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 ...
Read more about Children's Books and Toys
NY: Simon & Schuster, 1957. Quarto. (64)pp. First edition. A children's favorite, which chronicles the kinetic Eloise's adventures in Paris. Fine in decorated red boards, small bump to bottom corner. Dust jacket shows light edgewear and split starting to head of spine, else fine. More
(Exeter, NH): C. Norris & Co., 1812. 142pp. A charming thumb Bible with significant stories told in prose followed by supplements with references to verses. Bound in full brown leather with gilt decorations to spine and covers, including the monogram "E. L." to upper cover. Rear flyleaf torn and small..... 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), 1978. A cotton beanbag of a beatifically smiling cat, the color of café au lait, dressed in a jaunty blue and grey striped jersey. This is one of five bean bag animals in a collection designed by Edward Gorey and produced by Toy Works..... 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
London: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., (c. 1905). Small quarto. (8)ff. Full spreads show a chromolithographed image on one side, and a printed outline of that same lithograph on the other. Cut-outs at the top of each page provide easy access to purple, yellow, blue, red, green, and brown paints..... More
NY: Oxford University Press, 1947. Octavo. 118pp. Inscribed by Tudor on the second free flyleaf. Illustrated throughout in color and black-and-white by Tudor, with her signature floral wreaths, dreamy landscapes, and playful children. Bound in green cloth over boards with paper label to upper cover. Freckles of foxing throughout, though..... More
Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1964. First edition. Signed by Eric von Schmidt, paired with an original pen-and-ink drawing of the story's be-hatted crow from page twenty. von Schmidt's illustrations throughout offer a colorful and suitably spooky visual aid to his fable-like tale. Bound in full gray cloth with original price-clipped..... More
Rochester, NY: Stecher Lith. Co., 1916. Folio. (12)pp. This vibrant children's book, illustrated with twelve full-color, full-page plates, narrates the early years of George Washington's life in verse. His childhood deeds, including learning to ride a horse at age ten, chopping down his father's cherry tree, and setting out as..... More
1982. A one-of-a-kind book, signed by the artist. Each two-page opening contains a unique and colorful collage, using string, torn papers, textured papers, and paper toned by etching and aquatint. Pop-up elements and folded paper strips add a third dimension to this multimedia meditation on the link between color and..... More
St. Augustine, Florida: Lytel Press, 1978. Thirty small manuscript cards. One of fifty copies, designated in pen on the colophon as "Your Copy". Each letter of this whimsical alphabet is drawn within a red circle, then within an oval is a word that starts with that letter. Each word has..... 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
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
