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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(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...
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...
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...
(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...
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...
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...
(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.....
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...
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...
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.....
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...
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).
London: Dean & Son, (c. 1859). Small quarto. 8ff., printed one side only, with a pop-up image folded over the text. Each pop-up consists of three layers: a background, a middle ground with the characters of the particular scene, and the foreground with baskets, clothing, or other items scattered at...
Prague: Artia, 1971. Small quarto. (12)pp. Six pop-up illustrations, some with movable elements. The illustrations, with accompanying Japanese text, narrate the journey of two children and their dog to the moon with a rocket of their own invention. Bound in pictorial boards with lower cover repaired. Skillful paper repairs to...
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...
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...
(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...
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....
(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...
(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...
(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.”.....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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![Vánocní Betlém [Bethlehem Christmas].](/pictures/thumb/25468.jpg?v=1537302954)
