Vintage Children’s Nonfiction Set Of 48 HB Books On US States, Illus. Kurt Wiese
Item History & Price
You are bidding on a set of 48 vintage books about individual USA states by Bernadine Bailey and illustrated by Kurt Wiese. This charming set will interest children of a wide age range (adults too!) with its appealing size (approx. 6.5 in by 8 in.) and colorful pictures. Books are sturdily bound and lie fairly flat when opened, making it easy fo...r children to trace maps, sketch state seals or flowers, or take notes.
WRITING STYLEAuthor Bernadette Bailey’s living prose draws readers in and keeps their interest with carefully selected details. She is especially good at connecting the shapes of the states with familiar objects:
Tennessee—“shaped like a piece of wide ribbon”Oklahoma—“shaped like a huge meat cleaver, with a ragged cutting edge formed by the Red River on the south.”Louisiana—“Shaped like a huge boot with its toe dipping into the Gulf”
ILLUSTRATIONS Kurt Wiese, beloved for his picture book Ping, illustrated this set of books. Wiese was the gifted 2 time winner of the Caldecott Honor medal and illustrator for several Newberry Honor books. Each of these little books (about 32 pages each) is lavishly illustrated with alternating double page spreads of lovely colored pictures and detailed black and white line drawings. Each book begins and ends with a beautiful full page colored drawing of the state flower and state seal. The engaging writing, beautiful illustrations, and child friendly size and construction make these books unique.
CONDITIONThese books are library editions and come with all that you would expect—pockets, name cards, dates stamped. Bindings are tight with no loose pages. With exceptions noted below, pages are free from writing. The pen marks in no way obscure the text. No names on fly leaves.
Though the interior of each book is bright, covers show significant wear, soil, and handling, typical for library books 50 to 60 years old. All front covers and back covers shown. Edge wear is considerably less than you would expect with this age of book. Title is clear on most bindings, worn off on 2. Several of the boards are a little warped. Please examine photos carefully and email if you have further questions.
Please note in photo that Iowa has a different cover from the others.
It is unusual to find this set coming up for auction. One book each for 47 states and one for Washington DC—48 total. I have done my best to examine and describe these books accurately. Please email if I can answer any questions for you.
PUBLICATION DATES of REVISED EDITIONS:1951: N Jersey, Virginia1952: Kansas, Oklahoma 1959: Alabama, California, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee1961: Louisiana, Oregon, Minnesota1962: Conn, Kansas, Maryland, NY1963: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Ohio, Penns, Utah1964: Hawaii, Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Washington DC1965: Alaska, Montana, NH, Nevada1966: IowaND: Colorado, Massachusetts
ORIGINAL EDITION (may be first)1956: Mississippi, Nebraska, SC, WV1958: North Dakota, Wyoming1960: Delaware, New Mexico, S Dakota1961: Vermont1962: Idaho, Washington
SPECIFICS ON CONDITION (See general comments above)Arizona: erasure markings on p. 1Colorado: ink mark on blank fly leaf, small ink mark on first full page of textFlorida: small ink mark bottom of p. 5Kansas: blue ink, p. 7Kentucky: 2 small faint ink marks, pp. 8-9Hawaii: staining top right edge of pagesTexas: See photo—ink on Texas title page Iowa: See photo, cover and back different, gold marker on fly leaf, looser binding than other books but no loose pages, damage to about one inch of edge of cover, soiledMaine: p. 24 small circle of ink, p. 27 scribbles on faces of 3 illustrations, small scribble in marginMaryland: discolored edge at base of each pageMississippi: 2 small ink scribbles on title page, one on inside of back cover, ink line on blank back pageWashington, DC: illus. by Seymour Fleishman, not Kurt Wiese
Noticeable warping to boards of TN, NY, HI, DE, PA
Your books will be carefully packaged and sent media mail.