(Dogs) A Bow-Wow Book (Code No. 100); illustrated by Stanley Tyreman Berkeley. London: Dean's Rag Book Co., Ltd., between 1909-1919. FIRST EDITION. Oblong 8vo - 7-3/8" x 8-5/8". [16] butterfly-folded double cloth pages including wrappers. Original publisher's [2] pp. advertising slip laid in.
Bound in red cloth-backed color pictorial limp cloth wrappers, sewn as issued. The textile edges exhibit the publisher's standard serrated pinking to the head and foot. The overall condition of the rag book is VERY GOOD +, showing minor light stains to the front wrapper and light localized staining present on the internal textile pages.
Technical Construction and Late Victorian Animalier Artistry
Patented at the turn of the twentieth century by Henry Samuel Dean, the Dean’s Rag Book Company specialized in durable juvenile books constructed from washable cotton cloth sheets printed with colorfast, non-toxic inks. This copy of A Bow-Wow Book (Code No. 100) utilizes the firm's characteristic "butterfly fold" construction, wherein the textile leaves are printed on one side only and joined back-to-back, producing double-thickness pages that provide structural rigidity while remaining pliable for nursery use.
The volume serves as a canine survey primer illustrated by Stanley Tyreman Berkeley, a prominent late-Victorian and Edwardian painter celebrated for his dramatic animalier subjects and military battle scenes. Berkeley's work for this title includes dedicated individual portraits of various breeds on every page, anchored by a prominent central double-page canine spread illustrating "Esquimaux Dogs Used For Arctic Sledging." This inclusion highlights contemporary British public fascination with polar exploration expeditions during the heroic age of Arctic discovery.
Scarcity, Institutional Census, and Ephemera Survival
Because textile toy books were explicitly marketed to withstand destructive nursery handling, laundering, and outdoor play, surviving examples typically suffer from severe fraying, ink loss, or missing leaves. The survival of this copy is further elevated by the inclusion of the fragile two-page publisher's advertising insert. Intended to be discarded immediately upon retail purchase, these paper advertisements provide valuable historical context regarding contemporary regional pricing, shipping rates, and the active production checklists of the firm during the pre-World War I era.
A current global institutional search via WorldCat locates only three copies in permanent public collections worldwide, preserved within the library systems of Princeton University, Syracuse University, and William & Mary.
A STRUCTURALLY INTACT EDWARDIAN TEXTILE SURVIVAL RETAINING THE PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISING INSERT, OF NOTE TO SPECIALIZED COLLECTIONS DOCUMENTING MATERIAL CULTURE, CANINE ICONOGRAPHY, AND HISTORIC TOY BOOK PRINTING.
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