Toy book
Encyclopedia
Toy book is a form of 19th century children's book which became popular in the second half of the century during the Victorian era
in England. Toy books typically were paperbound books with six illustrated pages. Early toy books sold for sixpence
, and later, more elaborate editions, for a shilling
. The mid-19th century saw the beginning of the idea that picture books made specifically for children, with art dominating the text rather than the traditional format of illustrations supplementing the text, could be made popular.
By the mid-19th century to the early-20th century, Edmund Evans
became the premier printer of toy books in London, producing books for Routledge, Warne & Routledge
. To illustrate the books he hired and collaborated with Walter Crane
, Randolph Caldecott
and Kate Greenaway
—known as the triumvirate of children's toy book illustrators.
's 18th century "gift books"—such as A Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744)—with which were included small toys for children such as pincushions for girls. Publishers of Victorian toy books identified them with the gift books of the previous century.
The earliest toy books were picture books bound in paper, six to eight pages, sometimes left blank on the back, with little text, and coloured illustrations that rarely attributed to known illustrators. They were commonly bound in heavy paper and, less frequently, in linen. Often toy books were released as a series. Early toy books were hand-coloured, often by children in print shops. By the mid-19th century colour printing became more prevalent, and toward the end of the century some of the books became quite elaborate.
The main characteristic of a toy book was that it was a coloured picture book with emphasis on pictures rather than text. Vicki Anderson, author of The Dime Novel in Children's Literature, writes that toy books were temptingly colourful and not instructive. The books were inexpensive and often were reprints and condensed versions of unoriginal stories. Fairy tales were common reprinted as toy books, as were books such as Defoe
's Robinson Crusoe
.
contracted with printer Edmund Evans
in 1865 to provide toy books for a growing market, the toy books he printed "revolutionized the field of children's books". The market for toy books became so great that Evans began publishing them himself and commissioned the artists to do the illustrations. Walter Crane
(1845–1905), Randolph Caldecott
(1846–1886), and Kate Greenaway
(1846–1901) are the best known illustrators of late-Victorian toybooks, and "did much to develop the sense, the shape, and the look of the modern picture book". Children's illustrated books became fashionable during the Victorian period with an emphasis on the artistic value of the work at a period when the middle and upper classes had funds to spend on books for their offspring. Brightly coloured and well-designed toy books in particular became extremely popular.
Edmund Evans considered full colour printing a technique well-suited to the simple illustrations in children's books, and reacted against crudely coloured children's book illustrations, which he believed could be beautiful and inexpensive if the print run was large enough to maintain the costs. In doing so, Evans collaborated with Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott. Toy books illustrated by Greenaway, Crane and Caldecott, engraved and printed by Evans, became popular and remain as classic examples of illustrations for children's literature. The three illustrators became known as the triumvirate of Victoria toy book illustrators and greatly influenced a younger generation of toy book or small book illustrators such as Beatrix Potter.
Books such as The Diverting History of John Gilpin
, published in 1878, became popular because of the quality of the illustrations and printing. The Diverting History of John Gilpin, written by William Cowper
and first published in 1785, was illustrated by Caldecott and carefully printed in bright colours by Evans. Each page was illustrated and Caldecott's illustrations were designed to make a reader turn to the next page.
Toward the end of the 19th century, as toy books became more elaborate, children's literature scholar Anne Lundin explains that reviewers wrote about them, "Art for the nursery has become Art indeed", in contrast books of a few decades earlier, described as "plain and clumsy to ugliness in their exterior". By 1882 the Magazine of Art contrasted contemporary toy books with ornate illustrations, high quality paper, and good colour printing, to 18th century books produced "when expectations were low". The more elaborate toy books, such as Walter Crane's The Baby's Opera, were more expensive selling for as much as five shilling
s.
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
in England. Toy books typically were paperbound books with six illustrated pages. Early toy books sold for sixpence
Sixpence
Sixpence may refer to:*Sixpence *Sixpence *Sixpence *Flat cap, also called a sixpence*Sixpence None the Richer, an American pop/rock band...
, and later, more elaborate editions, for a shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
. The mid-19th century saw the beginning of the idea that picture books made specifically for children, with art dominating the text rather than the traditional format of illustrations supplementing the text, could be made popular.
By the mid-19th century to the early-20th century, Edmund Evans
Edmund Evans
Edmund Evans was a prominent English wood engraver and colour printer during the Victorian era. Evans specialized in full-colour printing, which became popular in the mid-19th century...
became the premier printer of toy books in London, producing books for Routledge, Warne & Routledge
Routledge
Routledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
. To illustrate the books he hired and collaborated with Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
, Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honor. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognized by the Royal Academy. Caldecott greatly influenced...
and Kate Greenaway
Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway , known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer, who spent much of her childhood at Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. She studied at what is now the Royal College of Art in London, which at that time had a separate section for women, and was headed by...
