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: 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
Paris: A. Capendu, (n.d.). Small quarto. (14)pp. Six full-page color plates with movable elements, plus black & white illustrations scattered throughout the text. The movable images are operated through tabs, which bring to life a band of young boys playing tricks on a giant ogre, and the ogre at the... More
Paris: Nouvelle Librarie de la Jeunesse, (c. 1890). Small quarto. (8)pp. Four full-page color illustrations, with movable wheels at the fore-edge. Turning the wheels changes a particular aspect of each scene. For example, as children look down from the elevated porch of their snowbound chalet, they find below them a.... More
c. 1835. Movable figure of a black Arabian horse mounted to a hand-colored landscape backdrop that measures 10 by 8 3/4 inches (251x196mm). The horse is articulated using a series of metal pins that allow it to be manipulated into various positions. Accompanied by eight interchangeable rider figures, all of... More
NY: Willy Mayer & Co., (n.d.). Bowtie-shaped paper toy. Five "pages," affixed in the center by a rivet, may be rotated and shifted to overlap in such a way that one of four illustrations appears. Each page is cleverly printed in halves. Stulz Bros. was a liquor company based in... 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
(Denmark): Skandinavisk Bogforlag, (c. 1938). Quarto. (30)pp. First edition. Illustrated throughout in color and black & white. A Danish guide to the craft of printing with carved potatoes, which also includes examples of stories illustrated with potato prints. Instructions show how to carve the stamps and create characters, scenes, and... More
Amsterdam: Wed. G. A. Diederichs en Zoon and Mindermann, (c. 1820). Four paper packets with thirty-six paper figures. The figures are cut from laid paper so that a lantern shining through the cut-out portions would project the image onto a wall or sheet. The largest packet, containing six sheets, was... More
(c. 1830). Optical toy with forty-two hand-colored engraved slides. The Polyorama Panoptique was popular from the 1820s through the 1850s as a small-scale version of Daguerre's famous Diorama. The toy consists of a wooden box attached to a paper concertina, which can be adjusted as needed, and a lens in... 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
Boston: Small Maynard & Co., (c. 1910s). Oblong octavo. (8)pp. A die-cut paper doll book, one of four in the Bye-Bye series. The front cover is printed like a quilt, and is cut short to show three paper dolls tucked into the bed. Each of the dolls is perforated at... More
Amsterdam: Van Arum, (ca. 1810-20). Square 12mo. 62pp. The title translates as "Benevolent Louise, the girl with six forms, an entertaining gift for girls, with seven colored movable plates." Each chapter tells of Louise as someone different, for example "Louise as a nun," or "Louise in a ball-gown." The rear... 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
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
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
Mainz: Jos. Scholz, (c. 1890). Four stand-up scenes with forty-five die-cut paper figures, which can be used to stage the fairy tale of Snow White. The pieces include thirteen two-sided figures for our major players, including Snow White, the Seven Dwarves, Prince Charming, and the Evil Queen; six additional one-sided... 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
San Francisco: Golden Gate International Exposition, 1938. Oblong quarto. (10)ff. Uncut paper doll book, inspired by the 1939 World's Fair, the Golden Gate International Exposition. The "Treasure Island" of the title refers to the man-made island in San Francisco Bay on which the Fair was held. This pirate-themed book includes... More
Flansham: Greenleaf Press, (1915). 16mo. (16)pp. Inscribed, "With best wishes from the folk at Flansham. Xmas 1915," and illustrated with nine tipped-in engravings. The publication and illustrations were done by Stuart, Robin, and John Guthrie, the sons of James Guthrie of the Pear Tree Press. This is the first book... 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
Paris: Lemercier, (1867). Four panel, accordion-folding peepshow of the 1867 Exposition Universelle, held on the Champ-de-Mars in Paris. The front-face shows a bird's-eye view of the exposition complex as seen from the north bank of the Seine. Beneath the image, the title is written in five languages, along with the... 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: Charles J. Hendee, 1837. Octavo. (iv), 208pp., + 6 maps. First edition. Frontispiece, engraved title page, title-page vignette, and numerous text figures from engravings. Contains sixty brief chapters that cover all essential information about the United States for school children. Roughly half the book is devoted to the physical... More
