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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Paris: Laurent et Deberny, 1850. 250pp. A beautiful edition, printed by Plon Frères in wonderfully clear type. A copy of this edition was shown as a star exhibit at the 1850 Paris Exposition, according to Bondy. This copy has a fore-edge painting by Martin Frost. In fine lines and with..... 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. 1830s). Peepshow displaying a cascading view of Marc Brunel's prospective tunnel under the Thames River. Six lithographed scenes layer to show pedestrians, horses, and carriages traveling along the tunnel, which had been initially imagined to be open to all traffic, but the realities of descending below the Thames..... More
Milan: Pietro e Giuseppe Vallardi, (c. 1830s). Octavo-sized peepshow of four layered color lithographs, three concertina and one affixed to rear board, portraying activity around the Holy Sepulchre. Soldiers drink, nap, or, in a few instances, weep, while apostles wait in the distance along the road that winds past Golgotha..... 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
London: Dean & Son, (1860). 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
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
North Monmouth, UK: Old Stile Press, 1995. (32)ff. One of 240 copies, signed by Nicolaus McDowall, the printer and creator. An alphabet panorama, with each word "acted out" by the upper and lower case Bodoni letters; for "mountaineer," the little "m" climbs up the slope of the big "M." Printed..... 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
London: Macdonald Educational, (1973). Thirty-six gouache paintings on eighteen pieces of variously-sized illustration board, the largest measuring 21 1/2 by 15 3/4 inches; the smallest, 9 by 12. These illustrations are laid out in page format, with the artwork positioned where they appear alongside the text in the published work..... 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
London: Dean & Co., (c. 1960). Three 12mo rag books, + two sets of original artwork. Artwork heavily annotated and in full color. The three published books are My Train Set, Our Nursery, and My Dolls; the artwork, rendered directly on boards, applies to the latter two. The pencil notes..... 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
