The Hole Book. [and] The Slant Book. [and] The Rocket Book by NEWELL, Peter

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1908. Three of Peter Newell's Greatest Books

NEWELL, Peter. The Hole Book. [&] The Slant Book. [&] The Rocket Book. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1908-10-12.

First editions. Three octavo volumes: The Hole Book (8 5/8 x 7 inches; 219 x 178 mm.). 52 pp; The Slant Book (8 3/4 x 7 inches; 222 x 178 mm.). 48 pp; The Rocket Book (8 5/8 x 7 inches; 219 x 178 mm.). 48 pp.

The Hole Book with ink inscription on front free endpaper dated "Sept 28 1910".
The Slant Book with ink inscription on front free endpaper dated "Dec 25-1911".

Publisher's quarter blue cloth over pictorial boards. Edges of the slant book with minimal rubbing otherwise fine. Housed together in a quarter dark blue morocco over blue silk boards clamshell case. Spine with four raised bands paneled in gilt, three morocco labels (orange, black & light blue) lettered in gilt in compartments. The Slant Book with some light marginal soiling. A wonderful collection.

Near fine copies of these pioneer books in which the novel physical structure of the book (a hole through all the pages of The Hole Book & The Rocket Book, a rhomboid shape for The Slant Book) is an integral element of the story.

Peter Sheaf Hersey Newell (1862-1924) was an American artist and writer. He created picture books and illustrated new editions of many children's books. A native of McDonough County, Illinois, Newell built a reputation in the 1880s and 1890s for his humorous drawings and poems, which appeared in Harper's Weekly, Harper's Bazaar, Scribner's Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Judge, and other publications. He later wrote and illustrated several popular children's books, such as Topsys and Turvys (1893), a collection of poems and images which could be viewed upside-down or right-side-up; The Hole Book (1908), which had a literal hole at the center of each page to indicate the path of a bullet; and The Slant Book (1910), which took the shape of a rhomboid and told the story of a baby carriage careening down a hill, and The Rocket Book (1912), the story of how a rocket launched from the basement floor of an apartment building and how it interrupts the day.

Grolier Children's 100: 59 (The Hole Book).