Facsimile Reprints of Early English Illustrated Books for Children from The Osborne Collection. Toronto Public Library (33 volumes in 25 slipcases)

Japan: Holp Shuppan, 1979. Japanese Edition. The volumes are of varying sizes and bindings. In tan thin card slipcases printed with the titles and decorative borders. Several of the slipcases have minor soiling and nearly half of the slipcases have come unglued along some of the edges. May require extra postage due to number of volumes.

Contents:

Orbis Sensualium Pictus / Visible World (Johann A. Comenius); Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book (Christina G. Rossetti); Hop-O' My- Thumb and the Seven-League Boots (George Cruikshank); The New Game of the Mansion of Bliss: In Verse (T. Newton); The Gallant History of Bevis of Southampton and two other stories; The Alphabet of Old Friends / Puss in Boots (Walter Crane); The Birth-Day Gift or the Joy of a New Doll from Papers cut by Elizabeth Upton; The Ocean and Its Inhabitants with their Uses to Man; A Visit to The Bazaar; Goody Two-Shoes; The Traditional Faery Tales (Felix Summerly); The Butterfly's Ball (William Roscoe) / The Peacock "At Home" (Mrs. Dorset); The Death and Burial of Cock Robin / The Moving Adventures of Old Dame Trot and Her Comical Cat; A New Years Gift for Little Masters & Misses (Thomas Bewick); Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties; The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls; The Dog's Dinner Party; Diamonds and Toads and two other stories; The Diverting History of John Gilpin / The Babes in the Wood (Randolph Caldecott); The Baby's Own Aesop (Walter Crane); Cinderella with Five Set Scenes and Nine Trick Chanes; A Book of Nonsense (Edward Lear) Under the Window (Kate Greenaway); Kate Greenaway's Calendar for 1884. With the publisher's descriptive companion book (text primarily in Japanese, but also in English). ***Missing The Nursery Alice, Jack and Jill and Old Dame Gill, Scripture Histories, A Mournful Ditty of the Death of Fair Rosamond, In Fairy Land, The Sweet and Pleasant History of Patient Grissel, and The New Picture Book. The Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books is a research collection of rare and important children's books. In 1949, Derbyshire county librarian Edgar Osborne donated his collection of early children's books to the Toronto Public Library. The collection has continued to be developed and has become a pivotal resource for scholars in the field. Shortly before Osborne's death in 1978, he consented to have 35 books from his collection reproduced in facsimile. The books which he chose were meant to reveal the progression of the illustrated children's book in English. They include some of the most renowned authors, illustrators, and printers in the history of children's books. (Information from The New York Times, November 14, 1982).

An absolutely charming set.