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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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
Moscow: Malich, c. 1980. Square quarto. 8ff. Illustrated with eight pop-up illustrations, two of which have movable elements. These illustrations were engineered by Viktor Andrievitch. The text is a Russian folk-tale, translated here into Portuguese by Natalia Voinova. The tale follows a hare whose wood house is taken over by... More
(N.p.): Polygraphic Company of America, 1955. Small quarto. (20)pp. A multimedia children's pop-up book. A metal alligator nips at the foot of an elf, a clown hangs onto a balloon that can be blown into, and a seal hangs onto a paintbrush that may be dipped into three primary-color paints... More
London / NY: Nister, Ernest / E. P. Dutton & Co, (c. 1903). Quarto. (32)pp. Illustrated with five two-page color pop-ups, and black & white vignettes throughout. The pop-ups depict different British military units in the midst of battles. These units include infantrymen, cavalry, and soldiers from the colonies. The... More
![Vánocní Betlém [Bethlehem Christmas].](/pictures/thumb/25468.jpg?v=1537302954)
(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
NY: Harcourt Brace, 1999. First edition. One of 750 copies, signed by Gorey. An adventure in verse of a man and his companion, the Bahhumbug. The end of their journey marks the start of the new millenium. With Bahhumbug beanbag toy, well-dressed in suit, tie, and spats, and standing a.... 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
NY: Anderson, Selden W., 1908. Square octavo. (14)pp. Anderson's Limp Cloth Books No. 12. Illustrated in color and printed on linen cloth. A Christmas rag book featuring Clement Clarke Moore's poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" printed in red. Santa's nighttime call at a sleepy house is watched over by... 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
NY: Funk and Wagnalls, (1969). Octavo. 42pp. First edition. Signed by both Norman and Molly Rockwell. A story about a bird who composes his own music after hearing a symphony at the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts. Lavishly illustrated in color and black & white. Fine in gilt-stamped cloth... More
Paris: J.-P. Aillaud, Guillard & Ca. (1867). 12mo. 288pp. Fifth edition. Illustrated with four chromolithographed plates. First published in 1844, Roquette's collection of moral stories for children is drawn largely from Biblical sources, though several are derived from fables, and one short entry is drawn from a Portuguese tall tale... More
NY: Harcourt, Inc., 2002. Small quarto. (71)pp. One of twenty-six lettered copies of a special issue to the first Gorey edition of Belloc's Tales, which were originally published in London in 1907. Gorey's 61 illustrations frame the verses in perfect macabre humor. Belloc's Tales may well have influenced Gorey's own... More
NY: Random House, 1962. First edition. A very small bug by the name of Van Vleck is yawning, and soon the whole world catches it. Every page is full of Dr. Seuss's (Theodore Geisel's) wacky color illustrations. Scant wear to edges of pictorial boards, else near fine in near fine... More
(Vejprty, Czechoslovakia: Brauer a Gutberlet, c. 1928). Quarto. 9ff. Color and sepia illustrations on each page by Karla Rohra. A poem, in Czech, about a teddy bear bored with his life in the nursery, who goes off into the world and discovers that his old life was not so bad... More
(Boston: Prang, L., & Co., c. 1864). 12mo. (16)pp. A shaped book illustrated throughout by chromolithography. The illustrations surround the central text, which is a retelling of the story of Robinson Crusoe in verse by Lydia L. Very, who also designed the book. This title was part of the "Doll... More
NY: G.W. Carleton, 1879. Octavo. (96)ff. Features forty-eight color lift-the-flap illustrations (including the title page) in which the closed image illustrates the beginning of a verse and the open image depicts its conclusion. With numerous classic rhymes by Mother Goose, including the full versions of Old Mother Hubbard, and a.... More
(Bexhill, Sussex): Silver Thimble Books, 1983. (42)pp. One of 500 copies signed by the author/artist. A comic, verse retelling of a familiar fairy tale, illustrated with line drawings. Very fine in cloth with pictorial label. (2 1/8 by 1 5/8; 54x43mm). More
Dusseldorf: Levy Elkan, Baumer & Co., (1861). Octavo. (12)ff. A book illustrating the months, each page with a large color lithograph depicting a scene appropriate for that month. For example, October shows a grape harvest and wine-making, while in December, children play with toys and dress a Christmas tree. Each... More
Philadelphia: H.C. Peck & Theo. Bliss, (c. 1850). 64mo. 191pp. Illustrated with engravings throughout, each activity receiving its own full-page image. A charming book encouraging the reader to physical exertion. It describes such expected activities as archery, skating, and marbles, along with the perhaps unexpected pastimes of painting vases, the... More
NY: Charles E. Graham & Co., (1914). Small quarto. (32)pp. Number one of the Donald Dare Series. This juvenile sports book, illustrated with five full-page line drawings, recounts the story of Donald Dare leading his Ashland School team to victory in the championships. A short retelling of Sleeping Beauty, entitled... More
Melbourne: Sign of the Rabbit, 1905. Small quarto. (32)pp. Extremely rare first edition. Illustrated with sixteen woodcut illustrations in the Japanese style, six of which are double-page spreads. All but four minor illustrations are hand-initialed in ink by the contributing artist. Set opposite the illustrations, the letterpress-printed verse is a.... More
(London): Theatre Royal, 1829. Broadside playbill for Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1829 at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, advertising "a musical piece called The Sublime & Beautiful," followed by "The Farce of the Invincibles," and a "New Comic Pantomime" called "Harlequin and Little Red Riding Hood; or the Wizard and the... More
London: Cyril Beaumont, 1918. Octavo. (iii), 16, (1+16)ff., frenchfold. From an edition of fifty copies, this is one of ten printed on chine and signed by the artist. This is the story of Little Red Riding Hood, with woodcut text and illustrations by Belgian artist Edgard Tijtgat. Sixteen illustrations, hors... More
(Middle Falls, NY: The Toy Works), 1979. A cotton beanbag of a smiling pink pig, measuring seven inches from toe to eartip, and wearing a brown tweed jacket. In back, the turned-up vent shows that the jacket is lined to match his tasteful goldenrod bow-tie. This is one of five... More
