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Vintage Fiction & Literature

The definition of vintage from Merriam- Webster states, “denoting something of high quality, especially something from the past or characteristic of the best period of a person’s work.” This means vintage is an older item that was designed or manufactured in its prime time. A real leather jacket from the 1940s would be considered vintage clothing. Dictionary.com offers several definitions of the word antique: “of or belonging to the past; not modern;” “dating from a period long ago;” and  “noting or pertaining to automobiles approximately 25 years old or more.” This means antique represents an item that is significantly older of date. It’s understandable why people interchange these two phrases so much, they seem very similar! However, certain items are differentiated between these definitions.

We've purposely used the word "vintage" for this section, and for our purposes are defining that as 50 years or older. As of 2024, that means we include books here from 1974 or before. We would describe books that were printed 100 years or more ago as antique and want to make it clear that you won't find many of those here (though you may find a few). 

Children's literature is said to have had a "Golden Age" starting in the 1860s and lasting until about WWI. It was during this time that perennial favorites like Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Pinocchio, Treasure Island, and Tom Sawyer were published. The latter part of this period coincided with the establishment of Howard Pyle's "Brandywine School" of Illustration, out of which came such artists as N.C. Wyeth, Jessie Willcox Smith, Ethel Franklin Betts, Frank Schoonover, Edward A. Wilson, and numerous others. These artists in turn influenced further generations of illustrators. 

During this period and into the sixties, numerous collections of children's literature were published: Scribners Illustrated Library, Junior Deluxe Editions, Rainbow Classics, Windermere Series and Illustrated Junior Library were among them. Mystery series like Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins proliferated. Anthology collections like Best In Children's Books, My Book House, Collier's Junior Classics, and the Children's Hour became popular. The Newbery and Caldecott Medals were established. And for adults, the Heritage Press volumes (which later became Easton/Franklin) filled many a spot in their libraries. There are, of course, many others, but these are the sorts of books you'll generally find in thus section.

We primarily offer copies in generally good condition here. They're usually hardcover but won't always (or even often) have their original dust jackets. We love to find a range of printings and illustrators, so sometimes you'll have a few options!

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Vintage Fiction & Literature
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All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #1
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Follett
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Apache Gold
by Joseph A. Altsheler
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Automatic House
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Owen Kampen
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Brinton Turkle
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Leo Summers
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Danny Dunn on the Ocean Floor
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated by Brinton Turkle
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Dobie Sturgis and the Dog Soldiers
by Carl G. Hodges
First Edition from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fog Magic
Puffin Newbery Library
by Julia L. Sauer, illustrated by Lynd Ward
2nd printing 1944 from Macmillan
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ginger Pye
by Eleanor Estes
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Happy Little Family
Fairchild Family Series #1
by Rebecca Caudill, illustrated by Decie Merwin
1st edition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Have You Seen Tom Thumb?
by Mabel Leigh Hunt, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
1943 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Hercules and Other Tales from Greek Myths
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by David Lockhart
from Scholastic Inc.
Greek Mythology for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Hot Rod
by Henry Gregor Felsen
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
In the Hands of the Senecas
by Walter D. Edmonds
from Little, Brown & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Jennie Lee, Patriot
by Anne Emery
from Westminster Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
King of the Golden River
Rainbow Classics
by John Ruskin, illustrator
from World Publishing Company
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Loner
by Ester Wier, Illustrated by Christine Price
from David McKay Company
for 4th-6th grade
1964 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Makon and the Dauphin
by Nan Hayden Agle, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Margot Austin's Churchmouse Stories
by Margot Austin
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Me, Cholay & Co.
by Don Schellie
from Four Winds Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Miki and Mary
by Maud & Miska Petersham
from Hale-Cadmus
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Miranda and the Cat
by Linell Smith; illustrated by Peggy Bacon
from Little, Brown & Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Mishmash
by Molly Cone, illustrated by Leonard Shortall
3rd printing from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Mutineers
by Charles Boardman Hawes
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Myrtle Albertina's Secret
by Lillian Pohlmann, illustrated by Erik Blegvad
2nd Impression from Coward McCann
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Nobody Plays with a Cabbage
by Meindert DeJong; illustrated by Thomas B. Allen
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
Nootka
by Michael Hyde
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Nose for Trouble
by Jim Kjelgaard
2nd Printing from Holiday House
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Oh Susannah
by Ruth and Richard Holberg
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Penny and Peter
by Carolyn Haywood
from Harcourt Children's Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Prisoner of Zenda
by Anthony Hope, illustrated by Leonard Rosoman
from Looking Glass Library
Adventure/Political Satire for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pumpkin Flood at Harpers Ferry
by Lila Gravatt Scrimsher, illustrated by William M. Hutchinson
from Reilly & Lee Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Runaway Ralph
by Beverly Cleary, illustrated by Louis Darling
from Morrow Junior Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Runner of the Mountain Tops
by Mabel Louise Robinson, illustrated by Lynd Ward
1st Printing from Random House
for 7th-10th grade
1940 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Seek the Dark Gold
Land of the Free series
by Jo Evalin Lundy, illustrated by Edward Shenton
from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Seven Sunflower Seeds
by John Verney
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Shadow of the North
by Joseph A. Altsheler
from Appleton-Century-Crofts
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Silence Over Dunkerque
by John R. Tunis
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Smiling Rebel
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sophie of the Lazy B
by Myra Richardson, illustrated by Nicholas Panesis
Stated First Edition from Robert M. McBride & Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$30.00 (1 in stock)
Stories from Alaska
by Edward and Marguerite Dolch
from Garrard Publishing Company
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Sue Barton, Rural Nurse
Sue Barton #04
by Helen Dore Boylston
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Ten Brave Men
by Sonia Daugherty, Illustrates by James Daugherty
from Lippincott
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Ten Leagues to Boston Town
by Dorothy Gilman Butters
from Macrae-Smith Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$40.00 (1 in stock)
Three Gay Tales from Grimm
by Wanda Gag
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tom's Midnight Garden
by Philippa Pearce, illustrated by Susan Einzig
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 4th-8th grade
1958 Carnegie Medal
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Wild Dog of Edmonton
by David Grew, illustrated by Ellen Segner
from Reynal & Hitchcock
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Wilderness Champion
by Joseph Wharton Lippincott, illustrated by Paul Bransom
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle
4th printing from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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