Orrin Schwab Books

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List of Scarce and Rare Children's Books

Last Updated December 28, 2009


1. Biggers, Earl Derr. INSPECTOR CHARLIE CHAN SOLVES A NEW MYSTERY. Racine, WI, Whitman Publishing Co.: 1940. 424 pages. Some shelf wear to binding and rubbing to spine and corners. Corners slightly bumped. Corners are slightly bumped. $115.00

2. Brill, George Reiter. RHYMES OF THE GOLDEN AGE. Illustrated by George Reiter Brill. Philadelphia, Edward Stern & Company: 1908. . 123 pages. Shelf wear and rubbing to spine edges and corners. A clean and tight copy. Original verse and beautiful color illustrations throughout by noted illustrator George Reiter Brill. Very scarce title. $100.00

3. Brown, Abbie Farwell. SONGS OF SIXPENCE. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin: 1914. . Shelf wear, else near VG in dust jacket with small chips to edges. D.j. also has soiling and a small round chip missing on the front panel. Scarce dust jacket. $55.00

4. Byington, Eloise. MOTHER GOOSE FUN. MORE STORIES IN RHYME. Illustrated by Kathllen Stowell Frantz. Chicago, Albert Whitman & Company: 1931. 128 pages. Shelf wear to binding and rubbing to spine and corners. Some soiling to edges of covers. Pictorial color illustration on the front cover. Nicely illustrated in color throughout. A scarce Mother Goose title. $45.00

5. Cardell, William S. THE BOY OF PRINCIPLE, THE MAN OF HONOR: OR, THE STORY OF JACK HALYARD. Philadelphia, Uriah Hunt & Son: 1854. Shelf wear to spine & edges, with small chips & tears at spine. Some fading to spine. Corners slightly bumped. Former Sunday School label inside front cover. Small label remnant on spine. $40.00

6. David McKay Company. ROBIN HOOD. Illustrated by N.C. Wyeth. Philadelphia, David Mckay: 1917. 362 pages. Title page states 1917 at the bottom. In rare dust jacket. Book has shelf wear to spine edges. Slight fading to the gold on the spine title. The dust jacket has tears to the edges and chips missing from the top of the spine and the back panel. D.j. is also soiled on the white portions of the panels and spine. Nice d..j illustration Robin Hood and his merry men in Sherwood Forest. $250.00

7. Deming, Edwin Willard & Therese O. Deming. LITTLE INDIAN FOLK. New York, Frederick A. Stokes: 1899. . Oblong illustrated paper-over-boards on front and back covers.. Red cloth spine. Shelf wear to spine edges, corners and edges of boards. Some rubbing to covers. A few small soiled spots to cover. Binding is tight, hinges are sound and pages are clean and free from tears or marks. A very nice copy of a scarce book. With 9 full-page color illustrations and numerous other smaller black-and white illustrations by noted Native American artist E.W. Deming. $150.00

8. Disney, Walt. MICKEY MOUSE, RUNS HIS OWN NEWSPAPER. Racine, WI, Whitman Publishing: 1937. 292 pages. Shelf wear to binding and rubbing to spine and corners. Slight soiling to the covers. Binding is a bit cocked. Hinges and text block are clean and tight. A solid copy of a scarce Big Little book. $75.00

9. Foote, Mary Hallcock. THE LITTLE FIG-TREE STORIES. New York, Houghton, Mifflin: 1899. . Wear to spine and extremities. Some fading to binding. Corners rubbed through. Some soiling to covers. Binding tight. $14.00

10. Hare, Anne. THE WOLLOPORS' FIELD DAY. Illustrated by Harry L. Miller. Chicago, Saalfield: 1910. Some wear and rubbing to spine and corners. Small tear to paper near bottom of spine. Some soiling to covers. Scarce title. $30.00

11. Hathaway, Cynthia. THE PRETEND PUPPY. Illustrated by Romney Gay. New York, Garden City Publishing: 1940. . Spine and edges shelf-worn, with some fraying to edges. Some soiling to binding. Pictorial paper over boards binding. $9.00

12. Hofland, Mrs. THE AFFECTIONATE BROTHERS. A TALE. Boston, Munroe and Francis: 1831. Red leather spine with marbled paper over board covers. Wear and rubbing to board edges and spine extremities. Slight darkening and a few scuffs to leather. A tight, clean copy. The authoress was a prolific English writer, mostly of didactic children's stories. This particular title is quite didactic and children were sure to get the point quickly. $55.00

13. Hornibrook, Isabel. GIRLS OF THE MORNING-GLORY CAMP FIRE. Boston, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard: 1916. . Some shelf wear. Corners slightly bumped. Scarce. A nice pictorial cover. $45.00

14. Jay, B.F. UNCLE BEN JAY'S JUMBLE-JUNGLE: OVER 300,000 COMPOSITE ANIMALS AND JUMBLED JINGLES. New York, B.F. Jay: 1942. This copy has been tape repaired with clear strapping tape on the inner hinges front and back. The spiral wire was broken in one place and it has been glued and taped into position. Tape marks and scars across the edges of the boards near the spine. Shelf wear to the board edges and the corners. Contents complete. Still a very nice item with all movable page sections. A delightful book. Sold as is. $95.00

