History and biography | Cotsen Children’s Library

Cotsen 82867. From the Mus White Collection of Photographically Illustrated Books.

Books for children about the presidents of the United States must include portraits of each. Shown to the left is a detail of the frontispiece to Ella Hines Stratton’s Lives of Our Presidents: Containing the Childhood, Early Educcation, Occuptations, Characteristics and Achievements, (Philadelphia: National Publishing Co., 1902). Look closely and you will see that the foreheads of most of the presidents have large pencilled Xes. None of the other portraits have been marked or annotated. Maybe the Xes indicate which presidential biographies had been read. Perhaps it’s an sign of approval or disapproval. A few of the chapters are illustrated with more exciting subjects, like this one of the young Ulysses S. Grant, who was a superb rider, beating a circus pony at his game of throwing boys to entertain the crowds.Paper cutting and patriotism go hand-in-hand in a set of pamphlets illustrated by Louis Jacobson published in 1941 by Platt & Munk Co., which include American Pioneers, Famous Americans, and Famous Presidents. The presidents honored with “Stick’ Em Cut Outs (Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.)” are Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. The instructions are pretty clear: tear out the gummed page and cut out the individual pieces for the portrait to be realized. Lay the pieces in their places on the outline portrait. Lift up the pieces, gently moisten the gummed sides, and lay them back down on the portrait. If the sponge is too wet, the pieces will buckle. This art project will help children develop concentration, coordination, and patience. Here is Jacobson’s outline portrait of Old Hickory with the page of pieces. The last example is a recent acquisition. It is probably the only school yearbook in the Cotsen collection. It is a record of the school year 1971-1972 at Punahou, the prestigious private co-educational college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii, founded by missionaries in 1841. That year, the future 44th president of the United States was enrolled in Mrs.Hefty’s fifth-grade class. He turns up in the picture “On Strike” below, along with Malcolm Waugh. the owner of this copy of the yearbook. You can find Barry Obama’s signature in the detail from the “Autographs” page at the end.

If your memory is like a sieve, this new acquisition was meant for you. The title translated into English reads: Great Discoveries and Inventions Dated by Themselves. It is not entirely self-explanatory, which I suspect was deliberate on the part of the Parisian publisher Amedee Bedelet. ( A better translation might be “Great Discoveries and Inventions Each Depicting Its Date.”) This handsome oblong folio was issued as a volume in the series Science pour rire, which has to be translated into idiomatic English with a phrase like “Learn by Laughing.” The idea is the clever illustrations will trick you into memorizing useful facts in spite of yourself.

Let’s see if the concept works… Here, in chronological order, are some notable advances in the history of human progress (some selections could be debated).

Paper (graciously credited to the Chinese, but the French inventors are illustrated)Gunpowder (monk Berthold Schwarz was not responsible as claimed in the caption)