On the Sands

No place noted: No publisher noted, 1900. [EPHEMERA] [ADVERTISING PREMIUM] [STIGMATIZING ILLUSTRATION]. 12mo (7 ½” x 5 ½”); [8]pp; color pictorial wrapper featuring a girl on a beach and an anthropomorphic crab, the rear wrapper an advertisement for Boardman & Gray Pianos, Albany, N.Y.; 2 staple binding; 4 full page color illustrations, b&w small drawings in text; small closed tear to upper edge of front wrapper and light foxing; very good plus. One copy located in AAS 617338. This seaside fairy tale of a place called Wonderland is illustrated with four full-page color illustrations and small black line drawings in the text.  The anthropomorphic (truncated) sea creatures include flying fish on which children ride. The booklet appears to be an advertisement meant to appeal to children, perhaps while their parents shopped for pianos.

The Boardman and Gray Piano Company built and sold pianos in Albany, New York. They were a high-end piano company established in 1837 that produced large, square-grand pianos around the mid-19th century. Advertisements for them disappeared by WWII. (Antique Piano Shop Online Museum). This copy is stamped in purple ink for the New England retailer” A.R. Cowles, ‘Everything in Music.’ Barton, Vermont.”. (Inventory #: 2094)