Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - May - 2015 Issue

Children's Books from Peter Harrington

Children's Books from Peter Harrington.

Children's Books from Peter Harrington.

Peter Harrington has issued a new catalogue of 300 Children's Books. While Harrington usually focuses on more serious material, this selection is nothing but fun. It is filled with books from the names we all know – Seuss, Disney, Baum, Sendak, Milne and more, as well as names not as familiar, though their titles may still be. And with that, knowing that kids can't sit still for long, we will get right to a few of the books being offered.

 

We start with the story of a bull who will never qualify to be one of the brave bulls. Ferdinand was a lover, not a fighter. He had no desire to gore or be gored. Munro Leaf's classic is a wonderful children's tale, but with a message equally powerful for adults. I take that back – more important for adults. It was published during the build up to the Spanish Civil War, and many saw it as a pacifist morality play. Hitler ordered the book burned, but Gandhi described it as his favorite. All poor Ferdinand wanted to do was smell the flowers. Item 167 is a 1936 first edition of The Story of Ferdinand. Priced at $11,500.

 

Next we turn to a lovely young lady who never worried too much about weighty issues like war and peace, but she became the model for several generations of girls. Born in 1959, though she was already a teenager when she was born, Barbie came at the dawn of an era when one might think she would quickly become irrelevant. The world was about to turn upside down, a new generation deeply into civil rights, alternative lifestyles, explosive changes in music and culture, and against war. The 50's-era Barbie would seem so out of place, and yet she thrived in this alien environment, and for decades later. She stayed pure and wholesome no matter what happened in the world around her. Barbie was introduced to us as something more than just a doll through three books, released simultaneously in 1962. Item 13 is one of them: Here's Barbie, by Cynthia Lawrence and Betty Lou Maybee. It is subheaded Stories about the fabulous Barbie and her boyfriend Ken. Forty-something years later, Barbie and Ken split up, but they may be back together again – I've lost track. Harrington describes this as a “stunning copy,” signed by co-author Maybee. $735.

 

H. A. and Margaret Rey are remembered almost entirely for the monkey they created – Curious George. H. A. did the illustrations while his wife Margaret supplied much of the text. However, the Reys wrote several stories outside of the Curious George series. Item 229 is one of them: Pretzel and the Puppies, published in 1946. Pretzel is a dachshund, but not any dachshund. Pretzel is the longest of his already long species in the world. His extraordinary length turns off his love interest for awhile, but when he uses it to save her from a well, she comes around to seeing things his way. This copy is inscribed by the authors, who have added an original drawing of Pretzel to the front pastedown. The image you see on the cover of this catalogue is of Pretzel, though the signs have been adjusted to show the catalogue's title and bookseller's name. $2,550.

 

Next up is a very rare Wizard of Oz book, The Wizard of Oz Waddle Book. While based on L. Frank Baum's book, the author had little to do with it, both because it is focused on using W. W. Denslow's illustrations, and Baum had been dead for 15 years when it was published in 1934. A waddle book is one that contains cut out figures which, when assembled and placed on a base, waddle down a sloped surface. This one has cut outs for Dorothy, the Wizard, Toto, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion. The sloped surface depicts the yellow brick road. When the figures are assembled and placed at the top, they waddle down the slope. This is an extremely rare copy in that it has all of the characters still intact within the book. Item 19. $20,000.

 

Item 96 is a Dutch tale: Hans Brinker; or, The Silver Skates. A Story of Life in Holland. It wasn't really a Dutch story, its author, Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge, being an American who had never been to the Netherlands prior to the book's publication. Nonetheless, it gave many young Americans their greatest impressions of Holland. The story is about Hans Brinker, who with his sister, wants to compete in a speed skating competition to win a pair of silver skates. They are too poor to buy them. A series of amazingly lucky breaks through the story converts their miserable luck to good, the sister wins the race, Hans deliberately throws the boys' race so another can win, but the family regains its health and wealth and everyone gets to live happily ever after. In a side story, Dodge tells Americans the tale of the little Dutch boy who places his finger in the dyke and saves the town. This is a first edition, published in 1866. $4,250.

 

Peter Harrington may be reached at +44 00 7591 0220 or the specialist for this catalogue may be contacted at holly@peterharrington.co.uk. Their website is www.peterharringtonbooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 962. Baird. United States Exploring Expedition. Philadelphia 1858.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 772. Edith Holland Norton. Brazilian Flowers. Coombe Croft 1893.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg 1536.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 8. Augustinus. De moribus ecclesie. Cologne 1480.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 17. Heures a lusaige de Noyon. Paris 1504.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 13. Schedel. Buch der Chronicken. Nürnberg 1493.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 957. Donovan. Insects of China. London 1798.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 123. A holy martyr. Tuscany, Florence, mid-14th century.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 438. Dante. La Divine Comédie. Paris 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 602. Firdausi. Histoire de Minoutchehr. Paris 1919
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 994. Westwood. Oriental Entomology. London 1848.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale
    April 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) & Egan (Felim) artist. Squarings, Twelve Poems, D. (Hieroglyph Editions Ltd.) 1991. €1,750 to €2,250.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.

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