Little Women, 1947

Can never seem to resist a drive to Concord and a visit to Orchard House.  On my trip today, I found a beautiful volume of Little Women, published in 1947.

Everyone knows how much I adore everything that Louisa May Alcott has written.  Can't you just see Jo running up that walkway into Orchard House?



I have come across many different versions of Little Women,

but this one is the edition that I was given by my mother.  

Published in 1947, the illustrations in this book are gorgeous.



The quality in the papers that they used in this book let you know this edition was something really special. This copy is beautiful, clean and the end pages are blue.

Illustrated by Louis Jambor, this book has the most incredible illustrations,

and I was told by the shopkeeper in Orchard House that the black and white illustrations are her favorites.  There are so many black and white illustrations in this edition.  This is the edition Orchard House chose to feature in their Gift Shop, but published in 2008.



"The special contents of this edition are copyrighted, 1947 by Gorsset & Dunlap, Inc. printed by Kingsport press. Inc., Kingsport, Tennessee."

I placed it in my Etsy Shop For The Love of Old Books today.  

I just love all the black and white illustrations, there are many inside this delightful volume.

Of course I can never resist taking the book to be photographed in front of Orchard House, the home where Little Women was written and took place.

Sonny, A Christmas Guest

Not only is the binding gorgeous, with dark green background and lovely gold lettering, but there is still a hint of gold leafing on the edges of the book. 

 I love how each chapter leads with a beautifully illustrated Font letter. 

The illustrations are so enchanting, I did some research on the illustrator.

Published by The Century Company in 1904.

Illustrated by Fanny Young Cory.

Fanny Young Cory was born in 1877 and in 1895 an 18 year-old Miss Cory attended the Metropolitan school of Fine Arts in New York City. By the turn of the century, she was one of the best known illustrators in the country. She did covers and illustration for St. Nicholas, Life, Scribner's, Century, Harper's Bazaar and The Saturday Evening Post. She also illustrated many books including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1902) by Lewis Carrol, and several books by Frank L. Baum, author of The Wizard of OZ. Who's Who of American Women listed F.Y. Cory in their First Edition, Volume One.

Written by Routh Mc Enery Stuart.
Working under the name Ruth McEnery Stuart, wrote a body of fiction and poetry based on the experiences she had in Arkansas, modeling characters, dialect, and even a fictional town on her interactions within the state. She was, both financially and critically, one of the most successful fiction writers of her time, and in recent years has been studied by feminist and social literary critics.

Between 1888 and 1917, Stuart published more than seventy-five stories, in addition to dialect verse. These works appeared in major magazines of the day, including Harper’s Bazaar, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Century Magazine, New Princeton Review, Delineator, The Outlook, and Lippincott’s Magazine. They were collected in twenty-three volumes. These include A Golden Wedding and Other Tales (1893), Carlotta’s Intended and Other Tales (1894); Solomon Crow’s Christmas Pockets and Other Tales (copyright 1896), In Simpkinsville: 


SONNY, A CHRISTMAS GUEST, is in my shop For The Love of Old Books.

Jane Austen

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books written by Jane Austen.

A while back I found a gift book published by Reader's Digest, and now I have found another.  Although it is not Vintage, I really think it would make a perfect gift book.  I always think of something Vintage being fifty years old.

This book was printed as a gift volume, illustrated by award winning Gene Sparkman. The illustrations have two page spreads in some instances.

A wonderful edition of Pride and Prejudice. Published as a special edition gift book, by Readers Digest in 1984.

The original insert describing this book was found inside.

It contains details about Jane Austen and her life. The volume is in lovely condition. The bottom cover is slightly raised. 329 pages and notes.

The cover and the binding are embossed in Gold lettering.

The Hardback cover is powder blue with a deeper blue binding. I will be designing a bookplate saying From The Library Of using one of the illustrations in the book.

Copyright 1984 
Readers Digest Association


I think that the illustrations are lovely.

I have added this treasure to my etsy shop, For The Love of Old Books.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Sometimes when I am on the hunt in my favorite old and rare book shops, I find something really really special.

Gasp.  A copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

When I picked up this one, I couldn't believe I found it.  I gently turned each page to make sure that all the color prints were there and they were!

Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1923 by J. B. Lippincott Company.

The illustrations are amazing in this wonderful volume. Illustrated by Gertrude A. Kay and with the original drawings by John Temmiel. Eight color plates in the book, plus the cover is gorgeous. Even though the red cover with gold leafing is a bit worn, it looks lovingly worn and adds to the charm.

The first illustration page must have come undone during the course of the book's life, and someone repaired the page with a bit of tape. Also filled with the familiar black and white renderings of Alice and her characters that we all have grown to love. 

A delightful copy indeed. 241 pages A beautiful edition.

"All in the golden afternoon

Full leisurely we glide;

For both our oars, with little skill,

By little arms are piled,

White little hands made vain pretence

Our wandersings to guide.

I have just listed this book and several others today on my etsy shop, For The Love of Old Books.