Children’s Books 1850

This series features illustrated children's books mainly from the Victorian era, more specifically from between 1850 and 1904. I found so many interesting books that I decided to split the series.

This first series features books from between the 1850s to 1881.
Books from between 1881 to 1904 will appear here later in the year.

Until the mid-18th century, children's books mainly consisted of moralistic or enlightening stories propagating the religious and ethical view that hard work and diligence determines a person's life. Little consideration was given to children's reading pleasure.
The focus in children's books gradually shifted from simple moral lessons to entertainment, with techniques of expression employed specifically for that purpose. Books carrying witty illustrations or exploring children's inner life also began to appear. The mid-19th century saw the development of girls' novels and narratives of family life.

This is part 6 of an 11-part series on children's books 1850s - 1881:

1875 Little Boy Blue
published by Marcus Ward & Co. Ltd.,
London, Belfast, and New York:

Marcus Ward and Co. was a British publishing company known for its illustrated books for children and adults, as well as its decorative greeting cards.

It had its beginnings in 1802, with a partnership between John Ward, James Blow and Robert Greenfield. By the 1820s they owned paper mills in Belfast, Comber and Coleraine, which operated under the company name of John Ward and Sons. In the early 1830s Marcus Ward (son of John Ward) took over the running of the Belfast paper mill. Then in 1833 Marcus formed a new company, Marcus Ward & Sons, based in Belfast, having a new direction, in stationery and general publishing. Marcus Ward and Sons soon became very successful in the area of colour lithography, winning a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851. By the time Marcus died in 1847 his three sons, Francis, William and John, had successfully taken over the running of the business.

1875 The Three Little Crows
published by McLoughlin Brothers, New York:

The Morning Call

The Result of Disobedience

Wicked, naughty, dying Bill

Charley looked on and laughed, I know

The Parting.

1877 A Queer Carriage
published by D. Lothrop & Co., Boston, Mass:

In 1850 Daniel Lothrop bought out a book store in Dover, New Hampshire, which he made one of the best and largest in New Englandand it became a literary centre: a favourite meeting-place for the cultivated people of the town.

By 1868, Lothrop was ready to concentrate his forces upon the broader accomplishment of his life purpose of publishing literature for the people, and especially for children and youth. He then transferred his publishing work to Boston, Massachusetts.

He instituted a new and distinct literature for children, publishing it under much discouragement until it became a great success and brought him the title of the "children's friend." He was eminently successful in elevating the standard of literature for the Sunday-school, for young people and for the home, always carrying out his first expressed purpose "never to publish a work simply sensational, no matter what chances of money it has in it, and to publish books that will make true, steadfast growth in right living—not alone right thinking, but right living."

1877 My Pet Book
published by J.B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, PA:

J. B. Lippincott & Co. was an American publishing house founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1836 by Joshua B. Lippincott. Joshua Lippincott's company began by selling Bibles and other religious works then successfully expanded into trade books, which became the largest portion of the business. In 1849, Lippincott acquired Grigg, Elliot & Co., a major book distribution company. The acquisition helped make the company one of the largest publishers in the United States. In the 1950s the company began producing a successful line of medical and nursing books and journals. The company was sold to Harper & Row in 1978 but Joshua Lippincott's great-grandson Joseph Wharton Lippincott, Jr. remained on the Board of Directors until 1987. In 1990, the company was acquired by Wolters Kluwer, who merged it with Raven Publishers and then with Williams & Wilkins to form Lippincott Williams & Wilkins in 1998.