The Christmas Tree and other stories.
New York: C. S. Francis & Company, 252 Broadway, Boston: J. H. Francis, 128 Washington Street, 1850 on title page, prelims have a list of Francis & Co's Little Library for young person's of various ages; dark green blindstamped boards with elaborately decorated gilt spine; tissue guarded frontis with children gathered around tall Christmas tree standing on a table, most stories have decorated capitals, a few other illustrations; 3.75 x 6"' 160 pp. Small hardback.
A collection of carols, hymns, and long narrative poems interspersed with four stories: The Story of Little Cristal (also reprinted in 1863), a poor little street seller dies in a tenement fire in a London court, The Christmas Tree, two poor orphans come into the lives of comfortable and welcoming people as Christmas surprises (trans. German?), The Picture of the Virgin, (trans. from J C von Schmid 1844) a sucessful man is reunited with his long lost, poverty stricken mother after many years, The Birds and the Guinea Pigs,/The Pigeon House (1863 as the Poet's Children)- an interesting chronicle of the changing emotions and heirarchies of the children's pets and of the winter hunger of the wild birds for whom "the pantry door is fast locked and the key is now lost". By a prolific writer and editor from a Quaker family. (1799 - 1888) It is difficult to make a statement of publishing history as these little stories were included under different titles and configurations even in 1850.
CONDITION: Good; December 1868 gift inscription "Miss Annie Parker from her cousin Henry" no other marks, straight, tight; covers faded, spine gilt ok, spine ends and bottom corners bumped and rubbed, pages quite dark, but only frontis and title page are foxed, stained in a few spreads, moisture stain from spine head to book margins, edge/page bump, half inch corner chip p. 113. Well read. Item #22534
Price: $85.00