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Recent Acquisition
Illustrated Nursery Rhymes
Nursery Rhymes. (Turner & Fisher's Golden Toys.) New York and Philadelphia: Turner & Fisher; Boston: James Fisher; Baltimore: J.B. Keller, [ca. 1850]
This is a classic example of Turner & Fisher's output as a producer of affordable, brightly colored picture books in the 1840s and '50s. This compilation of nursery rhymes is new to the AAS collection; it intersperses such popular rhymes as Jack Sprat with descriptions of commonly played games like Blind Man's Buff, giving the modern reader a precious glimpse into the world of nineteenth-century children's play.
The back cover of this well-used copy has a fascinating advertisement for
operas, almanacs, and conversation cards published by Turner's & Fisher,
along with "Juvenile books in immense varieties." This book was acquired
in a lot with 48 other children's pamphlets.
Purchased from Aiglatson Books. Harry G. Stoddard Memorial Fund.
-Laura Wasowicz, Curator of Children's Literature
"One day I am visited by a collector of ordination sermons; the next, by
a collector of 4th of July orations; then comes a collector of geography;
another wants religious newspapers; another wants every book printed in
New York before 1700. I accommodate myself to all; for I want every thing
and collect every thing, and I have more zeal than the whole of them: and
in this way I am kept very busy."
~Christopher Columbus Baldwin
3rd Librarian of AAS
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