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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(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. Each page with a large color lithograph depicting a scene appropriate for that month. For example, April shows people working to shear sheep for the warm spring and summer months, and September shows children gathering apples. Each image is accompanied by... 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
Original artwork, signed by the artist, Tony Tallarico. Depicting the letters A, B, and C against an orange background, this vibrant piece juxtaposes the realistic style of the letter examples (an apple, a ball, and a cat) with the playful style of the letters themselves, which have been enhanced by... 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: Toy Works), 1980. This bean bag bat with outstretched wings measures approximately fifteen inches from wingtip to wingtip. The fabric is printed with a black and white crosshatched pattern that is shaded on the wings and body to give the figure more dimensionality, evoking Gorey’s characteristic drawing... 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
(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
Cumberland, MD: Hobby House Press, (1986). Oblong quarto. 236pp. This is an out-of-print, invaluable reference for any collector of children’s material. Illustrated throughout with color and black & white photographs, Whitton’s informative text is both thorough and accurate, with a superb index. Although primarily a reference for paper toys and... More
Berlin: Alfred Holz, (1953). Oblong folio. 16pp. First German edition, translated from the Russian by Katharina Holz. Hand-lithographed after the author/artist Jewgenij Tscharuschin’s illustrations from the original Soviet edition. Contains six full-page color plates and several smaller pictures of baby wolves, wildcats, bears, and other forest creatures. Playful illustrations by... More
Collingswood, NJ: Washburn, William Lewis, 1931. One of 61 copies. A miniature ABC with letter on each page printed in red, with a girl's name beneath, followed by numbers and an abbreviated story of the little red hen. Bound in printed light blue paper over boards, and housed in the... More
London: Faber & Faber, (1933). First edition. One of only 60 copies printed on English hand-made paper, signed by the author. With engraved title page, three tinted full-page plates and black & white headpieces by Rex Whistler. Collects seven of de la Mare's fantasy stories for children. A brilliant copy... More
N.p. c. 1920s. Octavo. (1)ff. Leaf excised from an unknown book, inscribed to Richard Vernon Johnson from his sister Marian. The leaf is also signed by the editors Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith, her sister. Kate Douglas Wiggin is best known for writing Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, but... More
Two modern posters, with alphabet themes, containing: "Jerry Pallotta's Alphabet Books." Watertown, MA, Charlesbridge Publishing, (early 1990s). An advertising poster for artist Jerry Pallotta's alphabet books, measuring 24 1/2 by 19 1/4 inches (622x489mm) and showing the full cover for "The Extinct Alphabet Book," published in 1993. A list of... More
N.p. C.D.L.R. 1944. Folio. (57)pp. A children's picture book that follows two demons who escape Hell, help a battalion of French Forces of the Interior (F.F.I.), and make trouble for Nazis. Eventually the demons and their companion, a small flame, assist the F.F.I. in the liberation of a small town... More
