Songbook: Holiday Songs, Emilie Poulsson, L.J. Bridgman Illustrator, Hardcover, Antique 1915

Twelve holidays ring the cover, and inside, a century-old songbook marks each one in music and verse. This 1915 Milton Bradley edition is framed throughout by L.J. Bridgman's pen-and-ink drawings of children, harvests and open skies.

• Author: Emilie Poulsson
• Illustrator: L.J. Bridgman
• Publisher: Milton Bradley Company
• Copyright: 1901, Twelfth Edition dated 1915
• Format: Hardcover with illustrated cloth cover
• Pages: 123
• Dimensions: 12.75 inches Tall x 10 inches Wide
• Condition: Very Good Condition. There is very light tanning at the extreme edges of the pages, a minor sign of age. Otherwise this book is in wonderful condition for its age, with no foxing, folded corners, or tears, and no writing apart from the inscription described below. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.  
• Shipping: Eligible for USPS Media Mail, the most economical shipping option. Delivery can take up to 8 business days and is not guaranteed, so please choose the method that best fits your timeline at checkout.

The cover's holiday calendar names Christmas, New Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, Valentine's Day, Easter, Froebel's Birthday, May Day, Bird Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Arbor Day and Thanksgiving Day. Each holiday has songs with full music and lyrics, set to music by various composers, and the words and music are credited by name on the page. Bridgman's illustrations run around the notation. The full title page reads Holiday Songs and Every Day Songs and Games, but this is a songbook first. One song, The Bowling Game, has directions for the game printed beneath it, and that is the only game we noticed in the book. The front free endpaper is inscribed in graceful period handwriting: "Helen Thompson from her friend Mrs. Cairns, July 1917." The signature is an ornate script and difficult to read.  This is a large, heavy book, we recommend Media Mail for the lowest shipping cost, though it is slower.

Open it on the piano or stand it cover-out on a holiday shelf and let a century-old songbook set the scene: twelve holidays in music and verse, wrapped in Bridgman's pen-and-ink drawings, with a gift inscription from 1917 still waiting on the endpaper. It's a find for collectors of kindergarten history and early children's music, for teachers and pianists, and for anyone styling a holiday vignette with something no one else will have.

Emilie Poulsson (1853–1939) was a leading American kindergarten educator and children's author, best known for Finger Plays for Nursery and Kindergarten and In the Child's World, both from 1893. Holiday Songs and Every Day Songs and Games was first published in 1901 by Milton Bradley of Springfield, Massachusetts. The firm published Poulsson's other titles alongside its games and kindergarten materials. L.J. Bridgman (Lewis Jesse Bridgman, 1857–1931) was a prolific illustrator who also drew for The Little Colonel's Holidays and several other Poulsson books. The calendar on the cover includes Froebel's Birthday, a nod to Friedrich Froebel, the founder of the kindergarten movement. This copy is the Twelfth Edition, dated 1915, and was inscribed as a gift two years later.

Browse our shop for more antique children's books and holiday ephemera to round out your collection.