The Ladybird Book of Nursery Rhymes, 1941, series 413

The Ladybird Book of Nursery Rhymes, 1941, series 413 was the first book to be published in series 413 – the second series of Ladybird books ever produced.  The 413 series is quite a  random mixture of tales and rhymes – but all for pre-school children.

This one is the first book to have ‘Auntie Muriel’ (Muriel Levy) as putative author.  She was a well-known radio personality from Children’s Hour – as was Uncle Mac who also leant his name to a series of Ladybird books.

This book is very rare today – it ceased publication in the early 1960s and so would never have been published with matt boards.  Since the later, replacement version of Ladybird Nursery Rhymes (volumes 1, 2 and 3) so memorably illustrated by Frank Hampson, wasn’t published until 1966 – that left an unusual gap in the Ladybird offer for young children for some years.

This, the original version of the book, is beautifully and stylishly illustrated by Robert Knight.  Half the book is taken up with just one rhyme – Old Mother Hubbard.  Since this limited the number of rhymes that could be included, it is the partner book to the second volume of nursery rhymes which was published in 1949 called ‘The House that Jack Built’ – another book which is a real challenge for the collector to track down today.

This copy dates to 1960 and states that it is a “27th edition” – showing just how popular it was.

It is missing it’s original  dustwrapper but is generally in good condition.  The photos tell the story: bumps and minor blemishes – small repear head of spine – but good pages – although the joints are a bit weak and open.  Although the pages are secure now – might need reinforcing if the book is to get well read in the future.