Orrin Schwab Books

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List of Scarce and Rare Children's Books

Last Updated July 22, 2010


1. Alger, Horatio. ROUGH AND READY: OR, LIFE AMONG THE NEW YORK NEWSBOYS. Philadelphia, John C. Winston Company: 1897. 300 pages. Green illustrated cloth covers with spine title in gold. There is shelf wear to the spine edges and corners. The front end has been repaired with archival glue. Be clean and tight copy. Above average condition for this early Horatio Alger title. $28.00

2. Alger, Horatio. SLOW AND SURE: FROM THE STREET TO THE SHOP. Philadelphia, Porter & Coates: 1872. 280 pages. Brown pattern-stamped cloth covers with gold decorated spine. There is slight shelf wear only to the spine edges and corners. The pages are browned a bit at the edges. The hinges are sound, with only a hint of cracking. Overall a near very good condition copy of this early Horatio Alger title. The verso of the title page has 1872 as the printing date. $70.00

3. Bacon, Peggy. THE GOOD AMERICAN WITCH. New York, Franklin Watts: 1957. 1st Edition. 222 pages. First printing. Shelf wear to spine edges and corners. Dust jacket has small tears and chips to the edges. This is a very scarce dust jacket. $100.00

4. 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

5. 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. $125.00

6. 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. $40.00

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Deming, Edwin Willard & Therese O. Deming. LITTLE INDIAN FOLK. New York, Frederick A. Stokes: 1899. 1st Edition. 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. 10056add. $150.00

11. 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

12. Donaldson, Lois. KARL'S WOODEN HORSE. Illustrated by Annie Bergmann. Chicago, Laidlaw Brothers: 1931. Original blue cloth covers show shelf wear to the spine edges and corners. Corners are rubbed. There is a color illustration on the front cover. The cover has some soiling and smudges. Binding is tight and the pages are clean. Scarce title. Beautifully illustrated in color by Annie Bergmann. $85.00

13. Evans, C.S. (Illustrated by Rackham, Arthur). THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. Philadelphia & London, J.B. Lippincott and William Heinemann: 1920. 110 pages. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Heavy shelf wear to the spine and corners, with corners rubbed through and some of the cardboard missing on the corners. Spine is faded a bit and there are some scuffs and soiled spots on the binding. The binding is tight and the contents are complete. Beautiful silhouette illustrations throughout the book by Arthur Rackham. There is also a color tipped-in frontispiece. $90.00

14. 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. $12.50

15. Fryer, Jane Eayre. THE MARY FRANCES FIRST AID BOOK. With Ready Reference List of Ordinary Accidents and Illnesses, and Approved Home Remedies. Merchantville, New Jersey, Privately Printed: 1916. 1st Edition. 144 pages. Blue cloth covers with illustrated paper illustration affixed to the front cover. There is some shelf wear and rubbing to the spine edgs and the corners. The text block is cracking in one spot, but still holding nicely. The pages are clean. Includes a fold-out insert demonstrating how to make a sanitary drinking cup out of a piece of paper. $80.00

16. 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

17. 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. $35.00

18. 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. $33.00

19. 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. $75.00

20. Knapp, George L.. THE QUEST OF THE GOLDEN CITIES. New York, Dodd, Mead: 1924. That pages. 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

21. Kunhardt, Dorothy Meserve. TINY NONSENSE STORIES . Complete set of twelve story books. New York, Simon and Schuster: 1949. This is the complete set of 12 pitcher volumes. They are housed in the original publisher's box, but the folding half of the boxes missing. The box has heavy wear and some chips and tears. The books have wear to the spines and covers, but are tightly bound and overall the books are in nice condition. A scarce set in the Tiny Golden Books series. $75.00

22. 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. $375.00

23. Price, Christine. TALKING DRUMS OF AFRICA. Illustrated by the author. New York, Atheneum: 1973. 1st Edition. 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. $100.00

24. Rackham, Arthur. THE ARTHUR RACKHAM FAIRY BOOK. London, George G. Harrap: 1933. 1st Edition. 287 pages. This is the signed, limited edition of 460 copies, of which this is #358. Signed in ink by Arthur Rackham. White vellum binding. The vellum shows some soiling, as is common with most vellum bindings. The spine has a small repaired crack at the bottom. No chips or pieces missing from the spine or covers. There is moderate shelf wear to the spine edges. The binding is clean and tight. A very sound copy. With all 8 color illustrations and many black-and-white and silhouette illustrations throughout by Arthur Rackham. A wonderful children's illustrated book. $1500.00

25. Rae, John. WHY. REFLECTIONS FOR CHILDREN. Verse and pictures by John Rae. New York, Dodd, Mead: 1910. First American edition. 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. $150.00

26. Randolph, Althea. A BOUQUET OF RHYMES FOR CHILDREN: VERSES BY RANDOLPH. Illustrated by Isabel Whitney. New York, Bonnell Silver & Company: 1909. First American edition. 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

27. 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. The binding is tight and contents complete. 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. $20.00

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

29. 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. $55.00

30. 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. $15.00

31. Wright, Dare. EDITH AND BIG BAD BILL: A LONELY DOLL STORY. New York, Random House: 1968. Large photo-illustrated hardback covers. Some shelf wear to binding and rubbing to spine and corners. Corners are slightly bumped. Overall a nice copy. Binding is tight and the pages are clean and free from defects. A scarce title in the Edith the Doll series. $125.00

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