the big treasure book of fairy tales

this was a lucky find. it didn't look that exciting to me at first. i think the cover really doesn't do it justice. the missing dust jacket has a lot to do with that i'm sure. the cover has grown on me though. i do like the two tone printing on a colored background. this cover is brown and cream on turqoise.



when i flipped through i couldn't help but feel i had hit the jackpot. look at the blue cat. the illustrations are really something special. i immediately knew that the illustrator was art seiden. whose work i love.



unfortunately the book isn't in great condition. some of the pages are missing. it's another library discard (so prevalent at church book fairs.) this book originally belonged to alta vista school. i meant to photo the front inside cover, because the type is amazing as well. all of the book is lithographed.

the big treasure book of fairy tales retold by evelyn andreas

first edition (?), 1954, grosset & dunlap, inc., new york

illustrated by art seiden

the endpapers are my favorite. the s. s. fairyland, puss in boots, the medallions on the cabin. i could go on and on.

**i'm thinking this may not be the original cover, but a library rebind. the illustration seems off as well and is most likely not seiden's. i couldn't find any other references to this book with photos to be sure though. anyone have a copy we can compare?**

arabian nights

arabian nights

the companion library of classics, 1963, grosset & dunlap, new york

illustrated by mamoru funai

i love this edition of arabian nights, the illustrations by mamoru funai are amazing. i've always loved sinbad. you know the patrick wayne sinbad, eye of the tiger and all that. there was a philadelphia premiere back in the day which i attended. patrick wayne was there, and it was wonderful, except i don't remember any of it except for what my parents have shared with me. although i must've seen this movie a million times. well, i digress. the book itself is a wonderful collection of (abridged) stories, including the aforementioned "the story of sinbad the sailor," as well as, "scheherazade" and more of the popular tales. not only did mamoru funai do a wonderful job illustrating this book, but i really feel that the illustrations capture the spirit of the stories remarkably well. the type on the cover is also pretty snazzy nifty. i'm definitely going to search out more companion library copies...there are quite a few...hopefully they're all designed as well as this one is.

peppermint and if i could be

vintage childrens' books are just the best. it's also my most dreaded section at book sales. at the church sale where i picked these up, i had to peek around a family of 500 with a kid screaming to his mother, "can we sell this on ebay?" now i'm not against selling a vintage book, at all. but i did find it kinda annoying. i'm just sayin'. on the other hand, if there are a zillion (i'm overinflating numbers here in case you couldn't tell) kids looking at the books. that's ok. i'm the imposter. me and a whole bunch of school teachers.

lucky for me the family of 500 were more interested in contemporary hardback picture books. i was immediately drawn to poor little peppermint. she's cute, but i fell in love with the title font.

peppermint by dorothy grider
1966, western publishing co. , wisconsin
a whitman tell-a-tale book
illustrated by raymond burns

you can see the font more clearly on the endpaper. although on the cover the coloring is white with pale pink bubbles. i'm also quite smitten with the "illustrated by." overall this is a super cute book. it has a sort of surprise ending, which i won't give away here. i have other tell-a-tales books, and i find them all rather charming.

if i could be, author not credited
1953, whitman publishing, wisconsin
illustrated by lore e. winship (?)

interestingly, an earlier whitman title. this is a short paperback book. the boy on the cover reminds me of my brother a bit. i would've guessed this book was from the '40s were it not for the date. it's super cute! short and sweet.

good old holland and alpine wildflowers of rocky mountain national park

my mind is set on travel today, and these are two wonderful examples of tourist books (pamphlets really).

i love holland, my mother lives near maastricht. i have an aunt in amsterdam as well. i've been many times, although not for a long time. i always miss holland, and i am always looking for books about holland, preferably old travel books. that's how i found this gem. the letterpress cover is amazing!

the inside is really cute as well. it includes all sorts of short snippets of information about holland.

good old holland author not credited
printed by n.v. joh. enschedé en zonen and firma h. tulp
published by the economic information service, the hague

at the end there is a list of items exported from the netherlands...there are some interesting items listed, such as: electric household articles, medicines (incl. quinine), corduroy, pig iron, breeding cattle, phosphate fertilizers, and tin in blocks. a list definitely reminiscent of another time.

alpine wildflowers of rocky mountain national park by bettie e. willard and chester o. harris

1970, rocky mountain nature association

i located this in the travel section as well. i plan on using this as a possible resource for my illustrations. that and the cover is really cute. pretty snazzy for a nature association i think!

ikebana of japan and japanese flower arrangement: ikebana

i am always on the lookout for old craft books, and old books relating to japan. some of the best craft books have been long out of print, and i find that books about japan from the '50s-'70s tend to have fantastic type and design overall. that and brad (my husband) is a japan fan. these two books combine those interests.

ikebana of japan: moribana style

20 arrangements in full color by houn ohara

1969, shufunotomo co., tokyo

photographs not credited

i remember as a kid being totally fascinated by ikebana. apparently 1969 was a big year for this art form (it carried into the '70s apparently.) both these books were published that year. most of all i value these treasures for their color photography. you just don't find color or photo styling like this anymore.

japanese flower arrangement: ikebana by john march-penney

1969, the hamlyn publishing group, london

photos by janet march-penney

i doubt i'll be picking up the art of ikebana, although you never know. i can tell you that i've flipped through both of these books numerous times soaking up the goodness. these scans really don't do them justice. houn ohara's book has a kodachrome quality to it that's to die for.

leafy rivers

leafy rivers: a novel by jessamyn west

first edition, 1967, harcourt, brace & world, new york

jacket design by james and ruth mccrea

another book chosen for its cover. i love the graphics of this cover. true genius. apparently the book is of the adventure/suspense category. which i would not have surmised by the cover alone. the cover makes me think heart of darkness or the island of dr. moreau (on second thought i suppose these are adventure/suspense.) i'm also reminded of gauguin, although more for the tahitian vibe rather than a likeness of style. i'm definitely keeping this one around for inspiration. james and ruth mccrea have illustrated tons. see more here, here, and here.

lament for a lost lover and the queen bee.

yesterday my husband and i, along with our friend dawn, visited a local church charity drive book fair. we visited the second day they were open and everything looked pretty picked through. i find with books sales (at least in this area,) the book dealers get there first thing and snap up a lot of goodies. however, i still got a good lot. i was really drawn to these painterly-style covers. i admit they do remind me of my childhood. mostly i am drawn to nostalgic items. i'm not sure the quality of the stories, but i do like the covers.

lament for a lost lover by philippa carr a.k.a. eleanor hibbert
book club edition, 1977, g.p. putnam's sons, new york
jacket illustration is by charles geer

the queen bee by edna lee
book club edition, 1950, appleton-century-crofts, inc., new york
the illustrator isn't credited, although there seems to be a signature reading be(i,a)nyé? unfortunately, i wasn't able to find any information.

an interesting aside. apparently my grandfather's step-mother was a major b*tch. she was also a member of a popular (high-end) department store family. anyways, my grandparents referred to her as "the queen bee," after this book. i love it when good book finds have quirky stories attached to them. i find it interesting that both of these books are book club editions. i'm thinking that book clubs gravitated toward covers with a romantic vibe to better market them to women. not that that is what women were (or are) all about.