Collecting Childrens Picturebooks

Two rare illustrations featuring the adventures of A.A. Milne's much-loved creation, Winnie-the-Pooh by Ernest H. Shepard (1879 - 1976), are to go under the hammer at Bonhams in London later this month. 'Tigers don't like honey' and 'Pooh visiting in Owl's parlour' are expected to fetch between $40,000 - $60,000 each at Bonhams' Sale of Modern Pictures and Illustrations at Knightsbridge on 22 May 2007.
 

Lot 272: Tiggers don't like honey

Lot 273: Pooh visiting in Owl's parlour

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Posted by Stan Zielinski at 02:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Who's Who & What's What in the Books of Dr. Seuss

Compiled by Edward Connery Lathem

Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), internationally known by his pseudonym "Dr. Seuss," was a member of the Dartmouth Class of 1925. To commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of his graduation from the College, Dartmouth has published this finding-aid reflective of the contents of all of the Dr. Seuss volumes, from the first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937), through three posthumously issued works, ending with Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! (1998).

 

The full form of Who's Who & What's What in the Books of Dr. Seuss is available as a free download as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

November 2000

Dartmouth College Library

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Posted by Stan Zielinski at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The illustrated book Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans, first appeared in its entirely in the Sept. 4, 1939 issue of Life Magazine.  From the article:

Madeline is the story of an adorable pipsqeak.  It was written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans and will be published on Sept. 5 by Simon & Schuster ($2). Its author came to the U.S. in 1914 from the Austrian Tyrol. He became a citizen and enlisted in the War.  Later he related his experiences as a German-speaking U.S. soldier in a 1937 best-seller, My War with the United States.

In its origins, Madeline goes back to a summer's day in 1938 when Bemelmans was run down by the only automobile on the Ile  D'yeu off France.  In the hospital, he found himself neighbor to a young girl recuperating from an appendectomy. He was so impressed by the enjoyment the child derived from her operation that he decided to write a children's book in which the heroine should experience a similar adventure. In a fatherly way he wrote the book for his daughter, Barbara, age 3, who is as precocious and enchanting a youngster as Madeline.

This story of how Madeline became the envy of her eleven little Paris Playmates is told in part by Ludwig Bemelmans' drawings and rhymes on this page.  For the surprising reaction Madeline's friends had when they saw her appendicitis scar, see p. 9.

The Childrens Picturebook Price Guide estimates that a first edition Madeline has an estimated market value of $4,000 in VG+ condition (with dust jacket).  Obviously, the magazine's value would be far less, however does have collector appeal, especially since the appearance clearly pre-dated the publication of the book.

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Posted by Stan Zielinski at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marty Weil, of ephemera, posted an informative article on Linda and I at his blog.  The article can be read at Zielinski Article.

Would enjoy hearing comments or questions on the interview.

Regards, 

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Posted by Stan Zielinski at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those with interest in Dr. Seuss ephemera:

The Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego, is pleased to announce the publication of a new online exhibitions:

Dr. Seuss Went to War: A Catalog of Political Cartoons displays 388 political cartoons published by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) in the newspaper PM during the years 1941-43.  The cartoons include caricatures of most of the world's leaders at that time, and many of them were drawn to encourage support of the war and fundraising efforts such as the War Savings Bonds & Stamps program.  Richard Minear, author of Dr. Seuss Goes to War, which published 200 of the cartoons included in the exhibit, has written the introduction to the exhibition.  The cartoons are arranged chronologically and grouped by month.

Once you click past the entry page, click on the appropriate index at the top of the page to view the cartoons by

• Year/ Month
• Subject/People
• Subject/Countries
• Subject/War Domestic Issues
• Subject/Battles
  

I did not see a copy of This Is Ann, the malaria booklet Geisel did for the Army.  The booklet warns soldiers of the anopheles mosquito.  This is Ann pops up for auction on eBay several times a year, in hotly contested fashion.  I found five copies for sale on ABE, ranging in price from $450 to $1650.

 

 

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Posted by Stan Zielinski at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In 1938, the Horn Book Magazine published two issues which contained reviews or excerpts of Tolkien's The Hobbit. 

Vintage Horn Book Magazines have collectible value, due in part to the articles on children's books contained in each issue, which provide a 'when published' perspective on the respective authors, illustrators, and books, and also their use as a solid reference for the first issue price of a particular book.  With that said, since pricing ephemera is an esoteric science, we cannot even put forth a bad estimate.  Currently, neither of the two issues are available on any of the usual internet book market sources.  Anyone have a guess as to value?

