Composed of vibrant archival materials ranging in genre and format from stereo photographs to sheet music, and from picture books to card games, Children’s Literature and Culture presents an expansive view of literature and print culture produced for and by children in the long nineteenth century.
Though transatlantic in scope, the collection’s primary focus is American literature and culture, and a particular strength are materials published by McLaughlin Bros., the New York-based publishing firm that pioneered color printing technologies in children’s books. The published and unpublished materials digitized here come from the American Antiquarian Society.
This resource is vital for teachers and researchers interested not only in cultural productions from what is considered the ‘golden age’ of children’s literature, but who are also interested in representations of diverse topics—disability, race and racism, gender and sex, slavery, animals and nature, etc.—found in these works.
