Banbury Chap Books

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Banbury Chap Books, by Edwin Pearson

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Title: Banbury Chap Books And Nursery Toy Book Literature
Author: Edwin Pearson
Release Date: August 28, 2006 [EBook #19132]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Transcriber's Note:
This book has over 800 small black-and-white illustrations. They can be found in the "images" directory associated with the html version of this file, in two forms:
thumbnails, named in the form "thumbNNNN.png" numbered sequentially within each page (without leading 0's) larger images, named "picNNNN.png"
For this plain-text file, each illustration or group of illustrations is identified by number, omitting the "pic" or "thumb" component and the "png" extension.
Misspellings have generally been left uncorrected. They are listed at the end of the text.]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
[Illustrations: frontis1 - frontis5
The "White Lion," Banbury, early John Bewick.
Early cuts used to illustrate "Tommy Two Shoes." York and Hull editions.
Early cut from "A New Year's Gift."
"Jack and the Giants," early York edition.]

BANBURY CHAP BOOKS
and
NURSERY TOY BOOK LITERATURE
[of the XVIII. and Early XIX. Centuries]
with Impressions from Several Hundred ORIGINAL WOOD-CUT BLOCKS,
By T. & J. Bewick, Blake, Cruikshank, Craig, Lee, Austin, and Others.
Illustrating Favourite Nursery Classics, with their Antiquarian, Historical, Literary and Artistic Associations:
FAITHFULLY GLEANED FROM THE ORIGINAL WORKS IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY, OXFORD, THE BRITISH AND SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUMS, &c.
With very much that is Interesting and Valuable appertaining to the early Typography and Topography of Children's Books relating to Great Britain and America.
INCLUDING
Jack the Giant Killer, Cock Robin, Tom Thumb, Whittington, Goody Two Shoes, Philip Quarll, Tommy Trip, York and Banbury Cries, Children in the Wood, Dame Trot, Horn Books, Battledores, Primers, etc.
By EDWIN PEARSON.
LONDON: Arthur Reader, 1, Orange Street, Bloomsbury, W.C. 1890.

Only 50 copies Large Paper, 500 " Small.

[Decoration]
INTRODUCTION.
"Banbury Cakes," and "Banbury Cross," with its favourite juvenile associations, with the Lady with bells on her toes, having music wherever she goes, are indissolubly connected with the early years not only of ourselves but many prior generations. In fact, the Ancient Cross has been rebuilt since the days, when in Drunken Barnaby's Journal, we are made familiar with the puritan "who hanged his cat on a Monday for killing of a mouse on a Sunday." The quaint old town and its people are rapidly modernizing; but they cling to the old traditions. Both in pictorial and legendary lore we have some Banburies of another kind altogether, viz., Banbury Blocks, or in plain English, Engraved Woodcut Blocks, associated with the Local Chap Books, Toy Books, and other Histories, for which this quaint old Oxfordshire town is celebrated. The faithful description of the Blocks illustrating this volume has led to numerous descriptive digressions, apparently irrelevant to the subject; it was found however that in tracing out the former history and use of some of the "Bewick" and other cuts contained in this volume, that the Literary, Artistic, Historical, Topographical, Typographical, and Antiquarian Reminiscences connected with the early Printing and Engraving of Banbury involved that of many other important towns and counties of Great Britain, and also America. A provincial publisher about the beginning of the present century would reflect more or less the modus operandi of each of his contemporaries in abridging or reproducing verbatim the immortal little chap books issued from the press of John Newbury's "Toy Book Manufactory," at the Bible and Sun (a sign lately restored), 65, Saint Paul's Church Yard, near the Bar.
This again leads to the subject as to who wrote these clever little tomes. In my "Angler's Garland," printed at the Dryden Press, 1870 and 1871, I fully announced my intention of issuing a reprint of the first edition of "Goody Two Shoes," but the intended volume was published by the firm at the corner, "Griffith, Farren, Okenden, and Welsh," now in the direct line of business descent from worthy and industrious John Newbery: Carman, Harris, Grant and Griffith. Mr. Charles Welsh of the present firm has taken a warm interest in the Antiquarian and Historical Associations of the Newbery firm. The premises have been lately rebuilt, the Sign and Emblems adopted by Newbery restored, and C. Welsh has reprinted "Goody Two Shoes" in facsimile, since which there has been added to it a Standard edition of Goldsmith's Works, edited by Mr. Gibbs. I had the pleasure of making many researches respecting the old London publisher (Goldsmith's friend), John Newbery, respecting his Lilliputian Classics, and I have been enabled to