Lewis Carroll’s beloved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first issued by his London publisher, Macmillan, in July 1865. Before Alice Carroll had published a number of mathematical works under his true name, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He adopted his famous pseudonym in 1856 for the many poems, short prose, and even puzzles which he submitted to …
Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick is a masterpiece of American literature which has significantly influenced many modern authors. Sometimes those authors use the novel as inspiration in surprising ways! Here are a few recent additions to Special Collections’ Herman Melville collection. Click on the cover images for full title and author information. Moby-Dick, the children’s board …
We’ve featured some of Special Collections’ memorabilia from Queen Victoria’s 1838 coronation previously on this website, but we’ve recently acquired some spectacular items and want to share! Our first featured item is Peter Parley’s visit to London, during the coronation of Queen Victoria is an 1839 children’s book recounting the coronation as well as the …
“Alfred Crowquill” was the pseudonym of Victorian artist Alfred Henry Forrester. Early in his career, he shared the pseudonym with his older brother Charles, who collaborated with Alfred by writing text to accompany Alfred’s illustrations. The library’s current exhibit, Victorian Illustrators from Sketch to Print features the original manuscript of one of their collaborations, The …
This post will be the first in a series about the work of some of the artists featured in the current level 1 exhibit, Victorian Illustrators: from Sketch to Print. Today’s post highlights the two women illustrators from the exhibit. The first, Kate Greenaway, is one of the most famous illustrators of 19th century children’s …
Four hundred years ago, on June 29, 1613, London’s Globe Theatre burned down. The theater was built by William Shakespeare’s acting company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. One of our favorite depictions of the Globe Theatre is Gregory Rogers’ award-winning picture book, The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard (2004). In it, a young boy …
This week, Special Collections is featuring a small exhibit of movable books to coincide with the visit of pop-up book artist Robert Sabuda. Come see movable children’s books from the 1850’s alongside some of Sabuda’s fantastic creations!
Children learning to read are often given ABC picture books to introduce them to the alphabet — perhaps you had a favorite when you were young. The standard form for today’s alphabet book originates in the 19th century. Early in the century, children often learned their letters using short primers, which listed the alphabet, common …
A recent addition to the Edwardian literature collection is a copy of Beatrix Potter’s “The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit” (1906). This little book is one of two Potter tales originally published in a concertina, or accordion, format. Special Collections has a nearly-complete set of first editions of Potter’s 23 tales, as well as …
Before Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, there was a market for books as gifts during the Christmas season, but for the most part, these books were not Christmas themed at all. The success of A Christmas Carol led English publishers to issue Christmas titles in a similar format: short, heavily-illustrated tales priced at 5-6 shillings. Eventually …