Aleph-Bet offers 600 mostly children's books in this latest catalogue.
By Michael Stillman
Aleph-Bet Books has issued their Catalogue 94 of Children's Books and Illustrated Books. It is filled with books from your childhood, that of your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on. These books range from delightful to horrible (racial stereotypes and the like were grotesque then), but all are fascinating. These are a few looks back in time.
Here is a book about a kangaroo illustrated by an artist better known for his monkey business. The title is Katy No-Pocket, by Emmy Payne, illustrated H.A. Rey. It is a tale about a poor kangaroo who lacked a pouch. Rey, the illustrator for this 1944 first edition, is most known for the inquisitive monkey he created, Curious George. A pouchless kangaroo would undoubtedly have made him wonder. Item 487. Priced at $850.
Item 40 is an alphabet book as well as a piece of railroad memorabilia. It is the Wabash Alphabet Primer, published in 1879 by the Wabash Railway. Always looking for new customers, the Wabash uses the letter "E" to encourage western settlement via the railroad: "E is for Emigrant, bound for the West / Where the destitute poor may find comfort and rest; / To the land of the prairie and cottonwood trees / the Wabash transports them with safety and ease." $475.
Item 101 transports us back to a simpler time, the "good old days," so to speak. It's called The Cotton Tots, who were a bunch of happy, black (naturally) cotton pickers, singing and playing in the fields as they picked cotton back in 1926. The "cotton tot" title is a play on "Hottentot," a name Europeans gave to a particular African tribe but that came to be commonly used for any African or black people, often in a derisive manner. What could be more fun than picking cotton in the hot summer southern sun? $450.
Item 261 is a story about a young boy's dream adventures by Ralph Bergengred, published in 1922. The title is David the Dreamer. It includes innovative illustrations from Tom Seidmann Freud. "Tom" was actually a woman, born Martha Gertrude. The use of the name "Tom" must have caused some interesting psychoanalysis by her uncle, Sigmund Freud. $900.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
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Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 156: Cornelis de Jode, Americae pars Borealis, double-page engraved map of North America, Antwerp, 1593.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 206: John and Alexander Walker, Map of the United States, London and Liverpool, 1827.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 223: Abraham Ortelius, Typus Orbis Terrarum, hand-colored double-page engraved world map, Antwerp, 1575.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 233: Aaron Arrowsmith, Chart of the World, oversize engraved map on 8 sheets, London, 1790 (circa 1800).
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 239: Fielding Lucas, A General Atlas, 81 engraved maps and diagrams, Baltimore, 1823.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 240: Anthony Finley, A New American Atlas, 15 maps engraved by james hamilton young on 14 double-page sheets, Philadelphia, 1826.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 263: John Bachmann, Panorama of the Seat of War, portfolio of 4 double-page chromolithographed panoramic maps, New York, 1861.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 265: Sebastian Münster, Cosmographei, Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1558.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 271: Abraham Ortelius, Epitome Theatri Orteliani, Antwerp: Johann Baptist Vrients, 1601.
Swann Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books December 9, 2025
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 283: Joris van Spilbergen, Speculum Orientalis Occidentalisque Indiae, Leiden: Nicolaus van Geelkercken for Jodocus Hondius, 1619.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 285: Levinus Hulsius, Achtzehender Theil der Newen Welt, 14 engraved folding maps, Frankfurt: Johann Frederick Weiss, 1623.
Swann, Dec. 9: Lot 341: John James Audubon, Carolina Parrot, Plate 26, London, 1827.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