The Horn Book Magazine, March - April, 1938

 

Page 69 - 3/4 page advertisement for The Hobbit

 

Page 94 - Short review & synopsis of book by Anne Eaton; states $2.50 price

 

 

Page 95 - Full page picture of "The Hill:  Hobbiton across the Water"

The Horn Book Magazine, May - June, 1938

Page 130, one paragraph, as follows:

The New York Herald Tribune's Prize and Honor Books.  For the Second Annual Children's Festival, the Herald Tribune judges - Mrs. Dwight Morrow, Miss Mabel Williams, Mr. Stephen Vincent Benet, Mr. Robert Lawson and Mrs. May Lamberton Becker, Editor of the Herald Tribune's page, "Books for Young People" - have awarded one prize of $250 to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit as the best book of the spring for younger children. 

Page 141, two paragraphs, beginning with:

The Hobbit is another book to add to this group, and we close this Spring Festival number with its opening pages.  Some children will read the book over and over, and some to whom it is read aloud will find it in their memories long hence. 

Page 174, two paragraph as follows:

Should any one be in doubt as to the looks and ways of dwarfs let him turn to The Hobbit (Houghton, $2.50), the book awarded a prize at the recent Spring Festival of Children's Books as the best book published for younger children in 1938. 

The Hobbit is good vacation reading for older children as well -- for any one with imagination and a zest for adventure.  A rich book, and a rare, and a book to share, is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, who sadly enough is a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, which means that he may never find to to write another children's book.

First edition copies of The Hobbit can see for near $100,000. For first edition points, see Bookride. 

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Posted by Stan Zielinski at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

I've documented 23 issues of Redbook Magazine from the 1950's which contain Dr. Seuss stories. Each of these were original stories (except Grinch?), not reprints like the Seuss stories in Children's Digest, and therefore likely have collectible value. At this time, these issues are relatively inexpensive to acquire.

No. Pgs  Date     Title
01   4    1950 - Jun    Gustav the Goldfish
02   3    1950 - Jul    If I Ran The Zoo
03   3    1950 - Aug    Tad and Todd
04   2    1950 - Sep    Marco Comes Late
05   3    1950 - Oct    How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town
06   3    1950 - Nov    Steak for Supper
07   2    1950 - Dec    The Big Brag
08   2    1951 - Jan    Horton and the Kwuggerbug
09   2    1951 - Feb    The Rabbit, the Bear and the Zinniga-Zanniga
10   2    1951 - Apr    Yertle
11   2    1951 - Jun    Bippolo Seed
12   2    1951 - Jul    Gertrude McFuzz
13   2    1951 - Sep    The Strange Shirt Spot
14   2    1951 - Nov    The Great Henry McBride
15   1    1953 - Jul    Sneetches
16   1    1953 - Aug    The Flustards
17   1    1954 - Jan    The Munkits
18   1    1954 - Mar    Zaks
19   1    1954 - Jul    The Ruckus
12   1    1955 - May    Hoobub and the Grinch
21   1    1956 - Feb    Did I Ever Tell You?
22   1    1956 - Dec    The Kindly Snather
23  12   1957 - Dec    How the Grinch Stole Christmas

regards,
Stan Zielinski
1stedition.net

Notes:

1. The July 1950 issue with If I Ran The Zoo pre-dates the publication of the book by several months. Notably, the book has text which differs from the original Redbook version.

2. The April 1951 issue with Yertle pre-dates the publication of the book by seven years. Yertle The Turtle (Random, 1958) also includes the Gertrude McFuzz story, which was published in the July 1951 Redbook, and The Big Brag, which was originally published in the December 1950 Redbook.

3. The December 1957 issue contains the complete story of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. This is odd, since the book was published that same season. I've researched whether Seuss's original intention was to publish Grinch in Redbook first (perhaps the quality of the story convinced Bennett Cerf to publish the book version?), and found the following:

From Ruth MacDonald's "Dr. Seuss", "At the same time he was working on The Cat In The Hat, Seuss was expected to produce an annual volume for Random House. One year, he found himself with a deadline but no book for the publisher's Christmas list. The Grinch and his story occurred fortuitously, and the story was written quickly, in a few weeks"

This is contrary to the account in the Morgan's biography "Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel", "In mid-May, Helen wrote Louise Bonino that the Grinch was in the mail, and that she expected it to be the second Dr.Seuss blockbuster of 1957.[...] The Grinch appeared in the fall of 1957 and was acclaimed from the start."

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Posted by Stan Zielinski at 07:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)