After discovering these cool-shaped Stump Books series published by Anthony Treherne two turns of the century ago, I thought, wouldn't it be awesome to buy one? If only it didn't cost $750 and/or wasn't full of wildly offensive racist stereotypes...
So I started watching eBay, and whaddya know, a Stump Book! And it wasn't even Ten Little Nigger Boys! It was Ten Little Jappy Chaps. Seriously, people, what gives? Chaps was written by G.E. Farrow, and illustrated by famous/prolific poster artist John Hassall, who apparently made a foray into the nursery market a few years earlier with some illustrated wallpaper friezes published by Liberty, and none of which, AFAIK, involve the denigration of Asians.
On the bright side, these appear to be the only racist books in the series, or at least the only obvious ones. Here's the rest of the titles:
And on the other bright side, it didn't sell for $750, just $341. I didn't bid.
Ten Little Jappy Chaps, John Hassall, A Stump Book, sold 12/27/07, $341.85 [ebay]
Search eBay for other Stump Books [ebay]
Previously: The Stump Books for Children, by "The Pilgrims" [turns out only one is by The Pilgrims, but still]
I dunno... Number One and the others sounds like it has potential, too. (Since it's before the Prisoner TV series came out, I excluded that as a possibility).
[or "Lost." -ed.]
Our son's nickname is Jappy, his big sister's bastardization of Jasper. Poor kid.
I am so glad to have finally found out some info on the 'stump books'. I have been searching for information on them for a long time. Yours is the closest I have come to finding out anything in regards to them. I have the first in the series (or at least listed as #1 in the book). The title of it is "Old King Cole & Other Nursery Rhymes". It is in very good condition. I would appreciate any help that you could give me to find out the value of this particular book. I acquired the book after a friend of the family passed away and we were told to take anything we wanted. I chose the book for it's unique size and shape and thought the clasp on it was rare. Thank you for posting your findings and I hope to hear from you soon.
Arlene
We have "No. 1 & the Others" in fair condition. Any idea of current vaue? It is signed inside with the date 1905.
We also have "Old King Cole & Other Nursery Rhymes" and have been researching stump books as we are interested in selling it. We have not found any values for that title, but we have found "No. 1 & the Others" for $131.91 at Stella & Rose's Books and $447.26 at Amazon. The ties are missing on both of them.
Anyone interested in our "Old King Cole"?