Search Results: Christmas from Classic Books and Ephemera

Philadelphia: Williams, Brown & Earle, 1938. Fine. 7.5 x 14.5 cm. metal desk calendar with individual leaves for Dec. 1938-Dec. 1939 printed in red and brown. Dec. 1938 has an illustration of a stagecoach and horses in a winter scene. The others each have the main month in the center with smaller versions of the previous and following months on either side. With the original envelope, which has a small Christmas illustration on the front in red and green. Williams, Brown & Earle was established in 1890 by Henry S. Williams, N. Howland Brown, & Morris Earle, specializing in math instruments; the next year they registered a patent for eyeglasses and by 1899 were advertising optical, photograhic and scientific instruments. In the early 20th century they sold a stereopticon, popularly known as a magic lantern, but by the 1930s they were focusing on strictly scientific instruments. Calendar is in Fine Condition: never used; clean and bright. Envelope is in Very Good- Condition: lightly soiled; small tear.

Toronto: Cape & Co, 1962. Paperback. Near Fine. [20] p.: illustrations; 24 cm. Green wrapper printed in red and white with French flaps; stapled. Contains lyrics to a wide selection of Christmas carols. Research and selection by John Cape with assistance of the Music Branch of the Toronto Public Libraries. Text, design, and illustration by Frank Davies. Contents: The Holly and the Ivy -- The Cherry Tree Carol -- The Boar's Head -- The Gloucestershire Wassail -- My Dancing Day -- In Those Twelve Days -- Jesus in Born -- Go Tell It on the Mountain -- Lord Jesus hath a Garden -- Es it ein' Ros' -- The Shepherds -- The Bagpipers' Song -- Fanne Coraige, le Diale a Mort -- Fum Fum Fum -- El Cant dels Aucels -- Le Carol des Oiseaux -- Saint Basil -- Kolyada. In Near Fine Condition: slightly rubbed at ends of spine; clean and bright.

New York: Dodge Publishing Company, 1909. Hardcover. Good -. Wain, Louis. [48] p.: 7 full-page color illustrations, many color illustrations with text; 25 cm. Grey paper over boards; black, green, and purple cover illustration of female cat with ball of yarn sitting next to kitten in a cradle. Grey fixed endpapers. No date of publication given; it was published in Britain by Blackie and Son in 1908. This is the first American edition with first verse being "Playtime in Pussy-town." Title vignette is a cat holding a sign reading "Christmas Carols." Most pages have one illustration with amusing verse, some have more than one illustration on a page. The center two pages, without verse, contain four illustrations set in a nickelodeon, showing what happens when an audience of cats sees a moving image of mice. The final 11 pages contain verses about Christmas, including Santa Claws and several about the traditional English pantomime. Gift inscription on front fixed endpaper… Read More

Syracuse, N.Y.: Willis N. Bugbee Co, 1936. Paperback. Very Good -. 19, [1] p.; 19 cm. Red paper covers printed in black. Verso of front cover, last page, and both sides of back cover contain publisher's advertisements. An amusing one-act play about a twenty-year-old whose family does not appreciate her and who decides to show them what Christmas would be like without her. In Very Good- Condition: upper corner of front cover creased; staples are rusting; pages are otherwise clean and bright.

San Francisco: Grace Hoper Press, 1976. Near Fine. 1 sheet (31 x 23 cm.), folded, printed in red and black. Undated, as was common on the Christmas greetings issued by bookseller Bill Wreden and his wife, Byra. One of a limited edition of 225 copies printed by the Grace Hoper Press. The Grace Hoper Press was founded in 1954 by Sherwood Grover and Katharine Grover, who had worked for the Grabhorn Press from 1934 to 1962. This Christmas greetings reprints Twelve True Old Golden Rules, Selected from various Authors, by J.R. Howe, printer in Spilsby. Scarce. In Near Fine Condition: corners lightly creased; clean and bright.

New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1885. Hard Cover. Good +. Lawson, Lizzie. Published by E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, and Griffith, Farran & Co., London. 31, [1] p.: frontispiece and 9 additional full-page chromolithographed illustrations; 23 cm. Green cloth spine with brown-and-white lithographed illustrations on green paper over boards. Floral endpapers. "Lithographed and printed by Ernest Nister of Nuremberg" -- from colophon. No date of publication. Title page and each page of text have small lithographed illustration. Inscription on front free endpaper verso: Margaretta R. Leeds, Christmas 1885. In Good+ Condition: cover is soiled and rubbed; corners of boards are rubbed, but spine is not frayed; front and back free endpapers are detaching; back hinge is weak; some soiling along margins of pages; otherwise pages and illustrations are clean and bright.

