Wonder Book of Why & What? 10th Edition 1938 - 8 Color Plates

Description: The Wonder Books were a series of books, comprising 32 titles published by Ward Lock & Co., London, aimed at older children and were issued on a regular basis between 1911 and 1981. The term Wonder Book is said to have first been used by Nathaniel Hawthorne of Boston in 1851 with his The Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys. While covering all manner of subjects likely to be of interest to young people of the era, they included a large transport component made up of Railways, Aircraft, Ships, Motors, the Army and Navy as well as industrial themes such as 'Engineering Wonders,' Science, Machinery and Inventions. These books were ahead of their time in their use of mostly slick paper and good quality photographs. They were also sturdily constructed. This series of books gives the reader a fascinating insight into the fashions and ethics of the United Kingdom and it's Empire (later the Commonwealth) during the first half of the twentieth century and many titles cover what older children did in their spare time before mass social media took hold. Harry Golding, F.R.G.S., of Ward, Lock & Co edited the very first 'Wonder Book’ in 1911. This was The Wonder Book of Railways. Harry Golding continued to be the key person editing all of the expanding line of Wonder Books. Prior to this time, he had written or edited children’s books, many with the talented illustrator, Margaret Tarrant (1888–1959) even writing verse in some of them. Then in his spare time, he edited Ward & Lock’s acclaimed Red Guides (1870s–1970s), tourist guide books to the British Isles and continental Europe. The London Blitz resulted in a direct hit on, and complete destruction of, Ward Lock’s premises, the business archives and warehouse; they would relocate and rebuild. Perhaps due to the loss of all of its records, we have almost no information on Mr. Golding who has been described as “relentlessly prolific,” always including the post-nominal initials, FRGS (Fellow Royal Geographical Society) in his name and lacking agreed upon birth or death dates (c. 1875?–1950s?) or even parentage. It has been argued that perhaps “Harry Golding” is a pseudonym, but he is listed in the Literary Yearbook for 1921/22 (London) as follows: “Ed. Ward, Lock's Series of British and Foreign GuideBooks; The Wonder Books, and many other books for children. Between Two Fires, 1900; The Money -Hunger, 1905; Zoo Days, 1919 (all Ward, Lock). C. Windsor Mag.” (p. 170) This tenth edition of "Why and What" published c. 1938 bears Harry Golding’s name as Editor and has end papers by celebrated British artist and cartoonist, Thomas Maybank, (1869-1929) with the characters in the front posing questions (why) and those in the back showing comic results (what). The cover photograph is of a young boy in a green 'bush' hat and blue pullover almost framed in a Question mark and had been regularly used for this title for more than a decade. The full Color Frontispiece is of favorite British Birds while facing p. 64 and entitled “A Thrilling Moment,”is a color plate of a parachutist jumping from a bi-plane. On p. 171 a volcano is explained and shown with a color plate depicting the eruption of Mt. Bromo in Java. Technical and scientific topics are covered as well, such as the two-page diagram of a 4-6-2 “Pacific” locomotive and a multi-page article on “what the big cranes do.” Between the Wars in England and the Empire, Christmas for the young meant receiving one of the 32 titles in Ward & Lock’s Wonder Series, all edited by the elusive Harry Golding, F.R.G.S..

Price: 25 USD

Location: Weston, Massachusetts

End Time: 2025-01-24T22:03:40.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.38 USD