1870 Rare Victorian Hand-Colored Alphabet Book - Fairy ABC
A very scarce Victorian fairy-tale alphabet, delightfully illustrated with twenty-five large hand-colored pictorial letters incorporating characters from Aladdin, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Robin Hood, Puss in Boots, The Ugly Duckling, and other beloved tales.
Author: Anonymous.
Title: Fairy ABC.
Publisher: [New York: McLoughlin Bros., circa 1870–1875]. No publisher, place, or date printed in this copy.
Edition: Early American edition / issue. Bibliographically attributed to McLoughlin Bros. Similar editions of this alphabet were issued during the nineteenth century by Sheldon & Company, Hurd & Houghton, and McLoughlin Brothers.
Language: English.
Pages: Unpaginated; 12 numbered printed pages, printed on one side of the leaves only, resulting in blank versos between the illustrated pages.
Size: 7 x 7 inches.
Binding: Good original color pictorial softcover binding, with the wonderfully decorative front wrapper depicting three children beneath the title Fairy ABC and an elaborate red, black, and ochre ornamental design repeated on the rear wrapper. Some expected rubbing, age toning, and edge wear. The central fold / joint is partly cracked, but the binding remains tight and secure, as shown.
Content: Very good content for this fragile Victorian production. The leaves remain well preserved, with scattered light foxing, occasional handling marks, and age toning, as shown.
Illustrations: Illustrated throughout with twenty-five striking hand-colored pictorial alphabet letters, each incorporating a fairy-tale, nursery-rhyme, or legendary character into the design. The alphabet includes Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Mother Hubbard, Humpty Dumpty, the Invisible Prince, the Nutcracker, Puss in Boots, Robin Hood, Sinbad, the Three Wishes, the Ugly Duckling, Valentine and Orson, Whittington, and others.
Estimate: USD350-500
The book: Fairy ABC is an exceptionally charming Victorian alphabet book in which learning the letters becomes a tour through the familiar world of fairy tales, nursery stories, and popular legend. Each letter is transformed into an elaborate architectural form inhabited by its corresponding character, accompanied by a short rhyming verse whose deliberately divided syllables reinforce the book’s educational purpose. The combination of bold typography, fairy-tale imagery, and vivid hand coloring makes it a particularly attractive example of nineteenth-century children’s book design.
The title is notably scarce. Bibliographical records identify closely related issues from several American publishers, while surviving McLoughlin examples are variously dated to circa 1870–1875. The absence of an imprint in the present copy is itself recorded in another surviving example of this issue. Fragile softcover alphabet books of this kind were intended for active use by children, and complete copies retaining their full sequence of hand-colored letters are increasingly difficult to find.
The publisher: McLoughlin Brothers was among the most important American publishers of illustrated children’s books during the nineteenth century. Based in New York, the firm became especially celebrated for inexpensive but visually ambitious picture books, alphabets, nursery tales, and toy books, making extensive use of color printing and hand finishing. Its productions played an important role in bringing brilliantly illustrated books within reach of a broad American childhood readership.