Modern American Children’s Books: Volland Books

The Illustrated Children’s Literature Collection at Adelphi includes almost two dozen Volland books. While some are a century old, they have a contemporary look that remains enticing to young readers.

Buddy Jim by Elizabeth Gordon;
illustrated by John Rae (1922)

In 1908, Paul Frederick Volland (1874-1919) founded the Volland Publishing Company in Chicago, Illinois.  The company began by producing greeting cards and calendars but eventually became widely known as a book publisher of high quality, modern children’s books. Titles were often produced in series, with such delightful names as Sunny Book, Happy Children Book, Fairy Children Book and Nature Children Book.

Bib Ballads by Ring Lardner;
illustrated by Fontaine Fox (1915)

An early example, published in 1915, was a collection of poems by the well-known sports journalist Ring Lardner (1885-1933). His Bib Ballads was illustrated by Fontaine Fox (1884-1964), creator of the popular Toonerville Folks comic strip.

Johnny Gruelle (1880-1938) was the most famous of Volland’s authors/illustrators and his Raggedy Ann Stories and sequels brought success to Volland until the company’s demise during the Great Depression. Originally handmade, Raggedy Ann dolls were manufactured by Volland to coordinate with the stories.

The Gigglequicks by Miram Clark Potter;
illustrated by Tony Sarg (1918)

Tony Sarg (1880-1942), illustrator of The Gigglequicks, was also a master puppeteer and creator of the first hot air parade balloons for Macy’s. Katharine Sturges Dodge (1890-1979) illustrated Tales of Little Dogs and was the mother of Hilary Knight, the illustrator of the Eloise books. M. T. “Penny” Ross (1881-1937) created adorable Flower Children pictures and was also a cartoonist who worked with Walt Disney. John Rae (1882-1963), who studied with the artist Howard Pyle (1853-1911), produced soft, impressionist illustrations for Elizabeth Gordon’s Buddy Jim. Janet Laura Scott (1888-1968) created pictures for Gordon’s Wild Flower Children and was also known as an illustrator of the popular Bobbsey Twins book series.

Originally, many Volland books were sold in illustrated cardboard gift boxes. A wonderful variety of stories and pictures awaited each child as the lid was opened. 

--By Elayne Gardstein 

Welcome

Welcome to Upright and Acid Free: the Adelphi University Archives and Special Collections blog.

It seems appropriate that the first post of our newly launched blog should speak to the roots of the department and acknowledge some of the foundational figures central to the development of UASC and its collections—figures such as Owen and Marion Groves, the dedicated husband and wife who served as Adelphi’s first University Archivists.

1926 Oracle yearbook portrait of Owen Groves

A veteran of the Army Ambulance Corps in World War I, and graduate of Hamilton College (A.B., 1916) and Columbia University (MA, 1917), Owen G. Groves (1893-1972) taught in the English department at Adelphi from 1924 (beginning when Adelphi was still located in Brooklyn) to 1963, including 23 years as the departmental chair. Following his retirement from full-time teaching in 1963, Dr. Groves took on the role of University Archivist, a part-time volunteer position but one that reflected his deep affection for Adelphi and long-standing interest in its institutional history.

Marion Groves (1896-1976), who also taught in the English Department at Adelphi, succeeded her husband as University Archivist after his death in 1972. With years of experience as a New York City high school teacher/ librarian, and master’s degrees in Latin from Mount Holyoke and Library Science from C.W. Post (which she completed at age 72), Mrs. Groves brought a professional perspective to what became a paid, but still part-time, position. 

The Life and Adventures of Peter Porcupine
by William Cobbett, Philadelphia, 1796

As University Archivist she worked to help form a University Archives Committee and implement archival standards of preservation and access. She was also a founder and active member of the Friends of the Adelphi Library, serving as the group’s president for many years.  Reading her letters, and the many warm tributes occasioned by her death in 1976, one gets a sense of a curious, committed, and exceptionally energetic women held in great esteem by her colleagues and former students.

The enduring legacy of the Groves includes their essential contribution to the establishment and development of the William Cobbett Collection—one of the jewels of Adelphi Special Collections.  It was Owen Groves who had the initial idea for Adelphi to collect Cobbett’s work; a felicitous undertaking, he believed, considering Cobbett’s association with Long Island [1]. Marion Groves, in her capacity as president of the Friends of the Adelphi Library, played an instrumental role in the expansion of the collection, beginning with the Friends’ purchase, in 1948, of Cobbett’s The Life and Adventures of Peter Porcupine and building over subsequent decades, including a major Friends’ purchase, in 1964, of more than thirty Cobbett letters. Today the collection consists of roughly 500 volumes and significant holdings of manuscripts, pamphlets and anti-Cobbett literature.

[1] In 1817, fearing arrest on sedition charges, Cobbett (1763-1835) fled to the United States and for two years lived and wrote on a rented farm on Long Island.

--by Brian McDonald