Take My Life - 1967

I acquired this book over the Christmas holiday while my grandmother was cleaning out her basement. I haven't read the book yet, but I picked it up because I really liked the cover illustration.  I loved how the bold white silhouette contrasted against the busy and colorful background of London, complete with a watercolor texture sky.  

Take My Life was written by Winston Graham and published by Doubleday & Company, Inc in New York in 1967.  This particular copy is marked on the flap as being a Book Club Edition.  The illustration on the cover is credited to Lynn Sweat.  Does that name sound familiar to you at all?  It might - Lynn Sweat is known for the illustration work he has done for the popular Amelia Bedelia series of children's books.

The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane - 1952

The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane is an adorable little hardcover children's book, written by Ian Munn and illustrated by Elizabeth Webb.  This book was published in 1952 by Rand McNally & Company in Chicago.  

The book is about the little chipmunk mailman of Bayberry Lane who delivers mail to all of the animals.  He notices that Mrs. Pig always waits by her mailbox, but never receives any mail, which he thinks is very sad and lonely.  He goes home and writes letters to all of the other animals to arrange a surprise party for Mrs. Pig so that she can make new friends, after which she starts happily sending and receiving mail every day.

Black Beauty - 1910s or 1920s

This beautiful hardcover edition of Anna Sewell's classic book Black Beauty was published by M.A. Donohue & Co. in Chicago.  The clothbound hardcover has the design stamped into it, with the top of the pages having a gold edging that matches the title lettering on the cover and spine.

The book is not dated, but after some hefty internet searching I was able to track down the same book being sold through the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America.  Oddly enough, in my edition, on both the spine and the inside title page, author Anna Sewell's name is incorrectly spelled as Anna Sewall.

I did find a 1920 edition that was published by the same company that, for the most part, had the same black and white illustrations but a different style title page.  The author's name was spelled correctly on that 1920 edition, which leads me to think that my undated edition is an earlier one, and that the author's name was corrected in later printings.

I'm not posting any of the illustrations from the inside because I couldn't get a clean scan without forcing the spine of the book (which I always try to avoid doing), but the black and white illustrations are mostly the same ones that are seen in many other printings of the book from this era.

Our First Ladies - 1957

This is the third and final book I will be featuring today for the Fourth of July.  This book is a 1957 edition of Jane and Burt McConnell's Our First Ladies: Martha Washington to Mamie Eisenhower, published by Thomas Y. Crowell Company in New York. 

In Calico and Crinoline - 1966

In honor of the Fourth of July, I thought I would share a few American history themed books that I got from a library discard pile last year.  This book is a 1966 edition of Eleanor Sickle's In Calico and Crinoline: True Stories of American Women 1608-1865, published by The Viking Press in New York.