Charles Buckles (C.B.) Falls (1874-1960) was a prolific illustrator during the 20s-1960, doing lots of posters and advertisement work, but he is probably best-known today for his ABC Book (1923), written to help his daughter learn the alphabet. It's the only book of his (that we know of) still in print (Dover Publications), and its colorful woodcut style illustrations are quite engaging.
In the books of his that we've seen, color is rare. The Rainbow Classics editions of Alcott's Eight Cousins and Stevenson's Treasure Island (1946) and Kidnapped (1947) have several full-color plates, but most other illustrations are in b/w. And in those, while his normal pen and ink illustrations are good, it's really in his maps and drawings which require more precision that he truly shines.
A lot of his most fascinating work centers on anthropology and trade. The Newbery books mentioned above fall into these categories, as do Perhaps his masterpiece in this batch of books is the one he wrote himself: First 3000 Years; this is an incredible book .
Most of his work is in books pertaining to history and anthropology. We first encountered his work in the Signature biography The Story of Davy Crocket. He illustrated Vast Horizons by Mary Seymour Lucas (1943), which describes primarily eastern trade and exploration from the crusades to modern times. It's a fascinating book and would be an excellent one to add context to the period of exploration so often westward focused. Four Ways of Being Human by Gene Lisitzky is an introduction to anthropology; Bridle for Pegasus by Katherine Shippen explores mankind's dream to fly; Man is a Weaver by Elizabeth Chesley Baity offers a history of spinning, weaving, and textiles from ancient times; and Square Sails and Spice Islands by Laura Long offers a pair of naval biographies bridging the era of sail to steam. Falls was also the illustrator of two Newbery Honor Books: New Found World (1945, by Katherine Shippen) and Americans Before Columbus (1951, by Elizabeth Chesley Baity), and both of these have companion books—Great Heritage and America Before Man. Falls actually illustrated AND wrote his last book: The First 3000 Years, which is a gorgeous survey of early world history with fantastic sketches and maps (1960).
Other titles we're currently aware of are Mother Goose (1924); a book about anthropology by Gene Lisitzky called The Four Ways of Being Human; a Modern ABC Book (1930); the original edition of Anne Weil's Red Sails to Capri (1952); illustrations for Esther Singleton's Wild Flower Fairy Book and for Jessie B. White's play Snow White and the Seven Dwarves; William Almon Wolff's Path of Gold, Merritt Parmalee Allen's White Feather, William Wallace Cook's Wilby's Dan, Mother Goose and Goldenrod Fairy Book.
Finally, his hand-lettered books shouldn't be overlooked: James Weldon Johnson's God's Trombone and Falls' own The Story of Christmas (or, The Story of the Birth of Jesus Christ According to the Gospels of Saint Matthew and Saint Luke) have no illustrations, but the calligraphic script is amazing!
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