Collectible Childrens Books on eBay

[picture*books]

As per cc's suggestion, a thread for relatively higher dollar children's books sold on eBay and the ensuing discussions.

[picture*books]

I would have liked to read the transcript.

Item 180522744512 sold for $465 on June 30, 2010

"FANTASTIC, ORIGINAL CIRCA 1925 HANDWRITTEN LETTER BY A. A. MILNE. This terrific letter is dated Sept. 28th and is addressed to "Mr. Mayall" regarding a manuscript play submitted to Milne for consideration. At the time, Milne was an editor for "Punch" magazine and a successful playwright himself. Milne is firm in his criticism of Mr. Mayall's of submission, while offering him helpful advice for future submissions.

Content of letter is fabulous and reveals insight into Milne's persona not often in his correspondence [see images]. Letter is penned entirely in A. A. Milne's own hand and is signed by him. Two-page letters by Milne are extraordinarily scarce.

Important letter was written from Milne's home at Mallord Street, Chelsea, where both his son Christopher and his most famous character "Winnie-the-Pooh" were born [11 Mallord Street had been renumbered 13, which Milne corrected on letterhead]. Milne's first book written at Mallord Street was "When We Were Very Young" (1924), followed by "Winnie-the-Pooh" (1926), "Now We are Six" (1927) and "The House at Pooh Corner" (1928). Milne's famous character "Christopher Robin" was based upon his son, Christopher Robin Milne. Winnie-the-Pooh, the fictional bear often shortened to Pooh Bear or simply Pooh, is among the most enduring of all fictional characters.

A. A. Milne [Alan Alexander Milne] (1882-1956) created the iconic "Winnie the Pooh", the beloved stuffed bear who starred in a series of his books and much later in the animated films of Walt Disney. Winnie the Pooh has endured as one of the most popular and widely recognized fictional characters in the world. Milne was both an author and playwright who found his greatest success writing tales for children. His 1924 book of poetry "When We Were Very Young" soon became a classic. The 38th poem in the book, "Teddy Bear", that originally appeared in the "Punch" magazine in 1923, was the first appearance of the famous character "Winnie-the-Pooh".

Milne's book by the same name ["Winnie-the-Pooh"] was initially published three years later. This seminal children's text was inspired in part by the stuffed toys of Milne's son, Christopher Robin, who appears in the stories with Pooh. Milne's children's books were illustrated by Ernest H. Shephard (1879-1976) who was known especially for his human-like animals. Milne was also a playwright and a frequent contributor to the British humor magazine "Punch". In addition, he authored the detective story "The Red House Mystery" (1922), which was famously insulted by Raymond Chandler in his essay "The Simple Art of Murder".

Condition: Rare letter remains in good to fair condition [see images]. Tape repair at fold, some soiling, creased at folds, edge wear, etc. All in all, this desirable two-page letter remains very presentable. Letter occupies two sides of one sheet [i.e. 2 pages] and sheet measures approx 5.5" wide x 7.25" tall. Quite a find and a very worthy acquisition indeed. "

[hollygolightlyplus1]

*bump*

[blue*skies*ahead*]

The Punch & Judy book in #524 is adorable.

The font colors and background in the listing nearly gave me a brain embolism, but that's just me.

Thanks for keeping this thread active, P*B.
We don't say it enough, but your contributions are appreciated out loud.

.

[mr.rockito]

HEAR, HEAR!

Yes, this thread is invaluable! I've bookmarked it and read each new posting as it arrives, probably the only E-bay thread I've followed for some time.

Nice to see such good results considering E-bay's market decline especially for books.

*Sigh* good books used to be easy to sell here and once upon a time original children's book art was simply gold, I have over 70 pieces of original children's book artwork listed here that would have disappeared overnight if I would have had them just a few years ago. Now, with the US economy still in a shambles, they will wait for someone to crack open their pocketbooks probably for some time to come...

[picture*books]

yw blue*skies*ahead* & mr.rockito glad to be of some assistance.

