Easy Readings and Pretty Pictures

London and Edinburgh: T. Nelson and Sons, 1865. Hardcover. Good. We are pleased to offer this quite rare and interesting children's book. It provides twenty short stories, with pretty pictures, designed to appeal to beginning readers: "Easy readings are not alays readings in very short words....people used to think that a-b, AB, e-b, EB, and reading of that sort, was easy, and if children did not like it, they were very naughty, and would grow up to be ugly dunces. Now Easy Readings Books are books with nice short tales in them....Every word in this book has a meaning, and it is one which, if you do not know, you can easily find out" (Preface). We were able to find advertising for it's first publishing in a listing for the 1865 Nelsons' Christmas List. Reddish brown boards with title debossed in gilt to front board and spine. Measures approximately 6" by 4", [i-v], vi-viii, [9] 10-48. We found none available in the trade, none to auction per RBH and approximately 35 in institutions per OCLC. Overall good. Debossed boards are heavily soiled, tears and slight loss at head and tail of spine, some soiling to text, but overall good.