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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Niagara Falls: Carol Schwartzott, 1994. (14) pp. One of 20 copies, signed by Carol Schwartzott, the designer and binder. A hexagonal book with six bright hand-colored illustrations, bound in hexagonal boards with a hand-colored decoration reminiscent of Islamic tiles. Housed in a hexagonal wooden box, painted in black, gold, red..... 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
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
(N.p. c. 1890). 24mo. (42)pp. With copious illustrations in both color and monochrome. Blow books are classic magic tricks, most popular through the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The magician presents the book and riffles through it, showing a set of like illustrations. Then with the book closed, he or she..... 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
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
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
Barcelona: Editorial Maravilla, 1941. Quarto. 6ff., + 5 inserted movable illustrations, each with intact and functional pull-tabs that set butterfly wings alight, swing the arms of princesses and moths, and send bells to chiming. Matched by quaint woodcuts at the title page, edition statement, and start and end of the..... 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
(Sussex): Silver Thimble Books, 1983. (48)pp. One of 150 copies, signed by Gordon Murray, the designer and publisher. A passage from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with four full-page and three double-page illustrations after John Tenniel, the original illustrator of "Alice" and Through the Looking-Glass. The illustrations are handcolored by Murray..... More
Guildford, Surrey, England: Genesis Publications Limited, 1985. 48mo. xxviii, 160pp. A reduced facsimile of the edition published by J. Newbery, London, in 1766, illustrated throughout with numerous woodcuts. Carl Geri's Introduction to the text provides both bibliographic and literary context. Bound in full orange leather over boards with two raised..... More
Tours: Maison Alfred Mame et Fils, (c. 1920). Quarto. 127pp., + (16)ff. One of sixteen copies, with a signed original gouache for one of the sixteen color plates by Neziere, opposite p. 63. Highly colored and caricature-like in style, the painting illustrates "L'Ane et le Petit Chien (The Little Dog..... More
Verona: Officina Bodoni, 1973. Two octavo volumes. 278; 120pp. One of 160 copies on handmade paper. Volume One contains the text from the Veronese Edition of 1479, printed by Giovanni Alvise. The Fables are in Latin verse, followed by the Italian of Accio Zucco. The 68 beautiful woodcuts are newly..... More
(c. 1930s). A collection of sixteen vibrant watercolor designs by Vernon Grant for an apparently unpublished children's book called "The Two Elves." Grant was one of the most popular illustrators of the mid-20th century, and his distinctive whimsical style influenced many of his contemporaries, including Walt Disney. Grant is perhaps..... More
(N.p. c. 1940). Oblong small quarto. (9)ff., illustrated on rectos only. A handmade children's counting book featuring animals in parent-child relationships. Each family group increases in number as the reader pages through the book, starting with one mother and one baby turtle and ending with a mother otter and her..... More
1935-1938. Six original paintings, all signed by the artist, Cherry Barr Jerry. 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..... More
England: (c. 1957). Folio. (44)ff. An astonishing manuscript, featuring fourteen original drawings and gouache paintings mounted on heavy gray paper. They depict a range of toys and their contexts, from the familiar teddy bear to baubles from as far afield as Javanese shadow puppets and Hopi Indian dolls. The text..... More
Lausanne: F. Payot; Vevey, Loertscher and Jacot-Guillarmod, (1889). Oblong octavo. (24) ff. A panorama which opens out to show a colorful wedding procession of musicians, vintners, farmworkers, and costumed villagers. The Roman goddesses of the harvest, Ceres and Pales, follow their attendants in ox-drawn chariots, and Bacchus' chariot is pulled..... More
(Germany): S & C, (c. 1920). Three die-cut figures: two Santas and a Christmas Tree. Each figure stands 5 3/4" high, with an easel back and fold at the bottom. The two Santa figures are holding a doll, teddy bear, jester, and Christmas bush, and one is in his traditional..... More
Amsterdam: Van Arum, (c. 1810-20). Square 12mo. 62pp. The title translates to "Benevolent Louise, the girl with six forms, an entertaining gift for girls, with seven colored movable plates." Each chapter follows Louise in different roles, for example, "Louise as a nun" or "Louise in a ball-gown." The rear paste-down..... More
(Germany: c. 1850). Very rare boxed set, consisting of two identical 7-inch-tall female paper dolls, both two-sided. With eight brightly colored costumes, also two-sided, and eight hats and hairstyle pieces. The wardrobe includes outfits for all occasions: a practical brown-striped skirt and warm lace-trimmed cloak, a stately crimson damask gown..... More
(England: c. 1900). A set of nine hand-drawn and aquatinted costumes, each matted separately, with a delicately featured lady's head that transfers between the costumes by fitting into a slot at the neck. The costumes include a riding habit flowing down the side of a horse, outdoor wear, and dresses..... More
(c. 1810). A collection of seventeen hand-drawn watercolor costume designs for a paper doll, plus one additional unfinished design in pencil. The costumes, complete with headpieces, wigs, and other accessories, are well designed and skillfully colored, giving this handmade set a polished and professional look. The costumes are laid into..... More