New York: Viking Press, 1982. Hardcover. Near Fine/good. xx, [2], 474 p.: illustrations; 24 cm. Red and white cover with red spine title. Illustrated dust jacket. Includes fiction, poetry, and autobiographical accounts relating to the celebration of Christmas. Arranged alphabetically, from Hans Christian Andersen to William Butler Yeats, with contributions by J. M. Barrie, Truman Capote, Willa Cather, E. E. Cummings, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ring Lardner, Phyllis McGinley, Gordon Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, and James Thurber, among many others. Book is in Near Fine Condition: lower edge of front cover slightly faded; clean and tight. Dust jacket is in Good Condition: chipping at ends of spine; edges rubbed; closed 1.5-cm. from upper edge of front section; closed 1-cm. tear from upper edge of back section; closed 2-cm. tear from lower edge of back section; rubbed;; clean and bright.

New York: Hearn, 1927. Paperback. Very Good. [20] p.: illustrations; 10 cm. Stapled; card cover printed with continuous color illustration. No date of publication, but it states that it was the 100th anniversary of its founding. George A. Hearn established his store in 1827; it moved to 14th St. in 1879. This pamphlet was an advertisement for Christmas shopping at Hearn's department store at 14th St. and Fifth Ave., New York. It includes a store directory and gift suggestions for every member of the family and every room in the house. In Very Good Condition: spine is rubbed; cover slightly soiled; staples are rusting; pages are clean and tight.

New York: F.M. Lupton Publishing Company, 1887. Paperback. Fair. [2], 64 p.: illustrations; 28 cm. Printed wrappers included in pagination. Contents: portraits of famous men and women; fancy work designs; games, including enigmas, riddles, conundrums, puzzles, rebuses, and charades; money-making secrets; lyrics to popular songs; selections for autograph albums; chemical experiments; popular recitations; and parlor games and lessons in magic. This is the Mammoth Christmas Budget and as such does not contain the usual novel or other work by a celebrated author. In Fair Condition: first 3 leaves and last leaf are detached but present; old repairs to some of the edges of the first leaf and last leaf have left the edges darkened; chipping to edges of first and last leaves, with loss of paper along edges of first leaf and along spine of last leaf; pages are clean but brittle.

Philadelphia: Franklin Printing Co, 1951. Hardcover. Near Fine/very good. [32] p.: color illustrations; 24 cm. White cover with cover title and illustration in red, green, and black. Illustrated endpapers. Original spider web patterned glassine dust jacket. A story from the author's Bred in the Bone, printed in a limited edition as a Christmas greeting from Franklin Printing Co. Designed and illustrated by Edward C. Smith. Two sisters belonging to the fictional New Improved Mennonites are given a baby at Christmas. Book is in Near Fine Condition: cover is very lightly soiled; slight discoloration along gutters of endpapers; otherwise, clean and bright. Glassine dust jacket is in Very Good Condition: minor chipping at edges; small loss along spine.

Valparaiso, Ind: Lowenstine's Department Store, 1890. Good. 15 x 18 embossed, die-cut advertisement from Lowenstine's Department Store in Valparaiso, Ind. The chromolithographed image shows two smiling children in lace and ribbons holding a book with "Merry Christmas" on the outside. In gilt on the blue dress "Compliments of Lowenstine's Department Store." Flowers along the lower edge. A former owner attached a small hook on the back with a Santa sticker so that the cheery image could be hung up. Lowenstine's Department Store was an important commercial location in Valparaiso, Ind., for over a century from its establishment by Jacob Lowenstine in 1885. Scarce. In Good Condition: loss along the upper edge (the top of one head) and at on lower corner; the flowers are scraped; clean and bright.

S.l.: s.n., 1890. Very Good. 1 chromolithographed illustration with "Merry Christmas" at the lower edge (11 x 9.2 cm.) and a ruffled pink silk border. Attached to a cardboard stand. The illustration is a rural scene showing person walking down a road under a full moon, a house with a lit window and a lake in the distance. No publication information. It is uncertain whether the illustration was sold attached to the pink ruffle and stand or whether a former owner created this as a Christmas present. In Very Good Condition: the silk border and the white edges of the illustration are slightly soiled.

Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, 1930. Hardcover. Very Good -. [52] p.; many illustrations, including 4 full-page color illustrations; 25 cm. Dark green cloth spine; paper over boards. Color illustrated front board; publisher's advertisements on back board printed in red and black. Part of the series Biblioteca para Niños. "Nihil obstat" June 15 1917 -- on front fixed endpaper. "Published in Spain" stamped at lower edge of title page. Title vignette. Includes fiction and poetry, including the Christmas story "El Niño que no Creia en Noel"; among the many illustrations is one of Santa Claus using a bicycle to deliver presents. In Very Good- Condition: cover is soiled; chip out of lower left-hand corner of paper over front board and right-hand edge of paper over back board, neither impacting illustration or text; very faint dampstain along lower edges and fore-edges of first few leaves, not touching text or illustrations; otherwise clean and tight.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1950. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good. [8], 242 p.; 20 cm. Illustrated paper over boards. Lacking dust jacket. Top page edges red. Stated First Edition. Former owner's name on front fixed endpaper: Helene R. Jennings. A novel about a Christmas miracle in a small village in France. In Very Good Condition: corners and ends of spine lightly rubbed; 1-cm. tear from tail of spine without loss; spine is somewhat sunned; front joint lightly stained; pages are clean and tight.

