Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - October - 2009 Issue

Children's Books from Aleph-Bet Books

Buster Brown's toothy sidekick Tige.

Buster Brown's toothy sidekick Tige.


Edith Nesbit employed some similar imaginative drawings in her Voyage of Columbus Discovery of America, published in 1892. Rather than employing animals, she portrayed Columbus, his men, and the Indians who met them, as children. One can only wonder had her vision been true, would we have a more peaceable world or would America have devolved into the Lord of the Flies? Item 428. $1,500.

Do you remember who lived in Buster Brown's shoes, besides Buster himself? Here is his story. Buster Brown was one of the first comic strips, created by the originator of modern comic strips, Richard Outcault, also creator of the first strip, The Yellow Kid. Buster Brown had the appearance of a proper young man, dressed in his Little Lord Fautleroy outfit. Nevertheless, he was always getting into mischief, being punished, only to get into trouble again. Brown also had a unique cohort, a dog named "Tige," who spoke to him, but not to adults. It was a very popular strip, but faded out after a couple of decades. However, Buster Brown and Tige were adopted by the Brown Shoe Company as their symbol. The comic has been gone for almost a century, but Brown and Tige live on as the shoe brand's symbol. Item 441 is Outcault's Tige: His Story, published in 1905. $200.

Aleph-Bet Books may be reached at 914-764-7410 or Helen@alephbet.com. Their website is found at www.alephbet.com.

You will find many of Aleph-Bet's books listed in "Books For Sale" on this site. Click here.

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    Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
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    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
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