Children’s Literature

Children’s Literature

Jordan, Alice M. (1870-1960) Collection

(Special Collections) Alice Jordan was the first Supervisor of Children’s Services in the Boston Public Library. Historic, contemporary, and international titles are included with the complete works of authors and illustrators represented as well as various editions of fairy tales and old and new classics. The collection contains picture books, fiction, non-fiction, toy and moveable books from the infant to the teen level from the 19th century to the present day. Foreign language material from 80 countries is represented as well. Online access: Selections from the Jordan collection are accessible through the Internet Archive.

Juvenile Collection

(Rare Books & Manuscripts) Includes two "Donatus leaves" from the popular Latin schoolboy grammar, originating in Holland in the middle of the fifteenth century. Among the various American collections one may find nearly 100 versions of the New England Primer and its competitors, some fifteen miniature or "Thumb" Bibles, and such rarities as Janeway’s A Token for Children (Boston, 1728) and Perrault’s Tales of Passed Times by Mother Goose (New York, 1795). English and Scottish juvenilia include more than 250 early nineteenth century chapbooks such as The Universal Battledore, The Invisible Prince, A New Middle Book, and The Infantile Cabinet of Beasts. Illustrated books include numerous works of Kate Greenway, Walter Crane, and Randolph Caldecott.  (Rare Books & Manuscripts)

A-Z Collections Index