The Little Leather Library Books

How amazing is this little book (3¼" X 4"), The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde?! Thank you Karen for this unique treasure.

I have never heard of the publishing company, The Little Leather Library Corporation of New York, the first company to mass-market inexpensive books in the United States. The corporation, founded in 1916, made available a wide variety of classics by authors including Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Morris, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry James, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde and William Butler Yeats in miniature editions.
When first published, the little books were sold at the Woolworth’s chain. By the early 1920s, the books were advertised in popular magazines, even selling in National Geographic. Sometimes a miniature classic might appear in a cereal box as a promotion. There were over 100 miniature book titles published in the various editions of the Little Leather Library. My copy is a Redcroft edition, crafted in cheaper imitation leather (published between 1920-1924).

I'm continually impressed by all my friends share with me and I love the knowledge the I gain from their gifts. In addition, this purse-sized novel will go with me everywhere. I'll always have something to read. What a lucky me!

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