I haven’t posted for a long time, but I had to share this. It is from the funniest book I’ve read in a long time: A Bad Boy’s First Reader written by Frank Bellew and published in New York by G.W. Carleton & Co. in 1881. I got it from a archive of 6,000 historical children’s books digitized and posted online by the University of Florida’s Baldwin Library, which I discovered at Open Culture. Check it out, it’s wonderful!
Filed under Books, History of Books & Libraries, Humour, Wisdom
Recent productions like a bloody staging of Titus at The Globe in 2014 are restoring the gore in Shakespeare’s work, and The Complete Deaths will leave audiences with little doubt that Shakespeare’s culture was as permeated with representations of violence as our own—and it was as much, if not more so, plagued by the real thing.
Originally published in 1952 and still a well-read classic, Charlotte’s Web‘s greatness is shared by author E.B. White and illustrator Garth Williams.
Garth Williams
“There’s no doubt that Williams left an indelible mark through his work. As his friend and attorney Richard M. Ticktin says, “We continue to get letters addressed to Garth from fourth graders, wondering how it is he was able to draw these animals and people so perfectly that he instilled in these kids a love of nature.”
Unlocking Original Illustrations from Charlotte’s Web
Williams kept all his original illustrations once they were returned to him from the publisher. His family continued to protect them, locking them away in a bank vault.
“On Oct 15, [2010]42 of the original Garth Williams illustrations for Charlotte’s Web were put up at a New York auction. All of them were sold off fetching a combined total of $780,245.”
Original Illustrations of Charlotte’s Web
Garth Montgomery Williams
(American, 1912-1996)
Charlotte’s Web, book cover, 1952
Graphite and ink on paper
14 x 11 in.
Signed lower right
The son of artists and raised on a farm in New Jersey, Williams tried architecture first then switched to painting and sculpture. In 1945, E.B. White’s Stuart Little launched his successful career in illustration.
“He believed that books ‘given, or read, to children can have a profound influence.” For that reason, he said, he used his illustrations to try to “awaken something of importance . . . humor, responsibility, respect for others, interest in the world at large.'”
Garth Williams, Book Illustrator, Dies at 84
“Please don’t kill it” (Pg. 2)
“‘Where’s Papa going with that Ax?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast…’One of the pigs is a runt…so your father has decided to do away with it’ said her mother…Fern pushed her chair out of the way and ran outdoors. ‘Please don’t kill it!’ she sobbed.”
‘Give him breakfast’ (Pg. 6)
“But Fern couldn’t eat until her pig had a drink of mink. Mrs. Arable found a baby’s nursing bottle and a rubber nipple. She poured warm milk into the bottle, fitted the nipple over the top, and handed it to Fern.”
See more at BibliOdyssey
Image shared from the British Library’s Flickr photostream in the Children’s Book Illustration set.
The poem is a screen shot from the downloaded PDF of the entire book shared by the British Library.
“We have released over a million images onto Flickr Commons for anyone to use, remix and repurpose. These images were taken from the pages of 17th, 18th and 19th century books digitised by Microsoft who then generously gifted the scanned images to us, allowing us to release them back into the Public Domain. The images themselves cover a startling mix of subjects: There are maps, geological diagrams, beautiful illustrations, comical satire, illuminated and decorative letters, colourful illustrations, landscapes, wall-paintings and so much more that even we are not aware of.” British Library Digital Scholarship Blog: A Million First Steps
Via: TYWKIWDBI
![Image taken from page 129 of 'Songs for Little People. [With illustrations by H. Stratton.]'](https://schoollibrarybeyondsurvival.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/11142227515_a594108e92_b.jpg)
Image taken from page 129 of ‘Songs for Little People. [With illustrations by H. Stratton.]’
“Book readers know the tiresomeness of holding books in the best position for comfortable reading […] The Reading Stand holds the open dictionary by your side, only a turn of the head being required to consult it, while the book you are reading is held open before you.” Internet Archive
Via: EBook Friendly where there are 5 more “…Fascinating Book Machines Before the Kindle”
Filed under History of Books & Libraries, Reading, Technology
According to The Public Domain Review, Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum’s 1902 The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, “with its elaborations and much added detail went a long way to popularising the legend of Santa”. You can read the entire book online and in various other formats including ePUB and Kindle at Project Gutenberg.
First Edition 1902
Multiple editions on Goodreads.
The Public Domain Review: A Pictorial History of Santa Claus.
Filed under History of Books & Libraries
Admont Abbey Monastery Library
Photos by Jorge Royan via Twisted Sifter, where there is a beautiful gallery with descriptions.
“Admont Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located on the Enns River in the town of Admont, Austria. It is the oldest remaining monastery in Styria and contains the largest monastic library in the world. The abbey is known for its Baroque architecture, art, and manuscripts. [Wikipedia]”
Filed under Art & Design, History of Books & Libraries
Free Vintage Posters (Click)
“The CBW [Council on Books and Wartime] provided stories that were approved by the army for soldiers to read during service. This publishing movement resulted in the paperback boom during the war. Armed Service Editions, which are smaller and portable books, were popularized and easier for soldiers to take into battle.” Rosa Johnson ‘The Effect of Literature in the WWII Trenches” Linfield Review
“But what did the ordinary soldiers of World War I read on a daily basis during life in the trenches? Reading material was in heavy demand from the men living in cramped conditions in a war that was static for long periods of time.
Perhaps the safest answer is anything they could get their hands on. Most soldiers travelled light to the front and then craved books and magazines once they were embroiled in the stalemate. They would read anything that could take their thoughts off the mud, the rats, the shelling, the smell, the snipers and the prospect of going over the top and charging machine gun emplacements.” Abe Books “Trench Literature – Reading in World War I” by Richard Davies, Udo Goellmann & Sara Melendre
Cornell University 2010
“This is a book about war but it is also a book about the diplomacy of books. As an international and comparative history of wartime publishing, it presents deeply contextualized accounts, offering multiple contemporary perspectives, a true mark of scholarship that constructs the book trade as an international phenomenon. It will for sure make its mark in many fields, but it is deeply embedded in our own.” 2010 George A. and Jean S. DeLong Book History Book Prize from the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP). (Source) (Book Website)
Filed under History of Books & Libraries, Reading
“Superintendent of lumber operations for the Anaconda Co. in Bonner from 1902 to 1925, Ross said he was annoyed in 1917 when two Missoula librarians approached him about bringing books to the lumber camps in the Ninemile Valley. One was Ruth Worden, youngest daughter of Missoula co-founder Francis Worden, who was the Missoula County librarian at the time…He was just being nice when he said OK, Ross let on later.” Boxcar Library that served lumberjacks on display at Fort Missoula museum
Filed under History of Books & Libraries
Beyond Survival in a School Library 