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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bingamum, post: 4122699, member: 19618&quot;]I collect children’s picture books and recently purchased this old beat-up copy of “Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes” with illustrations after Kate Greenaway. It was very inexpensive, and I thought I might be able to save some of the pages for future framing. Once I actually looked at it closely and began to research, it has proven to be a more interesting find than just an old, battered copy. The original version of this book was published in 1881 by George Routledge and very clearly says illustrations by Kate Greenaway. My copy according to the inscription on the front cover says copyright 1882 by McLoughlin Bros. illustrations after Kate Greenaway. I did a bit of research of McLoughlin and they were a popular well-established publishing house from the mid-19th century through the 1920s in New York and they were well-known for their colour reproduction techniques. I have found this book listed in the 1882-83 “Catalogue of McLoughlin Bros. Toy Books, Games, ABC Blocks, etc”. They list this title and say the “illustrations are enlarged from Kate Greenaway’s designs…..and printed in colors brighter than the originals” all of which is true. They have then added a copyright to their version. My book does not have a contents page as in the original book and the cover is different. The half title, frontispiece, title, and dedication are all the same. The order of nursery rhymes is different from the original, but the drawings are all the very same, though with a bolder colour palette and they are a bit bigger and brighter just as they advertise. It is a different overall size coming in at 195mm x 255mm (7.5” x 9.75”). My copy has 42 verses, and the original has 44 though there are several loose (and one ripped in half) pages in the middle of my copy so a single page could be missing. I have searched online for a version to match my book but to no avail though there are many copies of the original 1881 Routledge available and numerous more modern versions printed in the 1970s. I know that British copyright laws didn’t transfer to the US at that time so “pirate” copies of some titles were produced. I think that is what I possibly have here but would like a second opinion. Is anyone familiar with “pirated” children’s books and do you think this fits that criteria? Many thanks.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]330904[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]330905[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]330906[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]330907[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]330908[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]330909[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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