Baby’s First Book, series 413 (1973)

Baby’s First Book was the 7th book to be published in series 413.  First published in 1954 it was one of the few books in that series that continued to be published well into the late 1960s.  It stayed in print for decades after this date – but was completely reillustrated several times, losing a lot of its charm on the way.  This is the original version with lovely, soft-hued illustrations by H Woolley.  It is very hard to find this book in good condition because it was designed for babies and toddlers – and always had a very hard life.  It is very much a picture book, with and illustration of an item of great familiarity to a 1960s baby – cot, biscuit, toy, banana, spoon etc and only a few words per page.

All copies of this book printed before 1965 were originally issued with a dustwrapper.

This copy:

This copy is the 1973 version  – so the original Harry Woolley illustrations have been slightly adapted by Roy Smith to ‘update’ them, suitable for a 1970s baby. It has matt boards.  It’s in very good condition externally and good condition inside.  The pages show signs of wear – but light wear – and there’s a name to the front free endpaper.  This copy dates to the 1970s and has the original prce of 15p on the back.