Tom the Piper’s Son 170
  Illustration and text engraved on copper by William Charles, of
  Philadelphia, in 1808

A Kind and Good Father 172
  Woodcut by Alexander Anderson for “The Prize for Youthful
  Obedience,” printed in Philadelphia by Jacob Johnson in 1807

A Virginian 174
  Illustration from “People of all Nations,” printed in Philadelphia
  by Jacob Johnson in 1807

A Baboon 174
  Illustration from “A Familiar Description of Beasts and Birds,”
  printed in Boston by Lincoln and Edmands in 1813

Drest or Undrest 176
  Illustration from “The Daisy,” published by Jacob Johnson in 1808

Little Nancy 182
  Probably engraved by William Charles for “Little Nancy, or, the
  Punishment of Greediness,” published in Philadelphia by Morgan &
  Yeager about 1830

Children of the Cottage 196
  Engraved by Joseph I. Pease for “The Youth’s Sketch Book,”
  published in Boston by Lilly, Wait and Company in 1834

Henrietta 200
  Engraved by Thomas Illman for “The American Juvenile Keepsake,”
  published in Brockville, U.C., by Horace Billings & Co. in 1835

A Child and her Doll 206
  Illustration from “Little Mary,” Part II, published in Boston by
  Cottons and Barnard in 1831

The Little Runaway 227
  Drawn and engraved by J.W.  Steel for “Affection’s Gift,” published
  in New York by J.C.  Riker in 1832

CHAPTER I

Introductory

Thy life to mend
This book attend.
The New England Tutor
London (1702-14)

To be brought up in fear
And learn A B C.
FOXE, Book of Martyrs

Forgotten Books of the American Nursery

CHAPTER I

Introductory

A shelf full of books belonging to the American children of colonial times and of the early days of the Republic presents a strangely unfamiliar and curious appearance.  If chronologically placed, the earliest coverless chap-books are hardly noticeable next to their immediate successors with wooden sides; and these, in turn, are dominated by the gilt, silver, and many colored bindings of diminutive dimensions which hold the stories dear to the childish heart from Revolutionary days to the beginning of the nineteenth century.  Then bright blue, salmon, yellow, and marbled paper covers make a vivid display which, as the century grows older, fades into the sad-colored cloth bindings thought adapted to many children’s books of its second quarter.