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| Title | Alphabet of old friends (cover) |
| Author | Unknown |
| Publisher | George Routledge & Sons
|
| Publisher Location | England--London
United States--New York--New York |
| Publication Date | [1874-1876?] |
| Printer | Evans, Edmund, 1826-1905
|
| Illustrator | Crane, Walter, 1845-1915
|
| Image Production Process | Relief prints--wood engravings
|
| Notes | Illustrated with color printed wood engravings mounted on linen. Engraved and printed in color by Edmund Evans.
One of Walter Crane's Toy Books, Shilling series.
Pages have blank versos.
This is an alphabet of nursery rhymes intended more to give pleasure to the child rather than teach the alphabet. Here "old friends" refers to the nursery rhyme characters who appear on the front cover.
Inscribed in ink to Cecilia Hilare Barlow. Aug. 6, 1879 with Mum's love. |
| Contextual Notes | Identified by some as the "father of the illustrated children's book" Walter Crane sought to create books that would appeal specifically to children. A member of the Arts and Crafts movement and influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Japanese color prints, Crane preferred bright colors and completely outlined contour drawing. It was his belief that "Children, like the ancient Egyptians, appear to see most things in profile, and like definite statements in design. They prefer well-defined forms and bright, frank color."
Showing the influence of Japanese artists, Crane signed each image with a rebus, a symbol of a crane standing within a "C" in the lower right corner of each image.
Edmund Evans was an English engraver and printer who is believed to be one of the first to use color prints in publications. His association with Crane began in 1863 and their first collaboration, a toybook, was published in 1865. |
| Subjects (LCSH) | Alphabet rhymes; Nursery rhymes; Illustrated children's books |
| Category | Alphabet books
Nursery rhymes
|
| Language | English |
| Digital Collection | Children's Historical Literature Collection |
| Digital ID Number | CHL1286 |
| Repository | University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division |
| Repository Collection | Children's Historical Literature Collection PE1155.C72 1875 |
| Object Type | Book
|
| Physical Description | 6 leaves, [6] leaves of plates : illustrated ; 26 x 22.5 cm. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from original book at 400-600 dpi in TIFF format using a ScanMaker 6800, resized and enhanced using Adobe Photoshop, and imported as JPEG2000 using Contentdm's software JPEG2000 Extension. 2008. |
| Exhibit Checklist | Exhibit checklist 4.2 |