New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1883. Paperback. Good +. 268, [4] p.; 19 cm. Paperback with brown wrappers printed in black only. Inside of both wrappers contains list of titles in Funk & Wagnalls Standard Library, numbers 1-105. Outside back wrapper contains advertisements for Vitalized Phos-Phites, and Sohmer pianos, the latter with an illustration. Last 4 unpaginated pages contain publisher's advertisements. In Good+ Condition: lacking both corners of front wrapper and lower corner of back wrapper; old repair at head of spine; lacking wrapper at ends of spine; lower corner of front wraper creased; lower corner of first 2 leaves lacking, without loss of text; pages are clean and tight.

New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1951. Paperback. Very Good +. [28] p.: illustrations, music; 19 x 22 cm. Paperback with green-on-orange cover title and illustration; stapled. Full-page illustrations by Ben Shahn for each part of the Christmas carol usually known as The Twelve Days of Christmas, with one page of melody. In Very Good+ Condition: edges rubbed; clean and bright.

Westport, Conn: Avery, Hand & Co, 1966. Near Fine -. [4] p.; 22 cm. Red with black cover title. Holding facsimile (41 x 54 cm.), folded, of Thomas Nast's large illustration of Santa Claus and his activities. The illustration first appeared in Harper's Weekly in Dec. 1866. No date of publication, but refers to the publication of this illustration 100 years ago. Advertising agency Avery, Hand & Co., produced reproductions of historic documents and models of early mechanical inventions from around 1962 to 1972 or later. In Near Fine- Condition: light creasing at corners; clean and bright.

1905. Very Good. 3 cards and 2 booklets. Louise Bunte (1884-1961) married Cornelius Miedema (1879-1969) in or before 1908. The group consists of: 1) 1 Christmas card (10.5 x 8 cm.), folded and tied with a red ribbon. Printed in black with embossed illustration in silver and red. Inside is a printed 4-line verse, addressed to Miss Louise Bunte, 1905. 2) 1 Easter card (10 x 7 cm.), folded and tied with brown thread. The front has an embossed illustration in silver. Inside is a printed 4-line verse, inscribed to Louise from Cornelius, undated. 3) 1 New Year's card (11 x 6.5 cm.), folded. Embossed front illustration printed in gilt, purple, green, and black. Inside is a printed 6-line verse, inscribed to Cornelius from Louise, Jan. 1 1907. 4) 1 booklet. I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (no publication information). 12 p.: color illustrations; 14 cm. Card cover with gilt embossed cover title and embossed cover illustration. First page inscribed "A Merry Xmas to Cornelius from your loving wife Louise 1908."… Read More

Philadelphia: Strawbridge & Clothier, 1927. Pamphlet. Very Good -. [4] p.: illustration; 22 cm. Front has color illustration and decorative border. Program for a concert presented by the Strawbridge & Clothier chorus on Dec. 23, 1927, with a full orchestra; directed by Herbet J. Tilly and accompanied by William Sylvano Thunder. Isaac H. Clothier, Jr., was the reader. Includes the lyrics to six Christmas pieces, and names of soloists and tableaux characters. The Strawbridge & Clothier Chorus existed from 1909 to 1955. In Very Good- Condition: front is soiled; back is lightly soiled; internally clean and bright.

New York: McLoughlin Bros, 1899. Paperback. Good +. [14] p.: 6 full-page chromolithographed illustrations; 27 cm. Chromolithographed paper wrappers. Title and publication information from front wrapper. Text begins and ends inside wrappers, and those pages are included in page count. Gift inscription at head of first page of text dated Dec. 25, 1908. The story told in verse about 3 brothers--Frank Best, Harry Good, and Tommy Reckless--and how Santa and Frank teach Tommy "True penitence" for killing Frank's dog. McLoughlin issued this story at least three times with different illustrations. This edition has a copyright date on the front cover, but the illustrator is not identified. In Good+ Condition: front cover has vertical creasing; edges rubbed; covers slightly soiled; corners of front cover creased; just starting to separate at tail of spine; lower page corners lightly creased; occasional light soiling in lower margins; otherwise pages are clean and illustrations are… Read More