Collecting children’s books: it’s not just kid’s stuff anymore

Children’s books are books published for and marketed to children up to the age of 12-years-old. The field includes literature, instructional texts, both religious and schoolbooks, and picture books.
That’s a broad field, so it’s hard to say where the history of children’s books begins. But using our definition, most collectors agree that the first book specifically produced for children was Orbus Pictus, a 1658 picture book by Jan Amos Komensky.
Following that we have the 1690 New England Primer, the seminal American schoolbook. The Little Pretty Book by John Newberry, published in 1744 is the first book specifically marketed to children. Copies for boys were accompanied by a ball; girls got pincushions. (And you thought girls wanted to have fun.)
It was the French author, Charles Perault (1628-1703), who gave us the “Fairy Tale,“ including “Little Red Riding Hood,” Sleeping Beauty,” “Puss ‘n’ Boots,” and Cinderella. Those Grimm boys, Wilhelm and Jacob, wouldn’t come up with their Household Tales collection until 1812.
Whenever it all started, however, collectors agree that the golden age of the children’s book is from 1863 to 1963. The fun begins with Charles Kingsley’s Water Babies (1863) and continues to Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963).
In between, we get some of the most marvelous works of imagination ever produced. Here’s just a small sample: Horatio Alger begins inspiring boys with Ragged Dick (1868). There’s Oscar Wilde’s collection, The Happy Prince, (1888), and all those Rudyard Kipling books—The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and Just So Stories (1902).
Beatrix Potter invents Peter Rabbit in 1902, and Johnny Gruelle makes his first Raggedy Ann doll to accompany his stories in 1915. And everyone wanted their child to dream like The Little Prince, by author and aviator, Antoine de Saint Exupery (1900-1944).
There’s also Kate Greenaway, Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl, Judy Blume and Lemony Snicket. And don’t forget Tom Swift, Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, and the Hardy Boys. They were all the invention of Edward Stratemeyer, and written according to his instructions by a whole stable of hard-working writers.
It was a writers’ and artists’ guild that came up with the idea for The Little Golden Books series, and sold it to Simon and Shuster. Over 2 billion books later, it’s still quite a phenomenon. The first dozen books appeared, at 25 cents each, on September 19, 1942, not in bookstores, but in the toy department of department stores.
Some children’s books collectors also consider works not originally published for children, but given to children to read by adults. These include such titles as Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, Thomas Mallory’s Mort d’Arthur, about the Knights of the Roundtable, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, and others.
Unlike adult literature, fewer copies were printed of children’s books. And because they were handled by children, many books wound up in very poor condition. So, any old children’s book in good condition is a great find.
Appraisals: Little Golden Books: Little Black Sambo (1948), $150; Topsy Turvy Circus (1953), $30; This Little Piggy (1942), $50; Little Golden ABC (#101), $80. Also: Rhymes for Kindly Children, Johnny Gruelle (1930s ed.), $250; Little Ann and Other Poems, Kate Greenaway (1883), $150; Pewee Pug, Ernest Arles (1915), $125.
And for some special finds, we have: Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne (1926, limited first edition, signed), $19,000; The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss (1st ed., 1957) original dust jacket, $14,000; Eloise, Kay Thompson, illustrated by Hillary Knight (1st ed., 1955), $6,000; The Adventures of Mickey Mouse (1st ed., 1931), $1,600. Treasure Island, Robert Lewis Stevenson (1st ed., 1883, cloth), $26,000.
For more information on children’s books visit the website of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (www.abaa.org); www.oldkidsbooks.com; or www.goldenbook.com.
Thanks! It was 23 years ago this week that this column first appeared in the Herald. My heartfelt gratitude for that milestone goes out to all you good and faithful readers. Antiques, however, provide endless subject matter, and so far we’ve barely made a dent in the pile. So next week we start the next 23 years.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments or appraisal request to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.