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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(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
Paris: La Renaissance du Livre, 1922. Oblong quarto. (13)ff., interleaved with twelve pochoir plates. First edition. A poignant fable about the escapades of a magpie—whose body is made of a pinecone—and three little pinecone chicks as they leave the mantel of the fireplace on which they live to venture out..... More
(N.p. Jo Anna Poehlmann, 1996). (55)pp., frenchfold. One of 100 copies. This ABC is filled with twenty-six terms for the cigar afficionado. Illustrated with cigar labels corresponding to the letters of the alphabet. "F is for full-bodied." "H is for hand-rolled." Bound in dried tobacco leaves over boards. When the..... 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
Berkeley: Poole Press, 1992. (17)ff. One of 75 copies. Signed by Maryline Poole Adams, the illustrator, printer, and binder. An ABC book showing what baby Alice can do (J, jounce; K, kvetch; L, laugh; and so on). Each page has a wood engraving and text in either red or blue..... 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
Philadelphia: David McKay, (1929). Octavo. 225pp. First edition, printed before the limited UK edition, which Potter used to establish copyright in England. According to Linder, Potter originally wanted the book to only be printed in America, since “she felt that the stories were ‘too personal—too autobiographical'” to publish in her..... More
(France: H. Rousseau, c. 1846-8). A set of three hand-colored wooden jigsaw puzzles lithographed by J. Froment and measuring 13 by 10 inches (33x25cm). Each puzzle is illustrated with six portraits of European rulers, in full regalia, with detailed jewels, orders, decorations, and crowns. Among the countries represented are Portugal..... More
(N.p. c. 1900). Boxed set of two puzzles, each featuring nine silhouette images formed from four blocks apiece. Each puzzle has a corresponding guide on paper against blue card. The first puzzle depicts well-known and well-loved scenes from Johann David Wyss' tale, with the silhouettes a marvelous format for presenting..... More
Van Nuys, CA: Barbara Raheb, 1982. (27)pp. A diminutive coloring book. Mint in red wrappers with an illustrated, hand-colored label. Together with the tiniest box of Crayola crayons imaginable. The crayons, which can be removed from the box, are 3/8 inch long. (1 by 3/4; 24x19mm). More
(Vienna: c. 1810). Single folio sheet, on which is printed twenty rebus cards, to be cut out. Each card has a very fine hand-colored stipple engraving. A few examples are: a man bowing before a statue of Cupid, a sunset, three children sledding, and Napoleon sitting on an upper-case “B.”..... More
Boston: 1888. (5)ff. Hand-written rebus with cut-out illustrations pasted on the letterhead of "Howard Gannett, Publisher and Bookseller." Provides humorous prescriptions for obtaining and retaining good health, which include "Sleep without boots near an open (window)" and "Rise before you wake up-- early before the (stars) have gone." The result..... More
(Derby: Richardson, n.d. (c. 1835). 48mo. (12) pp. (wrappers included in pagination). Title-page vignette and six small woodcut illustrations. Rare provincially-published abridgement of the Dick Whittington tale, known only in one institutional copy. Front wrappers toned, otherwise near fine. More
NY: Windmill Books, 1970. Quarto. (23)ff. Comforting tales of middle America, illustrated by one of the nation's most beloved artists. Near fine in full green cloth and dust wrapper. More
NY: Windmill Books, 1969. Quarto. (23)ff. Second printing. An endearing collection of children's stories both humorous and earnest, all accompanied by Rockwell's characteristically nostalgic artwork. Bound in full blue cloth. Some fading about edges, minor rubs, else very good in very good dust wrapper. More
Amherst, MA: Swamp Press, 1982. (14)pp., that fold-out to a panorama. One of 100 copies signed by the printer, Ed Rayher. Eighteen-panel panorama with illustrations by Jon Vlakos aptly complement this modern haiku. Very fine in brown paper wrappers. (3 by 2 13/16; 75x69 mm). More
Banbury: J. G. Rusher, (1814). 64mo. 16pp. Illustrated with engravings throughout, which follow Whittington's rise from poverty to mayoralty, with the help, and occasional troublemaking, of his cat. Bound in paper wrappers, somewhat toned and with a tear along the tail of the spine. Near Fine. More
Banbury: J. G. Rusher, (c. 1810). 64mo. 16pp. Illustrated throughout with engravings depicting the stages of Tom Thumb's journey, including falling into the king's lunch, riding a butterfly, and battling a spider. Below each are two or three stanzas of verse describing, often humorously, the events. Bound in plain wrappers..... More
