Babes in the Wood, Little Folks Series

New York: McLoughlin Bros. 1888. R. André. [JUVENILE] [POETRY] [RHYMING VERSE]. R. , illustrator.

8vo (8 1/8” x 6”); [12]pp; stiff color pictorial wrapper, title on front in red, chromolithograph pictorial of birds on the front and rear; 6 full-page color illustrations with text; 3” split at wrapper fold, staples rusted but holding, light hand-soiling of wrapper, some spotting and damp staining; very good. Item #2245

A very old English story first published as a broadside ballad in the 16th century. A terrible tale of two young children who are orphaned and the uncle who conspired to have them killed to steal their inheritance. The children die alone in the woods and are covered over with leaves by robins. The evil conspiring uncle came to ruin within seven years and was put to death for robbery.

The last two stanzas of the poem sum up the moral of the story,
“You that executors be mode, / And overseers eke / Of children that be fatherless, / And infants mild and meek;
Take you example by this thing, / And yield to each his right, / Lest God with such like misery / Your wicked minds requite.”.

Price: $75.00