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Research Guides

Book Arts & Rare Book Collections: Historical Children's Literature

Historically significant, rare and collectible books from the Libraries Special Collections Division.

Featured Book

 

 

 

About the Historical Children's Literature Collection

The Historic Children's Literature Collection contains over 3,000 titles of 17th-20th-century books providing a wide range of resources for the study of American and English society and culture.

The collection includes examples of alphabet books, primers, books of grammar and readers, books of etiquette and bestiaries, story books, fables, boys and girls books, series books, and moral tales. It is a fine collection to study the history of the book, color printing, and book illustration.

It also includes examples of many major illustrators of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Rackham, Dulac, Greenaway, Wyeth and LeMair.

Starting Your Research

Please find a list of print, online, and audio/visual resources to start your research. This section serves as a jumping off point and is by no means exhaustive.