The Juvenile Forget Me Not; a Christmas, New-Years', and Birth Day Present, for 1839
Philadelphia: Thomas T. Ash & Henry F. Anners, 1838. First Edition. Hardcover. 16mo. Pp. 180. Frontis. engraving. Illustrated with an additional six engravings. Polished stained half calf binding over aqua boards, lemon yellow endpapers. Tooled spine decoration and gilt title. Edges gilt. Re-backed with original spine laid down. Some tissue guards excised with offsetting opposite, occasional light foxing, else crisp and bright. Boards rubbed, corners bumped. Good+. Item #4973
Engravings by M. Osborne and Page & Son, after illustrations by W. Westall and Page & Son. In the preface the anonymous editor claims this is the first American offering of such an album of short prose, poems and "embellishments" for youth of both sexes, but the Rutgers University Library checklist in a 1938 journal article Literary Annuals and Gift Books by Alan E. James shows 46 titles or variants in their holdings including our offering (his number 22) that did not appear in Dr. Ralph Thompson's 1936 American Literary Annuals & Gift Books checklist of 855 titles. As of late 2021, OCLC records only six copies. Scarce.
Price: $150.00