The Plum Cake and Other Poems for Infant Minds by Jane & Anne Taylor

Item Details

Northampton, MA, The Wildmeadow Press, 1976, stiff decorative boards

limited edition #11 of 20, VG+

[POETRY]  [PRIVATE PRESS]  [SIGNED BOOKS]  [LIMITED EDITION]  Jane & Anne Taylor.  Scarce limited edition fine press book titled The Plum Cake and Other Poems for Infant Minds by Jane & Anne Taylor (Northampton, Massachusetts; The Wildmeadow Press, 1976), with “woodcut illustrations by Megan Miller”.  Colophon at the rear states this is one of only twenty copies “hand-set in Bulmer type and printed on Rives paper at, The Wildmeadow Press in the winter of 1976.  This is copy 11”.  Signed by the artist “Megan E. Miller” in ink beneath the colophon.  Signed again by Miller as part of an inked presentation note in the front, “Dear Karen, Happy Birthday and Merry New Year / Love, Megan”.

Stiff paper boards with a decorative, repetitive design; [20] pp, untrimmed; woodcut illustrations by Megan E. Miller.  Measures approximately 9 x 7.75 inches.  A later presentation “In memory of Liz Redlen 2017” on the first blank flyleaf.  Corners lightly bumped; hard to see curved line stain (coffee cup?) on front cover; otherwise in VG+ condition.  [25-180]

The artist, Megan Miller, writes about the poets in the Forward [sic].  We reproduce it here, with the punctuation and spelling as written by Miller.  “The poets whose work is printed in this volume were two sisters.  Jane and Anne Taylor, born in 1782 and 1783, grew up in Colchester, England where their father worked as an engraver.  At an early age the two sisters began to write poems and plays for their own amusement continuing a family tradition which originated with their grandfather, an intimate of Goldsmith and Richardson.  They did not consider themselves professional writers however, and it was not until they were brought to the attention of the editors at ‘The Minors Pocket-Book’, a contemporary journal, that the Taylors began to collaborate on a book of children’s poetry.  In 1804, the first volume of their work, ‘The Original Poems’, was published.  Its immediate popularity lead the sisters to produce three more books, the last of which was completed in 1808.  Anne’s marriage, in 1810, brought an end to the partnership although, Jane continued to write poems and essays until her death in 1824.  Anne survived her sister by more than fourty years during which time, she published a biography of her husband and her memoirs.  The Taylor’s poetry represents one of the first attempts to create a literature for children, but in its simplicity and direct appeal to the imagination, their verse has a charm which has captivated readers of all ages.  M.E.M.”

The privately printed book contains the following poems: Mischief; Meddlesome Matty; The Shoulder of Mutton; The Plum Cake; Another Plum Cake; False Alarms; The Little Fisherman; Finery; and The Two Gardens.  The volume contains six woodcut illustrations by Megan Miller.

Scarce, it is an attractive private press book, being #11 of 20 printed.