1869 Rare First Appleton’s Juvenile Annual – Illustrated Children’s Gift Book
Author: [Anonymous contributions, published by D. Appleton & Co.]
Title: Appleton’s Juvenile Annual. A Christmas and New-Year’s Gift for Young People.
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and Company, 90, 92 & 94 Grand Street, 1869. First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 x 5 inches.
Pages: 382 pages + publisher's catalog.
Binding: Attractive and very good, near fine, original publisher’s decorative green cloth binding with richly gilt-stamped titles and ornamental designs to the front board and spine. Blind-stamped decorations to the rear board (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or age-toning to pages - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with numerous in-text and full-page illustrations, including a striking frontispiece of “Capture of a Shark” and other scenes such as “The Miracle of the Sword” and “Fishing for Electrical Eels with Horses.”
The book: A rare and handsome 1869 first edition of Appleton’s Juvenile Annual, a richly illustrated Christmas and New Year’s gift book for children. This volume gathers together engaging tales, instructive essays, and imaginative narratives ranging from Arthurian legend (“Prince Arthur and the Sword”) to natural history (“The Electrical Eel”) and moral parables (“A Child’s Faith”). With its lavish gilt-stamped decorative cloth, it is a prime example of the Victorian gift-book tradition that blended visual appeal with edifying reading for young audiences.
The author/publisher: Appleton & Company, founded in New York in 1831, was one of the leading American publishers of the 19th century, known for their high-quality illustrated works, scientific publications, and children’s literature. Their Juvenile Annuals exemplify the transatlantic influence of British gift books, tailored for an American readership hungry for both entertainment and moral instruction.