Babes of the Nations, New Illustrations in Colors and in Monotint by Maud Humphrey, Illustrator of "Babes of the Year, New Verses by Edith M. Thomas

New York: Frederick A. Stokes & Brother, 1889. Boards. Very good. Maud HUMPHREY. [ILLUSTRATED] [POETRY]. 8vo; [24] plates; color pictorial boards, 4 children holding national flags on front, a child with an American flag on the rear; cream cloth self-back; gift inscription on front pastedown dated "Dec. 25, 1889"; color frontispiece; title page printed in sepia with a vignette; 12 plates of poetry in sepia with a small vignette; 12 color plates of children; binding tight, pages clean; wear to boards, chipping of paper from edges and corners, title page has a small closed tear at binding, endpapers lightly foxed; very good minus. OCLC locates only 13 libraries with copies. One of Maud Humphrey's beautiful books featuring illustrations of children drawn in a romantic style. Each nation presented is illustrated with a child dressed in traditional national clothing and accompanied by a rhyming verse on a preceding plate. The children included are titled: Russian, Dutch, a Highlander (Scotland), a Fleur-de-lis (France), May (Italian Child), English, Spanish, African, German, American, Swedish, and Canadian. The only young boy featured is American and his poem, "The Volunteer Speaks," speaks of patriotism and preparation for being a soldier.

Maud Humphrey (1868-1940) was an artist and suffragette; she was also the mother of the actor Humphrey Bogart. Humphrey's work often featured children painted in a dreamy, sweet style. This collection of illustrations featuring children is accompanied by the poetry of Edith Thomas (1854-1925), an American poet whose work was published in Scribner's, the Atlantic Monthly, and The Century. She wrote the verse for several of Humphrey's books.