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//THE CHILDREN'S BOOK//Fraces Hodgson BurnettCupples & Leon1915 The Children’s Book is a collection of short stories, poems, comic strips, and illustrations for children. Edited by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the book contains a variety of different authors and illustrators. Burnett herself was a prominent children's author from the Victorian era, her most celebrated works include //The Secret Garden//, //Little Lord Fauntleroy//, and //A Little Princess//.
 * BOOK OVERVIEW **

The book itself was published at the tail end of the Victorian era, a period of great technological and social change, when Europe and America transformed from agrarian societies to industrial societies. During this time period there was a dramatic shift in society's view of children. Childhood was viewed as a period separate from adulthood, and children needed nurturing.
 * Victorian Era and the Child **

This particular edition of The Children’s Book was published in 1915 by Cupples & Leon. The company, founded by Victor Cupples and Arthur T. Leon was an active publishing house from 1902 – 1956. Cupples & Leon are best known for their juvenile and comic series, including //Little Orphan Annie// and //Mutt & Jeff//. The company was sold in 1956 and became part of Platt and Munk.
 * PUBLISHER **

 However, the book was previously published by Holiday Publishing Company in 1907 and 1908 then again in 1909 by Moffat Yard Company.

Unfortunately, there is very little information on the provenance of The Children’s Book. It came to Goucher College’s Special Collections in 1992, before a new cataloging system developed in 1993. Therefore, there is no information on who donated the book. The only hint of a previous owner comes from the dedication on the first page which reads, “To Billy from Aunt Daisy. Christmas 1922.”
 * PROVENANCE **

There are multiple items in //The Children's Book// to help the reader navigate the text. The first piece in the book is a poem called "The Baby's Secret" by France Hodgson Burnett. The poem describes how small children are able to see the magic the world that adults are incapable of noticing. It is very fitting for a collection of children’s stories, and seeks introduce stories of magic and whimsy. In addition, almost every story has a heading with the title and author, and incipit letters denote the beginning of each story. Some longer stories contain Roman Numerals to indicate chapters or sections of the story. Finally there are @ornaments at the ends of the stories as a closing symbol. These usually appear as a woodcut of a collection of frolicking animals or children. 
 * NAVIGATION **

However, there are no page numbers, which greatly hinders navigation. According to Elizabeth DeCoster, a User Services Librarian at Goucher College, as the book is a fourth edition, the publisher could printed the book from a text block instead of the original plates. By today’s standards Cupples & Leon would have essentially photocopied the content, and thus page numbers would be lost.

As //The Children's Book// is from the early 20th century, there are multiple options as to which printing method was used.
 * ILLUSTRATIONS **
 * Possible Printing Methods **

//Color// The color prints could be planographic prints or chromolithographs.

//Black and White// The black and white prints could be some sort of photolithograph, either a line photolithograph or a transfer lithograph. In a line photolithograph, an image drawn on paper can be photographed and a negative can be exposed to light sensitive paper. The lines of the image become hardened gelation, which could be inked and transfered to zinc or stone for normal printing. In a transfer lithograph, the chemical process uses the reticulation of gelatin to break up the tonal areas into dots and lines, which print black against the black paper.


 * Visual Methods of Engagement **

//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fantastic Imagery // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The fantastic imagery is enticing as it inspires the belief of magic and wonder in the world.

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//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Exotic Imagery // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The exotic imagery, which details people, places, and objects from non-western countries, offers new and exciting subject matter for children.

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//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Comics and Sequential Art // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The use of sequential art is engaging for multiple reasons. These comics strips and panel images are not only humorous, but are attractive because they break up the repetitiveness of the text and force readers to infer meanings from the symbols and gestures presented.

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