first edition
1794 · New York
by BUNYAN, John
New York: Printed by James Carey for Mathew Carey, 1794. Full Description:
BUNYAN, John. Divine Emblems:. or, Temporal things spiritualized. Fitted for the use of boys and girls. New York: Printed by James Carey for Mathew Carey, [1794].
First American edition. Twelvemo (5 1/4 x 3 1/2 inches; 135 x 90 mm) vi, [2], 17-44, 53-84 pp. With 40 woodcut vignettes (out of 48?). Lacking eight leaves of text (A5-8, and C5-8) and three leaves of publisher's advertisements (F1-3). Of the three known other copies, none are complete. There is no printed date, however this volume is very similar to the 1793 London edition printed for C. Dilly, and according to the ESTC "James Carey printed in New York in 1794 only." This edition is extremely scarce with no copies on OCLC or Rare Book Hub besides this one. Welch's "Bibliography of American Children's Book" notes only 3 copies, and all are defective.
Bound in original quarter sheep over drab paper over wooden boards. With numerous woodcuts. Front board with a large chip to top outer corner. Paper is worn on front and back boards. Some faded old ink signatures to back board paper. Spine with some chipping and splitting. Many leaves with fraying to fore-edge, occasionally affecting a few words. The worst of this is to leaves A3-5, and C3-4. Some minor toning throughout. Previous owner's small okd ink signature on front pastedown. Still a very good copy considering this is a children's book which often means poor condition.
"John Bunyan's Divine Emblems is arguably the first book of poetry designed for children. It was first published in 1686 as A Book for Boys and Girls, or, Country Rhimes for Children. Only in 1724 was it given the title by which it is now known. It contains several dozen short verses (74 in the first edition, but many were removed in successive versions), all of which draw simple religious and moral lessons from everyday things... This technique is familiar from the emblem-books popular throughout much of Europe from the sixteenth century on. They generally combined a set of symbolic illustrations with text explaining the prints, with a short moral added at the end. Bunyan combined the two textual elements into one, and, until the 1707 edition, did away with the illustrations. Emblem-books were sometimes designed specifically for children, but were more often aimed at a general audience. The use of pictures to illustrate the morals meant that such books were suitable for even an illiterate audience. (De Montfort University, Hockliffe Collection).
Evans 26712. Welch 132.1.
HBS 69283.
$4,500. (Inventory #: 69283)
BUNYAN, John. Divine Emblems:. or, Temporal things spiritualized. Fitted for the use of boys and girls. New York: Printed by James Carey for Mathew Carey, [1794].
First American edition. Twelvemo (5 1/4 x 3 1/2 inches; 135 x 90 mm) vi, [2], 17-44, 53-84 pp. With 40 woodcut vignettes (out of 48?). Lacking eight leaves of text (A5-8, and C5-8) and three leaves of publisher's advertisements (F1-3). Of the three known other copies, none are complete. There is no printed date, however this volume is very similar to the 1793 London edition printed for C. Dilly, and according to the ESTC "James Carey printed in New York in 1794 only." This edition is extremely scarce with no copies on OCLC or Rare Book Hub besides this one. Welch's "Bibliography of American Children's Book" notes only 3 copies, and all are defective.
Bound in original quarter sheep over drab paper over wooden boards. With numerous woodcuts. Front board with a large chip to top outer corner. Paper is worn on front and back boards. Some faded old ink signatures to back board paper. Spine with some chipping and splitting. Many leaves with fraying to fore-edge, occasionally affecting a few words. The worst of this is to leaves A3-5, and C3-4. Some minor toning throughout. Previous owner's small okd ink signature on front pastedown. Still a very good copy considering this is a children's book which often means poor condition.
"John Bunyan's Divine Emblems is arguably the first book of poetry designed for children. It was first published in 1686 as A Book for Boys and Girls, or, Country Rhimes for Children. Only in 1724 was it given the title by which it is now known. It contains several dozen short verses (74 in the first edition, but many were removed in successive versions), all of which draw simple religious and moral lessons from everyday things... This technique is familiar from the emblem-books popular throughout much of Europe from the sixteenth century on. They generally combined a set of symbolic illustrations with text explaining the prints, with a short moral added at the end. Bunyan combined the two textual elements into one, and, until the 1707 edition, did away with the illustrations. Emblem-books were sometimes designed specifically for children, but were more often aimed at a general audience. The use of pictures to illustrate the morals meant that such books were suitable for even an illiterate audience. (De Montfort University, Hockliffe Collection).
Evans 26712. Welch 132.1.
HBS 69283.
$4,500. (Inventory #: 69283)
(310) 659-3674
