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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(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 A collection of sixteen vibrant watercolor designs by Vernon Grant for an apparently unpublished children's book called "The Two Elves."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
(Moscow: 1929). Six pen-and-ink drawings colored with watercolor, with an expressionistic look, each measuring 7 3/4 by 6 1/2 inches. These delicate, stylized illustrations are tinted with shades of orange, purple, and green. The first drawing has the title and illustrator’s name, Ausbrey, below it in Russian. The images recount..... 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
Akron, OH: Saalfield Pub. Co., 1933. Oblong folio. (6)ff. First edition. Intact and unused paper doll book of a fully-stocked grocery store. Includes 206 perforated pieces printed on heavy card stock. The grocery store is well-stocked with a detailed and thorough selection of foodstuffs: sweets, produce, baking ingredients, meats, and..... More
Paris: Impie. Lender, 1866. Set of paper dolls, containing two figures, two wooden stands, twelve double-sided outfits, and four hairstyles, all printed lithographically. "Psyché", created in 1835, was one of the very first paper dolls included in the eponymous magazine. It was also sold as a paper toy in its..... 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
(Flansham): Pear Tree Press, (1920). Octavo. 25pp. This collection of short children's poems is heavily illustrated with wood engravings by Stuart Guthrie, son of Pear Tree Press founder James Guthrie. The six full-page illustrations and fourteen smaller images used as head- and tailpieces are printed in four colors: blue, green..... More
London: Warren Editions, 1981. One of fifty copies. An enchanting peep show by the well-known children's author and illustrator Harold Jones. Comprised of six layered panels, plus the illustrated front panel bearing the title and viewing aperture. Looking into the viewing aperture reveals a glimpse deep into a forest filled..... More
(Berlin: Oscar Michaelis, 1896). Printed by S. Schottlaender, Breslau. A colorful telescopic view of the Industrial Exhibition’s main hall, comprised of six bright, chromolithographed panels attached on the sides by accordion-folded paper. The front panel shows the outside of the hall, and the viewer looks through a small hole to..... More
Boston: Phillips, Sampson & Co., 1856. Small quarto. 67pp., printed one side only. A collection of verse, accompanied by lively silhouette engravings. 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 Red Beard's Stories..... More
Cooperstown: H. & E. Phinney, 1834. 24mo. 31pp. The first Phinney edition of this familiar tale. With ten woodcuts, very neat indeed, and three more on the yellow wrappers. Previous young owners' names to front wrapper, wear to extremities, and some foxing to interior, else a near fine copy. More
London: Grant & Griffith, 1852. Oblong quarto. (5)ff. Five hand-colored plates illustrate comical urchins demonstrating the senses, including the rare “Seeing” plate, which shows two boys peering into a box-shaped peep-show at a fair while the proprietor says, “Now then gents, open yr eyes, blow yr precious noses, and don’t..... More
Paris: Berger-Levrault, (1915). Quarto. (14)ff. One of 200 copies printed on Arches. Contains eight full-page pochoir plates and several vignettes depicting the experiences of French children Jacqueline, Guillaume, and their friends. The prints and dedication are signed with the initials S. B., but the author/illustrator is unknown; the dedication page..... More
NY: Thomas Nelson, 1928. Oversized proof plate from Willy Pogany's Mother Goose, illustrating the numbers one through five and a child's finger in the mouth of a caught fish. Below the image is the rhyming text, whose simple, clever meter assists a young learner in remembering their numbers. Plate shows..... More
Cambridge, MA: Pomegranate Press, 1972. Broadside. About 300 copies. A striking presentation of this fanciful poem, silkscreened in turquoise, purple and orange by Karyl Klopp. Very fine. (Measures 25 inches wide by 19 inches tall). More
Paris: Nouvelle Librairie de la Jeunesse, (c. 1900). Quarto panorama of six chromolithographed pop-up scenes. They carry the reader through an exotic hunt, in which cowboys and local turbaned attendants pursue and slay lions and tigers, and eventually overcome an ambush by native tribespeople. The book's three-dimensional structure adds to..... More
London: Bancroft & Co, (c. 1960). Quarto. 7, (1)pp. Tri-fold pictorial boards, with lower cover unfolding into a table-top pop-up image of the many animals boarding Noah's Ark. The scene has a humorous flair; a fox plays chess with a stork and a panther, a male crocodile smokes a pipe..... More
(1968). An uncommon die-cut pop-up card depicting a nativity scene set in ancient Bethlehem, beneath palm trees and a starry night sky. Cattle, goats, sheep, and an elephant surround the manger, as the magi and others bring gifts. Presiding over the scene is an angel carrying a banner proclaiming "Gloria..... More