—known as the triumvirate of children's toy book illustrators.
18th century toy books
The term toy book is from John NewberyJohn Newbery
John Newbery was an English publisher of books who first made children's literature a sustainable and profitable part of the literary market. He also supported and published the works of Christopher Smart, Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Johnson...
's 18th century "gift books"—such as A Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744)—with which were included small toys for children such as pincushions for girls. Publishers of Victorian toy books identified them with the gift books of the previous century.
The earliest toy books were picture books bound in paper, six to eight pages, sometimes left blank on the back, with little text, and coloured illustrations that rarely attributed to known illustrators. They were commonly bound in heavy paper and, less frequently, in linen. Often toy books were released as a series. Early toy books were hand-coloured, often by children in print shops. By the mid-19th century colour printing became more prevalent, and toward the end of the century some of the books became quite elaborate.
The main characteristic of a toy book was that it was a coloured picture book with emphasis on pictures rather than text. Vicki Anderson, author of The Dime Novel in Children's Literature, writes that toy books were temptingly colourful and not instructive. The books were inexpensive and often were reprints and condensed versions of unoriginal stories. Fairy tales were common reprinted as toy books, as were books such as Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
's Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
.
19th century toy books
When the English publishing house Routledge and WarneRoutledge
Routledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
contracted with printer Edmund Evans
Edmund Evans
Edmund Evans was a prominent English wood engraver and colour printer during the Victorian era. Evans specialized in full-colour printing, which became popular in the mid-19th century...
in 1865 to provide toy books for a growing market, the toy books he printed "revolutionized the field of children's books". The market for toy books became so great that Evans began publishing them himself and commissioned the artists to do the illustrations. Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
(1845–1905), Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott
Randolph Caldecott was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honor. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognized by the Royal Academy. Caldecott greatly influenced...
(1846–1886), and Kate Greenaway
Kate Greenaway
Catherine Greenaway , known as Kate Greenaway, was an English children's book illustrator and writer, who spent much of her childhood at Rolleston, Nottinghamshire. She studied at what is now the Royal College of Art in London, which at that time had a separate section for women, and was headed by...
(1846–1901) are the best known illustrators of late-Victorian toybooks, and "did much to develop the sense, the shape, and the look of the modern picture book". Children's illustrated books became fashionable during the Victorian period with an emphasis on the artistic value of the work at a period when the middle and upper classes had funds to spend on books for their offspring. Brightly coloured and well-designed toy books in particular became extremely popular.
Edmund Evans considered full colour printing a technique well-suited to the simple illustrations in children's books, and reacted against crudely coloured children's book illustrations, which he believed could be beautiful and inexpensive if the print run was large enough to maintain the costs. In doing so, Evans collaborated with Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott. Toy books illustrated by Greenaway, Crane and Caldecott, engraved and printed by Evans, became popular and remain as classic examples of illustrations for children's literature. The three illustrators became known as the triumvirate of Victoria toy book illustrators and greatly influenced a younger generation of toy book or small book illustrators such as Beatrix Potter.
Books such as The Diverting History of John Gilpin
The Diverting History of John Gilpin
The Diverting History of John Gilpin is a comic ballad by William Cowper, written in 1782. The ballad concerns a draper called John Gilpin who rides a runaway horse...
, published in 1878, became popular because of the quality of the illustrations and printing. The Diverting History of John Gilpin, written by William Cowper
William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
and first published in 1785, was illustrated by Caldecott and carefully printed in bright colours by Evans. Each page was illustrated and Caldecott's illustrations were designed to make a reader turn to the next page.
Toward the end of the 19th century, as toy books became more elaborate, children's literature scholar Anne Lundin explains that reviewers wrote about them, "Art for the nursery has become Art indeed", in contrast books of a few decades earlier, described as "plain and clumsy to ugliness in their exterior". By 1882 the Magazine of Art contrasted contemporary toy books with ornate illustrations, high quality paper, and good colour printing, to 18th century books produced "when expectations were low". The more elaborate toy books, such as Walter Crane's The Baby's Opera, were more expensive selling for as much as five shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s.
Sources
- Desmarais, Robert J. (2006). Randolph Caldecott: His Books and Illustrations for Young Readers. Alberta: Alberta UP. ISBN 1-55195-207-6 | title=Dictionary of National Biography | publisher=Oxford University Press | edition=online | year=2004 | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33035 |accessdate=2010-06-11}}
- Saxby, Maurice. Books in the life of a child: bridges to literature and learning.