scamper

i'm not a squirrel hater, i'm a squirrel lover. i don't understand people who electrocute them or purposefully run them over. you know who you are. bad squirrel karma is some mighty potent juju :)
anyways, this book is cute, cute, cute...what more can i say?

scamper by marjorie barrows
a rand mcnally elf book, 1959, rand mcnally & co., chicago
illustrated by jean tamburine

doll talk: 'foreign folk dolls'

i'm always looking for vintage doll books, doll magazines and such...since i make dolls myself. i picked this one up because i found it so interesting to see the traditional style dolls from areas around the world, and the materials they are made of. when perusing used book stores and such, these little pamphlets can sometimes hold hidden gems on the topic of whatever catches your fancy at the moment...so i never discredit their value.

doll talk: vol. 4, no. 4; sept. - oct. 1941
'foreign folk dolls'
kimport dolls independence, mo

lenci commemorative postcard book

in the late '70s and early '80s lenci reproduced some of their dolls...this is a commemorative postcard book (or catalog of sorts) of the reproduction dolls. there are 36 postcards in all. the back also has a reproduction certificate of authenticity. apparently these dolls were faithfully reproduced using the same 1920s methods, similar materials, and exact molds and patterns.

1979, lenci
postcards are various dates

the lonely doll

this is one of the most wonderful, and albeit a bit bizarre of children's books. it's rather iconic, i think. i discovered it years ago through a friend and have been enamored of dare wright since. she was apparently an unusual character, there is even a biography which you can find here. i love the lenci doll she used and the stories are really fantastic (in the true meaning of the word). a must for a collection. i was lucky enough to find this first edition, even though it's seen better days. she's written 10 others in this series too.

the lonely doll by dare wright
first edition, 1957, doubleday & inc., new york
photographs also by dare wright

justine

i love this book! or should i say, i love the illustrations in this book, which are by artist mahlon blaine. i got this edition of the marquis de sade's justine at an antiquarian book dealer for more money than i would have paid normally ($35)...and it was worth it. the cover silhouette is fantastic and the chapter illustrations are all very unusual. i've included some of the more tame of them, although they really aren't all that far out. i also love the original owner's book plate...florence henderson...wouldn't it be funny if this book belonged to mrs. brady? of course 1933 (as inscribed) was a bit before her time.

funny thing is there is a note, as follows: "the editor, an amiable old gentleman devoted to hearth and home, living in the bosom of a happy family, highly disapproves of most of the characters in this novel; and in no way can he identify himself with their words or actions." this and justine is much more a novel than any of sade's other works, and was therefore uncharacteristically mild for the marquis.

justine: or the misfortunes of virtue
by the marquis de sade (originally written in 1791)
1931 (by harold berman), the risus press
illustrated by mahlon blaine
letterpress

wenn die männer wüssten...

another german book...i purchased this one at a thrift store in weisbaden...really a hidden gem. the illustrations by emilio grau-sala are magical, one day i'll photograph all of them and post them on my flickr page. until then, this little teaser must do. i can't read it, but the illustrations seem to progress from courtship to lover to marriage to family to midlife crisis to affair to fun times...which is somewhat comical and makes me wonder what it's truly about, especially since the title translates to something like, 'if the men knew...'

wenn die männer wüssten... by dominique le bourg
c. 1963 (not dated), perlen-verlag marback (neckar)
illustrated by emilio grau-sala
translated from the french by suzanne varenius

der kinder gebet von ottilie wildermuth

i just got this great little antique letterpress german book at a local antiques mall...it's missing all of its illustrations besides two, and appears to have been rebound, but i love the typeface. lucky find, me thinks! it also has an interesting and mysterious yugoslavian inscription. as far as i can translate (which means don't quote me :) it's two children's stories 'the children's prayer' and 'late luck' by ottilie wildermuth, who was known for her stories for young folks...

der kinder gebet & spätes glück: zwei erzählungen für die judend von ottilie wildermuth
c. 1840 (not dated), reutlingen, printed by rob. bartenschlager

uncle tom's cabin

rare edition of harriet beecher stowe's uncle tom's cabin: or life among the lowly...

uncle tom's cabin by harriet beecher stowe
1893, f.t. neely, chicago

junior deluxe editions

junior deluxe editions are those special gems that i run across from time to time while searching for books...these three are no exception. in this collection i've included little women, tales from shakespeare and through the looking-glass. which reminds me, tales from shakespeare is edited and compiled by charles and mary lamb...did you know that mary lamb murdered her mother? how odd (not to mention that some think lewis carroll was a pedophile)...and it's illustrated by leonard weisgard, who i've posted in the past.
another author who murdered is anne perry, who helped her friend murder her mother. just an morbid aside.
there's a junior deluxe edition flickr group too...right here.

tales from shakespeare by charles and mary lamb
1955, nelson doubleday
illustrated by leonard weisgard

through the looking-glass: and what alice found there by lewis carroll
c. 1955 (not dated), nelson doubleday
illustrated by john tenniel

little women by louisa may alcott
1950, nelson doubleday
illustrated by reisie lonette

crybaby calf

poor little calf can't stop crying. i think this style of illustration is similar to the last post's. you can see the '40s style in both. lovely silkscreen book.

crybaby calf by helen and alf evers
1945 edition, rand mcnally & co., new york

the three billy goats gruff

yesterday i remembered that i had another the three billy goats gruff...you can see the other here...they are both completely different styles, albeit the same book (same publisher and authors). this book also includes the fable the little goat and the wolf (which i didn't photograph). it's interesting to see the two books in contrast i think. despite their being essentially the same book, they appear quite different. it's amazing what illustrations can do, is it not?

i forgot how "trip, trap, trip, trap" is so integral to the story!

there is a postscript in the back of this book that credits sir george dasent's popular tales from the norse (1858) as the introduction of this tale to english readers...rather than peter christen asbjørnsen and jørgen moe's norwegian folktales (1896) as wikipedia suggests. hmmm. oh, it appears dasent was publisher/translator of asbjørnsen and moe's text. all settled then.

the three billy goats gruff
adapted from the norwegian by alice o'grady and frances throop
1940, rand mcnally & co., chicago
illustrated by tony brice