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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Troy, NY: Merriam & Moore, (c. 1830). 24mo. 12pp. Replete with engravings, including two on the verso of the title page. This story was derived from Maria Edgeworth's "Frank," a collection of children's moral tales each involving the idyllic titular child. The one presented here describes Frank's eagerness to help..... More
Conway, MA: Robert L. Merriam, 1975. 24pp. One of 1000 copies. Every other page illustrated with quaint scenes from the moral tale. Bound in pale paper wrappers and housed in yellow paper slipcase. Fine. (2 7/16 by 1 11/16; 62x44mm). 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 in the end;..... More
(N.p. Michael Mar Press, 1977). Small quarto. (16)ff. One of twelve copies, hand-produced by jewelry designer Michael Dorsa and bookbinder Margaret Rhein. With twelve color illustrations. The text and images were both from an original work written and drawn in 1964 by Mike Dorsa and Tom Warner, age nine. In..... More
London: Methuen, (1927). First edition. Number two of 200 copies, printed on handmade paper and signed by Milne and Shepard. This famous collection of children’s verses, featuring Milne’s son Christopher Robin and his bear, is illustrated throughout with Ernest H. Shepard’s whimsical drawings. Bound in quarter cloth with orange paper..... More
London: Methuen, 1926. First edition. One of 350 copies printed on handmade paper and signed by Milne and Shepard. With all of the well-known and well-loved illustrations and a fold-out map of Pooh and Christopher Robin’s territory, which appeared in the ordinary edition as endpapers. Bound in quarter dark-blue cloth..... More
London: Methuen, (1927). First edition. This famous collection of children’s verses, featuring Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, and his bear, is illustrated throughout with Ernest H. Shepard’s whimsical drawings. Signed at a later date on the title page by Shepard. Handsomely bound by Bayntun-Rivière in deep red morocco, with gilt ruled..... More
(Jamaica, NY: Minia Press, c. 1943). 192pp. Printed and published by Edmund S. Wood at his Minia Press. A reproduction of the original, with Tenniel's renowned illustrations. Very fine in gilt-stamped red leather, with gold paper slipcase. Minor general wear to book, else near fine. T.e.g. (Bradbury, p.150). (2 1/4..... More
NY: Hurst & Company, (c. 1880). 192pp. Twenty-five engravings—one frontispiece and each of the remaining twenty-four introducing a chapter—depicting significant scenes from the Bible. Among them appear Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Pharaoh being swallowed up in the Red Sea, and Peter's denial of Christ. The volume..... More
Philadelphia: H.C. Peck & Theo. Bliss, (c. 1850). 191pp. Illustrated with engravings throughout, each activity receiving its own full-page image. A charming book encouraging the reader to physical exertion. It describes such expected activities as archery, skating, and marbles, along with the perhaps unexpected pastimes of painting vases, the Aeolian..... More
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1966. xvii, 42pp. One of 375 copies. Various texts by Shakespeare with twelve silhouettes by Paul Konewka. Fine in burgundy cloth over boards, faintly rubbed. (2 5/16 by 1 15/16; 60x50mm). More
London: Tilt & Bogue, (c. 1835). 191pp. Contains forty-eight wood engravings illustrating Aesop's fables, including two portraits of Aesop himself. Bondy writes of the Tilt's Handbooks series "their apparently everlasting popularity has resulted in making it increasingly difficult to find complete copies of these pleasing little volumes." Bound in full..... More
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1963. 70pp. One of 310 copies signed by the author/publisher. Fascinating story of witches and magic. Very fine. (2 3/8 by 1 15/16; 60x48mm.). More
London: C. Tilt, (c. 1835). 191pp. Forty-eight bird species are described and illustrated with wood engravings. The series is advertised as "Tilt's Handbooks for Children, Each Containing 48 Pretty Plates, Neatly Bound." Bondy writes "their apparently everlasting popularity has resulted in making it increasingly difficult to find complete copies of..... More
Buffalo, NY: Breed, Butler & Co., 1863. 61pp. A grandmother tells her grandson the story of a vain little girl in order to comfort him after an accident. Bound in gilt-decorated purple cloth. Covers faded and slightly rubbed, else a fine copy. A.e.g. With the signature of a youthful owner..... More
Paris: Michel Bertrand, (1946). Quarto. (10)ff. A collection of wise, wry poems for children, brightly illustrated in bold red, blue, green, and yellow by Boucard Moinet. The illustrations depict scenes of children at play: spinning around on a carousel, sailing boats on a pond in the park, and waving at..... More
Amsterdam: (n.d.). Small octavo. (15)pp. With eight full-page illustrations, printed in orange and black. At the back of the volume are a head and two legs set to rotate on brass rivets; when unfolded, they align with the torso on the upper cover to create the illusion of a full..... More
London: C. Arthur Pearson Limited, (c. 1900). Small quarto. (12)pp. Six full-page color illustrations, each of which is folded at the top, and, when unfolded, the scene changes to reveal a surprise. For example, a boy reaching for a nest is suddenly attacked by birds, hunters in a tree are..... More
Amsterdam: Cohen Zonen, (n.d.). Octavo. (10)pp. Four full color movable images, and black & white illustrations throughout. The movables illustrate humans and animals taking part in charming circus scenes: monkeys clamber about a ladder, an elephant balances a clown upon its trunk, another well-dressed elephant plays the tuba in front..... 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
London: Dean & Son, (n.d.). Small quarto. 8ff., printed one side only. Eight pages with full hand-colored images—sometimes more than one to a page—all of which bear movable features. These are manipulated through paper tabs toward the bottom of the illustration. Pulling a tab back and forth causes Mother Hubbard's..... More
London: Dean & Son, (1859). Small quarto. (8)ff. Eight hand-colored engravings, all with movable parts. These movable images are operated through paper tabs and show the titular old woman with a host of animals as she tries to tame her newly purchased pig. The text of the story lies below..... More
Paris: Dean & Son / A. Capendu, (mid-19th century). Small quarto. (8)pp. Contains four color movable illustrations, with other whimsical circus imagery throughout the accompanying text. The movable images, which operate by pulling tabs, show clowns balancing on their heads, performing tricks with dogs, and riding donkeys. Copyrighted by Dean..... More
Berlin: (Carl Schauer, c. 1895). Small quarto. (8)pp. Four full-page color plates with volvelles. Each plate depicts a particular scene—”Das Theater,” “Die Menagerie,” “Der Bildermann,” and “Das Karussel”—which is described in lyric verse on the facing page. The turning mechanisms then change a certain portion of the image. For example..... More
NY: Bouillon-Sanders & Chopp, (1926). Quarto. (16)pp. Illustrated throughout in color and black & white, and in a bright orange binding featuring the main character, Willie, with fully movable arms. A "Willie Wait a Minute," who is always postponing his responsibilities to play just a minute longer, is able to..... More
