mounted paperworks, including 197 paper folding works, 52 pieces of paper basketwork, twenty-five pin-prick stitches, twenty-two geometrical silhouette works, and... More
(Paris: Berthellemot, c. 1820). A complete set of fifty playing cards, in the original box, comprised of: twenty-four hand-colored engravings of Parisian street vendors; a hand-colored card depicting a judge declaring “Peace, peace,” which stops the game; twenty-four corresponding text cards with the cries of each vendor and a rhyme... More
New York: McLoughlin Bros. 1898. Small quarto. (12)ff. A painting book for children, including six color sample pages and six pages showing the same images as outlines. With faded hues similar to those in the full-color images, the outlines suggest colors for the young painter to use. The verso of... More
Baltimore: Raine, William, (c. 1840). 12mo. 6ff. Illustrated with hand-colored wood engravings throughout. The sequence of two-stanza verses highlights the rewards of good behavior and the consequences of poor behavior. This is a scarce chapbook, with just six copies recorded in institutional holdings. Raine published at the address shown on... More
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; and that of... More
Otley, UK: William Walker, (c. 1830). 24mo. (32)pp. Twenty-eight hand-colored engravings of a variety of animals, ranging from a camel to a peacock to an ox. 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
Boston: Mayhew & Baker, 1858. Square octavo. (32)pp., including wrappers. One of the Fireside Picture Books. Illustrated with nine large engravings and two smaller vignettes by "Morte". Each illustration is accompanied by one of the nine verses from the Mother Goose nursery rhyme, "There was a Little Man, and he... More
(McLouglin Bros. 1875). Twelve cube-shaped puzzle blocks. This set of wood blocks bears six different scenes featuring the figure of Little Bo Peep: "Little Bo-Peep and the Old Woman's Ugly Son," "Little Bo-Peep Meets a Raven," "Bo-Peep Restoring the Form of the Princess," "Elves with Bo-Peep's Sheep," "Little Bo-Peep," and... More
Paris: Rignoux, 1823. Ten volumes, each with 48 pages. First edition. Illustrated with 68 plates from copper engravings and one folding map. Legrand's miniature library for children contains the following titles: Morale en Action; Mythologie; Geographie; Fables; Histoire de France; Contes; Animaux; Insectes; Mineralogie; and Botanique. Augustin Legrand (1765 -... More
Frankfurt: Berhnard Dondorf, (1854). Likely third edition. Set of eight chromolithographed three-dimensional topographic relief maps, each measuring 10 7/16 by 8 5/8 inches [265x219mm], in wooden frames. Each panel in this educational set demonstrates the topography, countries, and major features of a region: Australia and Polynesia, South America, Africa, Europe... More
Chelsea: (Southernwood Press, c. 1915). Small quarto. (23)ff. One of thirty copies printed on handmade paper. Illustrated throughout by Josephine Winser. The drawings illustrate popular nursery rhymes, including Humpty Dumpty, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Jack & Jill, and Sing a Song of Sixpence. Children take center stage in these depictions... More
NY: Day, Mahlon, 1833. 32mo. 16pp. Woodcut frontispiece and six additional woodcuts throughout. This children's chapbook describes the efforts of a desperate father to find a mentor for his wayward young daughter. He stumbles upon a school for small children, who every day ascend a bright mountain. The only student... More
Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1856. Small quarto. 67pp., printed on one side only. A collection of verse, each accompanied by a lively silhouette engraving. This is one of several children's books published as a partnership between Phillips, Sampson & Co. and translator "Cousin Fannie" in the 1850s. In advertising... More
NY: Century Co. (c. 1933). Octavo. (x), 246pp. Copiously illustrated by Palmer Cox. This was the first adventure of the Brownies written in prose, and it is advertised as having "a detailed, connected story, with a beginning, a middle and an end." A later issue, with the text, binding, and... More
