my book house.. children's illustrations from the 1930s.

When Neil and I were visiting my parent's house recently, I looked through some of my old books and stumbled across these. If I'm not mistaken, my sisters and I received this Book House set from our grandma when we were little, and the images have always stuck with me. They might have been a big reason why I love old myths and folk tales so much today.

The set was published in the 1930s and features all sorts of adapted tales, from simple nursery rhymes and Aesop's Fables to poems by Shakespeare and Dante. My favorites were always the Norse legends, rewritten and painted in all of their sepia tone glory with long braids and golden chest plates and magnificent horses leaping out of mythic flames.

The pressed flowers were a fun find, as I remember tucking them away in those books when I was younger.. maybe 11 or 12.

More photos posted here!