#j.b. lippincott

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Marvin Karlins and Lewis M. Andrews - Biofeedback: Turning on the Power of Your Mind - J.B. Lippincott - 1972 (jacket design by John Denner)

[uwmspeccoll]

Milestone Monday

The King's Hares, from Norway

The Princess with the Twelve Pair of Golden Shoes, from Denmark

Queen Crane, from Sweden

The Rooster, the Hand Mill and the Swarm of Hornets, from Sweden

Ti-Tirit-Ti, from Italy

The Adventures of Bona and Nello, from Italy

The Hedgehog Who Became a Prince, from Poland

The Flight, from Poland

April 1st is the birthday of American librarian and storyteller Augusta Braxton Baker (1911-1998). Born to two schoolteachers in Baltimore, Baker was a voracious student who read at a young age and careened through elementary and high school. With advocacy support from Eleanor Roosevelt, Baker was admitted to the Albany Teacher’s College and in 1934 earned a B. A. in Education and a B. S. in Library Science making her the first African American to earn a librarianship degree from the college.  

In 1939, Baker went on to work as the children’s librarian at New York Public Library’s Harlem branch, founding the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Children’s Books to showcase representation of Black children and life in books, and beginning a lifelong career with children’s literature and the New York Public Library (NYPL). In 1953, she was appointed Storytelling Specialist and Assistant Coordinator of Children’s Services, quickly moving into the Coordinator of Children’s Services position years later and becoming the first African American to hold an administrative position with NYPL. Throughout her career, Baker was active with the American Library Association, and chaired committees for the Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal recognizing excellence in children’s literature. 

In celebration of Baker’s birthday, we’re sharing The Golden Lynx and Other Tales, a collection of international folk tales compiled by Baker and illustrated by Austrian artist Johannes Troyer (1902-1969). This is the first edition of the book published in 1960 by J. B. Lippincott and is signed by Baker, who writes in the introduction, “No story has been included in this collection that has not stood the supreme test of the children’s interest and approval”. 

Read other Milestone Monday posts here! 

View more posts on children's books here.

– Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern 

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Celia Fremlin (pseudonym of Celia Margaret Goller) - Don't Go To Sleep In The Dark: Short Stories - J.B. Lippincott Company - 1970

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Christine Andreae - Seances & Spiritualists - J.B. Lippincott - 1974 (jacket design by Jan Pyk)

[uwmspeccoll]

Publishers’ Binding Thursday

This week for Publishers’ Binding Thursday I am sharing Richard Wagner by Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855-1927) and translated from the German by G. Ainslie Hight. It was published in 1897 in London by J.M. Dent & Co. and in Philadelphia by J.B. Lippincott. It is a book all about German composer Richard Wagner’s (1813-1883) life and work that features photogravures and collotypes, facsimiles, and engravings. It’s a lovely publishers’ binding with blue book cloth and gold stamping with flowers, birds, and more. 

Unfortunately, the book was written by Houston Stewart Chamberlain, famous racist philosopher whose writing promoted German ethnonationalism, antisemitism, and scientific racism. According to Wikipedia he has been called “Hitler’s John the Baptist” and influenced the antisemitism of the Nazi Party. Chamberlain authoring this book about Wagner’s life and accomplishments isn’t ill-fitting—Wagner also expressed antisemitic views, especially toward the end of his life as he became increasingly conservative. Wagner was a favorite composer of Adolf Hitler, who frequently visited Wagner’s opera house in Bayreuth. 

View more Publishers’ Binding Thursday posts.

-- Alice, Special Collections Department Manager

[unrighteousbooks]

Our good friend Ms. Song enquired as to the publication date of the previously-mentioned book by John Finnemore. My lovely little copy was published by J.B. Lippincott, in 1900, in Philadelphia. Has it really been that long? Time does pass quickly, doesn't it?