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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Concord, NH: Atwood & Brown, 1837. 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... More
Dusseldorf: Levy Elkan, Baumer & Co., (1861). Octavo. (12)ff. A book illustrating the months, each page with a large color lithograph depicting a scene appropriate for that month. For example, April shows people working to shear sheep for the warm spring and summer months, and September shows children gathering apples... 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 interleaved with protective tissue. Throughout the album, on both the fronts and backs of the folds, are various mounted paperworks, including 197 examples of paper folding, 52 pieces of paper basketwork, twenty-five pin-prick stitches, twenty-two geometrical silhouette works, and thirty-nine... 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
NY: American Tract Society, (n.d.). 32mo. 16pp. Engraving on the title page and full-page engraving on the title-page verso. A narrative following the persistent purity and faith of Mary Jones throughout her life, with firm encouragements that readers adopt a similar devotion. Crisp in engraved paper wrappers with repair work... More
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
(N.p. c. 1850). 24mo. (8)pp. Engravings throughout. The intrigue of this booklet originates from its likely pirated content. The engravings are eclectic—an illustration of a rabbit is accompanied by the British royal seal and the seal of the Ancient Order of Foresters—and poorly printed. Also included are a two-page grid... 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
NY: G.W. Carleton, 1879. Octavo. (96)ff. Features forty-eight color lift-the-flap illustrations (including the title page) in which the closed image illustrates the beginning of a verse and the open image depicts its conclusion. With numerous classic rhymes by Mother Goose, including the full versions of Old Mother Hubbard, and a.... More
Philadelphia: Kimber and Conrad, (c. 1812). 24mo. (24)pp., partially unopened. Illustrated with twenty-two half-page wood engravings, each with a simple sentence underneath related to the image; also included is a full-page engraving on the title page. The woodcuts are all collected from other books. On the back of the title... More
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
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
Charlestown, MA: Hobbs, George W., (1850). 64mo. (32)pp. Illustrated with hand-colored vignettes at the top of each page, along with two full-page frontispieces and two interior titles. The stated title has been taken from the upper board, but the text itself is divided into two separate stories: The Little Reward... 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
Guben: F. Fechner, (n.d.). Four 64mo volumes. 29; 30; 29; 29pp. Alternate publisher given as A. & Joseph Myers, London. The volumes begin with a full-color frontispiece, while another full-color engraving accompanies the start of each interior story. Fenelon's classic tales include "The Meeting of the Animals to Choose a.... More
