ApplewoodMiscellAny

e have been privileged to bring our cameras into the American Antiquarian Society and capture their unique collection of American children’s books. In this Miscellany, we present pages from the collection that build a picture of what it may have been like to be a child, parent, or teacher in days gone by. The pages reveal a tougher world, where behavior meant the difference between life and death. In Old Pop Corn, an anthropomorphized ear of corn out for a walk is stripped of his kernels by bullying gangs of boys and girls. In Daddy Long Legs, a little girl is brought to the home of a misanthropic spider who strangles her and then feels perverse remorse that he has lost his only chance to have a friend. In today’s world of cartoon

and literature these moments might be considered funny; in days gone by, one gets the feeling, these were not laughing matters, but ways of teaching children to mind their elders, avoid strangers, and stay safe from harm.

There are other themes that make the good old days seem not so good and strangely far, far away: overt racism, sexism, cruelty to animals, authoritarianism. Fortunately, there are also themes that make us all wish we were transported back in time: charity, devo-tion, kindness, a sense of leisure, and a connection to the natural world. Books like Cruise of the Walnut Shell expose a gentle world in which children were free to experience the edges of their imagination unfettered by parental control. But then again, what one sees on the surface of the past is always only a reflection of our own time.

Copyright © 2012 Applewood Books, Inc, Carlisle, MA 01741 • Visit us at: http://am2.awb.com

Number Two

Raising Your Great-Grandparents

From Bob’s School Days

ApplewoodMiscellAny

From The Cruise of the Walnut Shellapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080132

From Freaks and Frolics of Little Girls & Boysapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081566

ABCs&

Schooling

From The Merry Alphabetapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080682

From A.B.C. of Objectsapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080095

From Apple-pie ABCapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080149

From Bob’s School Daysapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080354

From The Story of Columbus for Little Folksapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081061

People:Real

&Fictional

From The Story of Columbus for Little Folksapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081061

From Pocahontasapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080941

From The Wonderful Leaps of Sam Patchapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081290

From Yankee Doodleapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081320

From Bible Heroesapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080187

From Tom Thumbapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081153

From An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dogapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080460

Animals:Domestic,

Wild &Circus

From Landseer’s Picture Book of Dogsapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080637

From Landseer’s Picture Book of Dogsapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080637

From Domestic Animalsapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080361

From Wild Animalsapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081252

From A Peep at the Circusapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080859

From Wonders of the Circusapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081313

From Santa Claus & His Worksapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081245

Toys&

Games

From Home Games for Little Boysapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429080552

From The Brave Tin Soldierapplewoodbooks.com/index.php/9781429081450

From Winter Sportsawb.com/9781429080927

To Order: Call 9:00 AM-5:00 PM (Eastern) Mon-Fri 800-277-5312 or visit Applewood Books @ awb.com

Applewood BooksPublishers of America’s Living Past1 River Road • Carlisle, MA 01741

The images from the books in this issue of Applewood Miscellany come from editions held at the American Antiquarian Society, a world-renowned library and research center for the study of American history, literature, andculture located in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1812 by printer Isaiah Thomas, the Society collects, preserves, and makes accessible books, pamphlets, newspapers, and printed visual art produced in what is now the United States between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. At 17,000 volumes, the AAS Children’s Literature Collection is the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world. Every year, the AAS hosts anumber of public programs and research fellowship opportunities to increase publicunderstanding of American history.

Visit the American Antiquarian Societyon the web at:www.americanantiquarian.org

This issue is a sampler of the many children’s books photographed and made available in print and e-book by ApplewoodBooks from originals housed atthe American AntiquarianSociety. For a completelist of titles currentlyavailable and moreinformation abouteach title, visit:aas.awb.com

From The Cruise of the Walnut Shell