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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NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1964. Square octavo. 86pp. First edition. Inscribed by the author/illustrator, Hardie Gramatky, on the title page. The first sequel to Gramatky's first children's book, 1939's Little Toot, tells the story of the adventurous tugboat's journey across the Atlantic to London. There he encounters London Bridge, the..... More
NY: McLoughlin Bros. Octavo. (34)pp. A collection of uncolored images, two to six per page, which a child is invited to paint with watercolors. The interior of the front cover lays out the purpose of the book, along with a list of suggested colors and tools, and offers instructions for..... More
Great Britain: Frederick Warne & Co., (1925). Oblong 64mo. Each page with colored illustrations by Greenaway, which first appeared in her 1887 Almanack. Bound in cloth-backed pictorial boards. Some soiling to exterior, else near fine in mildly chipped original glassine. More
London: Routledge, 1882-1895, 1897. Fourteen 24mo. volumes. All in first issue bindings with the following exceptions: 1884 is the fifth variant; 1886 is the third variant; 1888 is the seventh variant; 1893 is the second variant. Each volume is illustrated throughout with full-color images by Greenaway, many of which are..... More
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..... More
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..... More
Bern & Biel, Switzerland: Ernst Kuhn, 1920. Square 16mo. (45)ff., printed on rectos only. First issue. A striking picture book in the Swiss dialect, illustrated with forty-two brightly colored full-page woodcuts by Erna Haas in the style of the Wiener Werkstätte. The scenes depicted in the woodcuts are charming and..... More
London: Dean & Son, (c. 1910). Tall quarto. 12ff. First edition. Illustrated throughout in color and black & white by Gladys Hall and Eugenie Richards. A series of poems that follow the activities of the cherubic Peggy and Teddy. The artwork by Hall and Richards is dramatically similar to that..... More
Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1883. Octavo. First edition of the second Uncle Remus collection of stories. Widely illustrated with scenes from the familiar tales, including images of Brother Fox, Brother Bear, and Brother Rabbit. Bound in full yellow cloth elaborately stamped in black and with the title in..... More
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1892. Octavo. First edition of Harris's third collection of Uncle Remus stories. Illustrated with twelve plates, including a frontispiece, by popular illustrator and comics artist A. B. Frost. Replete with the well-known moralizing short stories and jolly songs. Bound in green cloth decorated in black..... More
NY: D. Appleton and Company, 1881. Octavo. 231pp. First edition, first issue, of Harris' first book and the introduction of the character of Uncle Remus. With frontispiece and seven plates, title-page vignette, and numerous line illustrations throughout the text. Original green cloth, spine gilt-lettered and front cover stamped in black..... 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
Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1945. Folio. (14)ff., two of which fold out, + (7) strips. Intact and unused paper activity book designed by Italian artist Edina Altara. Includes a wide variety of colorful paper toys and dolls: an illusionist, finger-puppet dancing girls, a three-dimensional carousel, a regiment of soldiers, birds and..... More
London & Philadelphia: Heinemann/Lippincott, (1920). Quarto. 110pp. One of 625 copies, signed by the artist. This copy bears an original pen-and-ink drawing by Rackham below the limitation statement, also signed. The drawing depicts the king and queen with their infant daughter. Illustrated with one tipped-in color plate and numerous silhouettes..... More
(Otley, Yorkshire: J. S. Publishing & Stationery Co., Ltd., c. 1850). Sixteen 16mo. issues, each 8pp., comprising a complete series, as indicated on the back covers of each issue. All the chapbooks are illustrated with woodcuts on every page, and approximately half of the illustrations in each are hand-colored. The..... More
Dordrecht: A. Blusse & Zoon, (c. 1794). 24mo. 24pp., + 8 plates. The engraved plates depict the marvels of a fair and the street performances therein, including dancing, singing, and a magician, all hand-colored. Particular highlights include a hurdy-gurdy man and a magic lantern show featuring a naval battle. The..... More
London: A. Park, c. 1840. Quarto. 6ff. First and last page pasted to inside covers. Illustrated with sixteen handcolored lithographed engravings, presumably by the publisher, Arthur Park, an engraver, lithographer, and artist who produced figures and scenes for juvenile toy theaters. He emigrated to America in 1842. The text covers..... More
London: McMorquodale & Co., (c. 1934). Small quarto. (20)pp. Illustrated with twenty-two full-page plates in vibrant colors, with text running underneath. The tale told here is an adaptation of the famous, and famously controversial, "Ten Little Niggers" story, but here the boys of the original become anthropomorphic balloons of various..... More
Paris: Marcilly Ainé, (1825). Six 32mo. volumes, 31pp. each, except "Normandie," which is 32pp. Each volume bears two full-page color engravings, focusing on the different attire worn in the various French regions represented among the set and some of their most notable cities. The six volumes discuss Normandy, Béarn and..... More
NY: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1975. Quarto. xxx, 263pp. Illustrated throughout with photographic replicas of title pages, covers, woodcuts, and engravings, in both black & white and color. Inscribed as a special copy to Gerald Gottlieb, the main author of the text. A wonderfully comprehensive and well-organized reference. Bound in blue..... More
London: Chatto & Windus, 1882. Octavo. xvi, 112pp. Second edition. Plates of woodcuts, eight of which are in color, inserted throughout. Haweis' illustrations, along with her introduction, her translation of Chaucer's Middle English text into contemporary English, and her numerous glosses, render a sizeable excerpt from the Canterbury Tales and..... More
(Mexico City: D. E. Herrero Y Cia, c. 1955). Oblong octavo. (56)pp. Tenth edition (stated). With a pedagogical outline from the Secretary of Education. Beginning with correct posture for standing and running, the text covers a wide range of topics designed to encourage good habits, understand natural phenomena, and become..... More
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..... More
NY: Kiggins & Kellogg, (c. 1860). 32mo. 24pp. Decorated with various wood engravings. An impressive collection of riddles and rebuses, for at-home amusement. Bound in pale pink wrappers. Fine. More
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
