In America the publication of fairy tales was at first a reprinting of English editions.  In colonial times, previous to the revolution, booksellers imported largely from England.  After the revolution a new home-growth in literature gradually developed.  At first this was largely in imitation of literature in England.  After the time of Washington Irving a distinct American adult literature established itself.  The little child’s toy-book followed in the wake of the grown-up’s fiction.  The following list[7] shows the growth of the American fairy tale, previous to 1870.  Recent editions are given in Chapter VI.

1747-1840. Forgotten Books of the American Nursery, A History of the Development of the American Story-Book.  Halsey, Rosalie V. Boston, C.E.  Goodspeed & Co., 1911. 244 pp.

1785-1788. Isaiah Thomas, Printer, Writer, and Collector.  Nichols, Charles L.  A paper read April 12, 1911, before the Club of Odd Volumes....  Boston.  Printed for the Club of Odd Volumes, 1912. 144 pp.  List of juveniles 1787-88:  pp. 132-33.

1785. Mother Goose.  The original Mother Goose’s melody, as first issued by John Newbery, of London, about A.D. 1760.  Reproduced in facsimile from the edition as reprinted by Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, Mass., A.D. 1785 (about) ...  Albany, J. Munsell’s Sons, 1889. 28 pp.

1787. Banbury Chap-Boohs and Nursery Toy-Booh Literature (of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries) ...  Pearson, Edwin.  With very much that is interesting and valuable appertaining to the early typography of children’s books relating to Great Britain and America....  London, A. Reader, 1890:  116 pp.  Impressions from wood-cut blocks by T. and J. Bewick, Cruikshank, Craig, Lee, Austin, and others.

1789. The Olden Time Series.  Gleanings chiefly from old newspapers of Boston and Salem, Mass.  Brooks, Henry M., comp.  Boston, Ticknor & Co., 1886. 6 vols. The Books that Children Read in 1798 ... by T.C.  Cushing:  vol. 6, pp. 62-63.

     1800-1825.  Goodrich, S.G. Recollections of a Lifetime. 
     New York, Miller, Orton, and Mulligan, 1856. 2 vols.  Children’s
     books (1800-1825):  vol. 1, pp. 164-74.

     1686. The History of Tom Thumb.  John Dunton, Boston.

     1728. Chap-Books.  Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia.

     1730. Small Histories.  Andrew Bradford, Philadelphia. 
     These included Tom Thumb, Tom Hickathrift, and Dick
     Whittington.

1744. The Child’s New Plaything.  Draper & Edwards, Boston.  Reprint.  Contained alphabet in rhyme, proverbs, fables, and stories:  St. George and the Dragon; Fortunatus; Guy of Warwick; Brother and Sister; Reynard the Fox; and The Wolf and the Kids.

     1750.  John Newbery’s books.  Advertised in Philadelphia
     Gazette.  The Pretty Book for Children probably included
     Cinderella, Tom Thumb, etc.