[picture*books]

Don't run into this H.A. Rey book too often, especially since it is cut-out book. Most copies were consumed for their purpose.

Item 130399795247 sold for $800 on July 11, 2010

UNCLE GUS'S FARM BY H. A. REY
BY THE AUTHOR OF CURIOUS GEORGE

"UP FOR SALE IS THIS VERY VERY RARE BOOK FROM H. A. REY. UNCLE GUS'S FARM IS A "NEW KIND OF CUT-OUT -AND PLAY BOOK" PUBLISHED BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON IN 1942.THE BOOK IS IN UNUSED MINT CONDITION.THIS IS A MUSEUM QUALITY ITEM. THE BOOK IS 14 INCHES BY 11 INCHES. "

[picture*books]

Note the Caterpillar tractor cut-out in the HA Rey book.

[hollowayd]

When does a book become a 'paper toy?' Lots of interest in doll books, and cut out books.... This is indeed a great thread-- I've learned so much from it. Thank you for keeping it alive!

[picture*books]

Although this thread focuses on books sold on eBay, omitting those books offered but not bought, one can also learn from the unsold /Books/Antiquarian/Children's >$300 books.

Less interesting but interesting, consider /Books/Children's >$300 unsold books.

[picture*books]

A very good buy with this first issue of Horton/Who. The first and second issue are both very difficult to find. The points listed in the Younger/Hirsch guide are not accurate and were later corrected on their website.

"p.90 FIRST PRINTING POINTS - The "variant" with the list of "other titles" on the recto of the of the rear free end paper is the 1st issue. Later issue has these "other titles" as described. You can identify the 1st issue of text without a dust jacket, but the correct dust jacket must have the points listed. (Thanks to Stan Zielinski, "

Many booksellers do not know the corrected issue points (referencing the guide only), so the second issue is often offered as a first edition, and in the $3000+ range. Horton/Who (1954) is the most popular Seuss book published before Cat/Hat (1957) and his stratospheric rise in popularity.

The first and second issue DJ's have the same graphic on the back DJ, the DJ price is not consequential since this DJ was only issued with '250/250' on the front flap.

Item 300427827595 sold for BIN $395 on June 23, 2010
Dr Seuss - Horton Hears a Who! - HC DJ 1st printing

"Hardcover with dustjacket first edition, first printing of Horton Hears a Who! First printing with points as per Younger and Hirsch, including tree with five branches, cloud outline, titles in the rear, and full ear.

Very good+ book with a slight lean, light bumping to corners, light rubbing, and light edgewear.

The dustjacket is very good: price-clipped, with small closed tears, light soiling, light rubbing, light sunning to the spine, and light edgewear."

[picture*books]

Item 230496721056 sold for $405 on July 14, 2010

COPYRIGHT 1934 WIZARD OF OZ WADDLE BOOK UNCUT WADDLES!!

"Great***** old copyright 1934 Wizard Of Oz " Waddle Book". " The story book with characters that come out and walk". Written by Frank Baum and printed in the United States Of America a great 211 page book in great condition there are 6 Waddles in back of book uncut and they are; the Wizard Of Oz, Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Toto, Lion. There are some colorized illustration in book no missing or torn pages cover of book is very colorful."

[professorbooknoodle]

Item 190392890955 sold for $464 on May 9, 2010

ORIGINAL MEGGENDORFER DER FIDELE ONKEL MOVABLE BOOK

"Der Fidele Onkel a fun movable book by Lothar Meggendorfer published by Schreiber, no date so it might be a first edition of 1891?
14 figures cut in 3 panels each so that they can be seen in any order making endless funny figures.
In excellent condition, complete and original, 13.5 cm x 19.5 cm or about 5 1/4" x 7 3/4". "

Just based on the cover, I never would have assigned such an early date to this edition of Der Fidele Onkel; to me it shouts out mid to late 1930s - mid 1950s. Also - the smaller font at the fore-edge of the book seems to have been influenced by Bauhaus.

