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: 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
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
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
(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: Looking Glass Library, (1959). 24mo. (16)ff. True first edition. One of 600 copies. Signed and inscribed by Gorey. A quirky vignette of bug social life, printed in four colors. This is Gorey's fifth book, and one of the most rare. Faintest soil, else fine in printed wrappers. (Toledano A5a)..... More
Yarmouth Port, MA: Edward Gorey House, 2013. Oblong octavo. (30)ff. loose sheets. One of twenty-six lettered copies. An "appalling alphabet" of the dooms of twenty-six children, ranging from Amy, who falls down the stairs, to Zillah, who drinks to much gin. As in all lettered copies, after the alphabet comes..... More
Yarmouth Port, MA: Edward Gorey House, 2013. Oblong octavo. (29)ff. loose sheets. One of 100 numbered copies. An "appalling alphabet" of the dooms of twenty-six children, ranging from Amy, who falls down the stairs, to Zillah, who drinks to much gin. Gorey's signature embossed on title and colophon cards. Housed..... 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
NY: Dodd, Mead, 1978, 1979. Three 16mo volumes. All first edition reissues. All signed by Gorey. The set includes The Willowdale Handcar, The Gilded Bat, and The Doubtful Guest. All near fine in pictorial boards showing slight edgewear, and in matching dust wrappers with mild rubbing at edges, a slight..... More
NY: Meredith Press, 1967. First edition. "From Ampoo to Zote", this alphabet offers "an improbable menagerie for Sunday's child." Upper portion of boards foxed, slight splay to upper cover, else very good in very good dust wrapper. (Toledano A26a). 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
Princeton: Pynson Printers, 1983. Two square 32mo. volumes + pamphlet. (4); (16); (12)pp. One of fifty copies. Signed by the printers, Sarah Christ and Scott Strang. Contains twenty-four hand-colored wood engravings printed from the original antique blocks, which were used to illustrate one of the earliest American editions of the..... More
(Hamburg): Raamin-Presse, 1982. Folio. xxxxi, (7)pp. From an edition of 220 copies, this is one of forty copies signed by the printer and illustrator, Roswitha Quadflieg, with an additional suite of illustrations for the historiated initials printed on a single sheet, also signed by Quadflieg. The Grimm Brothers' tale is..... 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
San Francisco: Troubador Press, 1979. First hardcover edition. One of 750 copies containing a previoulsy unpublished drawing by Gorey and puzzle by Evans not in the wrapper edition. A collection of hidden picture puzzles, codes, and mazes features some of Gorey's signature characters. A very fine copy, still in original..... More
San Francisco: Troubador Press, 1979. First softcover edition. Signed by Gorey. A collection of hidden picture puzzles, codes, and mazes features some of Gorey's signature characters. A near fine copy, in pictorial wrappers, somewhat rubbed. (Toledano B64a). More
San Francisco: Troubador Press, 1982. Octavo. 40pp. Signed by Gorey. Three paper cats may be cut from the stiff rear cover, dressed in designated costumes and placed in front of morose and romantic sets drawn from Gorey's books. General edgewear, else near fine in pictorial covers. More
NY: Holiday House, 1984. First edition. Signed by Gorey. The curious tale of young Treehorn's discovery of a genie in an urn and the consequences of his wishes. Bound in teal cloth over boards. Upper board somewhat splayed. Near fine in near fine dust wrapper. More
NY: Young Scott Books, (1969). First edition. Signed by Gorey, with full-page illustration. Near fine in pictorial boards and good dust wrapper with edgewear and mild toning to spine. More
NY: Young Scott, 1968. First edition. Signed by Gorey. The first poem in Lear's Book of Nonsense, adorned with illustrations, which Gorey dedicated to Foss, Lear's celebrated cat. Scant wear to extremities of pictorial boards, fine. Some toning and minor rubbing to matching dust wrapper. (Toledano B38a). More
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, (1973). Two square octavo volumes. 30pp. Both signed by Gorey. Printed in blue ink. A children's language-arts schoolbook with whimsical illustrations throughout by Edward Gorey, collecting limericks by Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, Gorey himself, and many others. The unexpurgated edition features two limericks and one illustration missing..... More
NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968. First edition. Signed by Gorey. A delightful comedy of errors, headed by the clumsy Flemming Flanders. Holt Library Edition, bound in pictorial boards. Faint bumps to corners and creasing at hinges, else near fine in very good dust wrapper. More
