Edwin Pearson

Banbury Chap Books and Nursery Toy Book Literature - Fully Illustrated with Original Layout Edwin Pearson

Chapbooks were small booklets, usually printed on a single piece of paper and folded into books of eight, twelve, sixteen or twenty-four pages. They were in circulation from C17 to C19, and they were sold in markets and fairs by hawkers or "chapmen" for a penny or less. The quality of paper was poor and sometimes the illustrations bore no relation to the text. They were the reading matter of the common people. The subject matter was very broad - biographies, romances, religious writings, songs, poems and instruction manuals. They were read by (or perhaps read out to) people of all ages. This publication is a charming collection of Chap Books, focussed around the town of Banbury. It includes several hundred illustrations. In particular, there are many nursery stories depicted, including Jack the Giant Killer, Cock Robin, Tom Thumb, Whittington and many more. It is a charming collection and of great historical interest.