This column first appeared in September 2013.
The growth of the middle class in the mid-1800s saw an increased demand for children’s books. Recognizing this need, publishers encouraged their writers and artists to develop well illustrated books with interesting story lines. As the century progressed, technical advances in both printing and color illustrations made it possible to produce large numbers of books at a reasonable price and the “Golden Age” of children’s books was well under way.
Two highly recognizable names are attributed with changing the way the publishing world viewed books for children. Hans Christian Andersen established the “fairly tale” as a legitimate form of literature, and Lewis Carroll is credited with changing the focus of children’s books from instructional books to entertainment.
In the first half of the 19th century most children’s books were illustrated with woodcuts or printed on wood blocks and then hand-colored. As the century progressed, innovations in printing allowed for the widespread use of color and master printers were working with some of the most talented illustrators of the age. Collectors watch for picture books from this era featuring the works of Randolph Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, and Richard Doyle whose brilliant picture books produced under the direction of Edmund Evans are referred to as “sixpenny color picture books” or “toy books.”
The Victorian Era reflected the social boundaries between the sexes. Boys were treated to Mark Twain’s Huck Finn (1884) and Tom Sawyer (1876), while authors like Alcott and Wiggin wrote of for girls with books like Little Women and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. At the turn of the century animal stories restored the unisex appeal to children’s literature with the release of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Kipling’s classic Jungle Book.
Many of the classics that we still enjoy today were written in the early 1900s. Notables include The Wizard of Oz series which ran from 1900-1920, Rosie O”Neill’s delightful Kewpies were top sellers from 1910-1918, and the 15 Cupples and Leon’s All About books which were published in 1913.
Twentieth century books will have more multicultural content than their predecessors. From the 1920s forward Allen Say, Mildred Taylor and Virginia Hamilton found success with stories that features children from many different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
As we entered the 1940s children’s books became more segmented in terms of age. Before 1940, books had been intended for children six and older. This changed in 1941 with the release of the first pre-school books, The Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon, both illustrated by Clement Hurd. Pop-up and pull-out books and those with large lettering and formats intended for pre-school age children met with an immediate audience. These books are considered quite collectable, and for obvious reasons, are difficult to find in good condition. Until next time . . . Linda
Linda Kennett is a professional liquidation consultant specializing in down-sizing for seniors and the liquidation of estates.