[picture*books]

Nice presentation and great photo's on this Dulac auction.

Item 160456895328 sold for $510 on July 22, 2010

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1910 SLEEPING BEAUTY FAIRY TALES EDMUND DULAC ILLS 1ST$

"Retold by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch; N.D. 1910 From Research; First Edition; London, Hodder & Stoughton; Tipped In Illustrations by Edmund Dulac; 8.9"x 11.2"; 129 Pages; Very Rare; NO RESERVE!!!

Great for any Fairy Tale fan or of the Famous Artist or Collector. Highly Collectible, seen selling for over $1,500.00; Won't find a better copy!!!

Attributes:

A Brilliant, sleek Baby Folio Faux leather (brown cloth) cover design with ornate gold boards with floral decor and Cherubs to each corners, with a Great Gold Binding with additional Cherubs and a Great Color Frontispiece of Sleeping Beauty and 29 other require Brilliant Color Tipped in Illustrations by the Famed Artist with pretty borders and woodcuts and some Epic Classic Fairy Tales; Impressive Size!!!

Contents Included:

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, BLUE BEARD, CINDERELLA, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ETC.!!!

Background:

Edmund Dulac (born Edmond Dulac, October 22, 1882 – May 25, 1953) was a French book illustrator prominent during the so called "Golden Age of Illustration" (the first quarter or so of the twentieth century).

In London, the 22-year old Frenchman was picked up by J.M. Dent and given a commission to illustrate the collected works of the Brontë sisters. He then began an association with the Leicester Gallery and Hodder & Stoughton; the gallery would commission paintings from Dulac and then sell the rights to Hodder & Stoughton, who would publish the books (one book a year over many years) while the gallery would sell the paintings. Books produced under this arrangement by Dulac include Stories from The Arabian Nights (1907) (including 50 colour images), an edition of Shakespeare's The Tempest (1908) (including 40 colour images), of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1909) (including 20 colour images), The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales (1910), Stories from Hans Christian Andersen (1911), The Bells and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe (1912) (including 28 colour images and many monotone illustrations) and Princess Badoura (1913).

Condition:

Condition is Very Good/Excellent. Small wear, pages are excellent, hinges/text block are very good. Overall, for 100 years old its in Very Good/Excellent Condition!!!"

[picture*books]

Item 130410024725 sold for $1889 on July 20, 2010

Fairyland By Richard Doyle, First Edition, 1870, Rare

"Fairyland by Richard Doyle. First Edition, 1870, 16 plates in full color. Very scarce. The following is from the paperwork that came with the item.

The Quintessential Fairy Illustrations

Doyle (Richard). In Fairyland. A Series Of Pictures From The Elf World. With a poem by William Allingham with 16 plates in full colour, First Edition.

Folio, original green cloth, with decorative title in gilt on upper cover and along the spine, a gilt border incorporating elves, fairies and wild-life such as squirrels, snails etc. A very bright fresh copy. Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer, 1870.

Ray, 146.

An exceptionally clean copy of a scarce item, with little or no signs of wear to the cover. Possibly the most influential fairy illustrations ever published. The wood blocks by Edmund Evans, the largest he ever attempted, are superbly printed, so that none of the subtleties of Doyle's delicate and imaginative paintings were lost.

Listed amongst Gordon Ray's selection of 100 outstanding illustrated books published in England between 1790 and 1914. It also occupies a substantial section of an exhibition of the Doyle Family's work at the Victoria and Albert Museum where the original hand coloured proof blocks for "In Fairyland" clearly demonstrates the accuracy and precision with which the book was produced."

[picture*books]

Item 120528936871 sold for $950 on July 22, 2010

CHARLOTTE'S WEB E B White 1st Ed. DJ Nice Condition

"FIRST EDITION of E B White's Charlotte's Web. Published in New York by Harpers in 1952. First Edition stated on copyright "