Is this the only remaining copy of this book in the whole world?

This beautiful little childrens' book recently arrived on my desk. It wasn't a title or author that I was familiar with, so to google I went, to track down some information. The result was something that happens only very, very rarely in this game: not only could I not find another copy of this book for sale, I could find no record of its existence, period. Even exceptionally scarce titles usually turn up in a library catalogue somewhere; Man the Lifeboat! by F. Hamilton-Knight did not.

There's an incomplete copy of The Beacon Light, a similar looking title by Hamilton-Knight (and a W.H.S. Thompson, who is an artist) on Amazon here and some *very* expensive copies (£300!) of another Hamilton-Knight storybook, The Turning of the Tide, here and here.

... but no other copies of Man the Lifeboat!

It's a rather wonderful thing, so here, for the first time on t'internet, is the whole book in all its small but perfectly formed glory. It's not dated, but I reckon it's late Victorian or Edwardian. The quality of the printing is very good indeed. Given his work with Knight on The Beacon Light, perhaps the uncredited artist here is also W.H.S. Thompson.

It is for sale, but as it's so hard to know what price level to aim for, I'll just say I'm open to offers!

Another Rather Upsetting Victorian Children's book...

A little while back Withnail Books was briefly home to a somewhat disturbing Victorian children's book, detailed here. Though not quite hitting the same heights of alternate reality morbidity, this recent arrival also makes one wonder quite what the Victorians were on when it came to coming up with nice little books for their kids.

The book's a bit long to show in toto here, but a few pages will suffice to sum it up. Silverland is a scarce volume (no non-POD copies around online currently), circa 1882, written by 'Mabel' and with intricate 'Pictures in Colours' by George Lambert. It's about Little May, a girl who, as is the case with most little girls, desperately wants to see some fairies...

So far, so good. Little May is certain about the fairies, even though she never sees any, and the story continues with descriptions of the tiny folks that live in the various types of flowers, and how May grows up to be nice to her brother's pet squirrel (I didn't understand that bit either). But what's this? Here's the final spread...

THE END. No fairies for you, love! And no proof that they weren't just in your head all along. All you get is to stare disconsolately into the fire. Those Victorians were harsh.

Really? A Rather Disturbing Victorian Book for Children

This only came in yesterday, and has already sold this morning (along with three others in the same series, also illustrated by Frank Cox), so I'm glad I took the chance to photograph it last night. It's a little nursery rhyme book, circa 1890, and it's really a bit bonkers. Especially the last picture.

Here it is, in toto:

Let's just have a nice close-up of the final image:

Yes, that's children laughing at gravestones. Their own gravestones, from the other timestream this book appears to have going on, Sliding Doors style? So this is an early sci-fi nursery rhyme, to boot. OK, Victorian cautionary tale and all that, but laughing at gravestones? Really?