Highlighting books

I sell an awful lot of vintage books in my Etsy store. I'm always drawn to the illustrations when I come across old books and I wonder if that is what motivates my buyers to make that purchase. I'm getting ready to list a whole new stack and here are the illustrative highlights.

I've sold quite a few pre-1970 classroom readers (reading textbooks) but "More Fun With Our Friends" is the very first true Dick and Jane book from Scott, Foresman and Company,. The adorably sweet illustrations in this book from 1962 were drawn by Richard W. Wiley, Jack White and Rod Ruth.

Even Girl Scout handbooks are a great source for vintage imagery. This "Junior Girl Scout Handbook" has a certificate in the front that says it's owner purchased this first edition the first week of publication in September 1963.

 

If I'm lucky I even find very old books for teens and adults with beautiful illustrations that reflect the styles of the time period. "The Mascot of Sweet Briar Gulch" (1908) by Henry Wallace Phillips was illustrated by F. Graham Cootes and has mostly pictures of boys and men but just look at that frontispiece. You can just tell by her clothing that the book is from the turn of the last century.

In researching the book, I just discovered Project Gutenberg. You can download the text of the book or read it online here. While I love the feel and look of old books, this is just such a cool use of technology.