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

hansel and gretel coloring book

i got this at my local library sale...the inside is nothing special. i just like the cover.

hansel and gretel coloring book
1979, modern promotions, new york

virginibus puerisque

this is such an odd little book. it's bound totally in paper, hand bound with letterpress pages and is really a treat. this copy has seen its better days. it was published in maine by thomas b. mosher in 1904. "virginibus puerisque" means 'for girls and boys' and is only one of a collection of essays included in the volume. these essays were written by robert louis stevenson (best known for treasure island) concerning life's keystones and are pretty much a manifesto of his personal feelings. i consider this book to be one of the gems of my collection!

virginibus puerisque: and other papers by robert louis stevenson
1904, thomas b. mosher, portland

the three billy goats gruff

the three billy goats gruff was one of my favorite tales as a child. i pretty much liked anything involving trolls. anyways, this start-right elf book is darling. its diminutive size paired with amazing illustrations by george wilde just makes it perfect.

the three billy goats gruff
retold by alice o'grady and frances throop
start-right elf books, 1966, rand mcnally & co., chicago
illustrated by george wilde