15. Johnson, Burges. PLEASANT TRAGEDIES OF CHILDHOOD. Illustrated by F.Y. Cory. New York, Harper & Brothers: 1905. . Some shelf wear. Corners bumped. Some soiling to binding. Scarce. A whimsical children's book. $25.00

16. Knapp, George L.. THE QUEST OF THE GOLDEN CITIES. New York, Dodd, Mead: 1924. Signed by the author. Slight shelf wear and a couple of faded spots to front covers. The dust jacket has some soiling and chips and tears around the edges. $25.00

17. Leydenfrost, Robert. THE SNAKE THAT SNEEZED. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons: 1970. . Ex-library binding with library stamps and pockets inside covers. Some wear and slight fraying to spine edges. Corners are bumped. Binding is tight and pages are clean. Very scarce title. $95.00

18. McCloskey, Robert. TIME OF WONDER. Illustrated by the author. Signed by the author. New York, Viking: 1957. This copy is signed by the author on the title page. Shelf wear and some discoloration to the edges of the binding. The top right front corner is bumped. The dust jacket has some older Scotch tape repairs along the top and bottom panels, and some on the spine. There are a few chips missing from the jacket edges, and a skinny length of jacket missing (about 5" long by 1/2" to 1" wide) and a few closed tears. Jacket is also worn at the folds. The Caldecott medal is on the front cover. Rare signed first edition. A wonderful children's book. $450.00

19. McLoughlin Brothers. LIFE AND DEATH OF RICH MRS. DUCK. Dame Dingle Series #51. New York, Mcloughlin Brothers: ca. 1910's. Softbound covers. Some soiling to covers. Archival clear tape repair to a few tears to paper and inside front hinge. Some fingerprint smudges to page edges here and there. A few pencil notations on back cover. This is #51 in the publisher's Dame Dingle Series. $25.00

20. Preston, Chloe. FIVE BAD CHUNKIES. Springfield, Mass, Mcloughlin Brothers: 1929. . Shelf wear to binding and rubbing to spine and corners. Some soiling to covers. The paper spine is about half-way gone. Contents are complete. Front hinge about half-way torn, corners rubbed. Illustrated nicely. Scarce. $65.00

21. Price, Christine. TALKING DRUMS OF AFRICA. Illustrated by the author. New York, Atheneum: 1973. . 48 pages. First edition in dust jacket. The book and jacket have slight shelf wear to the edges. There are a couple of small chips to the edge of the dust jacket. Overall a beautiful copy of this important children's book. $125.00

22. Rae, John. WHY. REFLECTIONS FOR CHILDREN. Verse and pictures by John Rae. New York, Dodd, Mead: 1910. . Binding shows wear to spine & corners. Some scuffing to covers. Complete with original mirror in front pocket inside front cover. A delightful and quite rare children's book. The text is written in the form of a question on one page and the answer written in mirror-image on the opposite page. The mirror is then held up to the backwards print and the answer can be deciphered. This book is complete. A few pages have fingerprint smudges and some soiling. The instructions on the back of the mirror state "The reversed pages in this book can be read by reflecting them in the mirror which can be removed by pressing the finger through the question mark in the front of the cover. $250.00

23. Randolph, Althea. A BOUQUET OF RHYMES FOR CHILDREN: VERSES BY RANDOLPH. Illustrated by Isabel Whitney. New York, Bonnell Silver & Company: 1909. . Large pictorial binding. Wear to spine and board edges. Some soiling to binding and discoloration. Binding is tight and contents complete. With beautiful full-page illustrations in color. A wonderful children's book. $75.00

24. Rue, Flora C. THE COCOA DANCER. Illustrated by Gladys Rourke Blackwood. Chicago, Albert Whitman & Co. : 1945. Spine and edges shelf-worn, with some fraying to edges. Corners rubbed. Some scuffing to binding. One page has quite a bit of tape repair with Scotch tape.. Crayon scribbles to back endpages, but not affecting the text. Scarce children's book. $55.00

25. Schwarz, Sylvia W. A WINDOW BOX OF VERSE. Illustrated by Kurt Wiese. New York, Samuel Gabriel & Company: 1930. . Some wear to spine and corners, else near VG. Slight soiling to covers. $35.00

26. Segar, E. C. POPEYE'S ARK. ADAPTED FROM THE FAMOUS NEWSPAPER COMIC SERIES. New York, Saalfield: 1936. Shelf wear to binding and rubbing to spine and corners. Spine is missing. Covers are loosening a bit, but still firmly attached. Some soiled spots. A very scarce book. Written with a utopian theme using Popeye as a Biblical Noah character. Rare, condition noted. $100.00

27. Skinner, Eleanor L, and Ada M. Skinner. CHILDREN'S PLAYS. New York, D. Appleton: 1918. Some shelf wear. Corners bumped. Front hinge cracked. Back hinge is starting to crack. Binding is tight. $35.00

28. Swett, John-et al. BANCROFT'S THIRD READER. San Francisco, A. L. Bancroft: 1883. Heavy shelf wear to spine and covers, with fraying & chipping. Cover soiled. Some smudged fingerprints and stains inside to pages. Binding sound. $75.00

29. Zechlin, Ruth. BED-TIME FUN FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. New York, Loring & Mussey: 1934. Wear and rubbing to spine and corners, else Good+. Dust jacket has chipping and wear to edges, with several large chips missing. $15.00

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