Scribner’s Illustrated Classics Series
Beginning with Maxfield Parrish’s illustrated edition of Poems of Childhood by Eugene Field, Charles Scribner’s Sons began to publish a generally uniform edition of illustrated classic books for younger readers. These are characterized by a full-color paste-down on the front board, and contained a number of color plates as well as black and white illustrations. Later printings frequently would drop some of the color plates making the early editions more desirable.
Books in the Scribner’s Illustrated Classics series:
Poems of Childhood (1904)
A collection of poems including ‘Wynken, Blynken and Nod,’ and ‘The Duel.’ Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Eugene Field
Illustrator(s):
Maxfield Parrish
A Child’s Garden of Verses (1905)
‘In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.’
And sixty-three other well-known poems. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Robert Louis Stevenson
Illustrator(s):
Jessie Willcox Smith
A Little Princess Being the Whole Story of Sara Crewe Now Told for the First Time (1905)
Originally a short story, then made into a play, this is a more developed story of the orphan girl left at a boarding school who is reduced to servitude, then rescued by a friend of her father’s. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Illustrator(s):
Ethel Franklin Betts
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906)
First separate printing of Peter’s first appearance in The Little White Bird. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
J. M. Barrie
Illustrator(s):
Arthur Rackham
The Queen’s Museum and Other Fanciful Tales (1906)
A collection of modern fairy tales and satires including The Bee-Man of Orn and The Griffin and the Minor Canon. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Frank R. Stockton
Illustrator(s):
Frederick Richardson
The Arabian Nights Their Best-Known Tales (1909)
Ten of the most famous tales from the Thousand and One Nights, adapted for younger readers. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
None
Illustrator(s):
Maxfield Parrish
The Last of the Mohicans (1910)
This, the second book in the Leatherstocking Tales, is again set in New York during the French and Indian War. Uncas is the titular Mohican. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
James Fenimore Cooper
Illustrator(s):
E. Boyd Smith
Peter and Wendy (1911)
This is J. M. Barrie’s most famous work. It tells the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous little boy who can fly, and his adventures on the island of Neverland with Wendy Darling and her brothers, the fairy Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, the Indian princess Tiger Lily, and the pirate, Captain Hook. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
J. M. Barrie
Illustrator(s):
F. D. Bedford
Treasure Island (1911)
When Jim Hawkins retrieves Flint’s map from the sea chest of the dead Billy Bones, Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey catch the treasure fever and outfit a ship to search for it. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Robert Louis Stevenson
Illustrator(s):
Robert Louis Stevenson
N. C. Wyeth
Christmas Tales and Christmas Verse (1912)
A collection of stories and poems by the Chicago poet of childhood. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Eugene Field
Illustrator(s):
Florence Edith Storer
Kidnapped (1913)
When David Balfour comes to his uncle to claim his inheritance, he is kidnapped and put on a ship for the Carolinas. He escapes and, in company with Alan Breck Stewart, adventures about the Highlands of Scotland. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Robert Louis Stevenson
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1913)
When his uncles die, Cedric becomes heir to his grandfather’s estate, and soon takes over the old gentleman’s heart as well. Reginald Birch did a new suite of illustrations for this edition. The scan is of the original edition. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Illustrator(s):
Reginald Bathurst Birch
The Boy Emigrants (1914)
Two young men head west by Conestoga to find a better life. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Noah Brooks
Illustrator(s):
Harvey Thomas Dunn
Indian Why Stories: Sparks from War Eagle’s Lodge-Fire (1915)
A collection of Native American myths, legends and tales. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Frank Bird Linderman
Illustrator(s):
Charles Marion Russell
The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses (1916)
An historical romance set during the Wars of the Roses. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Robert Louis Stevenson
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
The Boy’s King Arthur (1917)
A retelling of the Arthurian romances taken from Sir Thomas Malory. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Sidney Lanier
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
The Mysterious Island (1918)
During the American Civil War five prisoners of war and a dog escape from Richmond in a balloon and are driven across the country by a fierce storm and wrecked on a desert island in the Pacific. They proceed to make a home for themselves with all the modern conveniences. Better written, or at least translated, than many of Verne’s other novels. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Jules Verne
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
The Sandman’s Forest: A Story for Large Persons to Read to Small Persons (1918)
On his fifth birthday Giddy receives a pearl handled knife and a compass - and takes a flight on the Superstork to the Sandman’s forest. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Louis Dodge
Illustrator(s):
Paul Bransom
The Last of the Mohicans (1919)
This, the second book in the Leatherstocking Tales series, is again set in New York during the French and Indian War. Uncas is the titular Mohican. Read online at archive.org. Or at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
James Fenimore Cooper
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
From the Earth to the Moon … And a Trip Round It (1920)
A projectile fired from a gun takes these adventurers to the moon and back. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Jules Verne
Illustrator(s):
Henry Cruse Murphy, Jr.
Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1920)
Classic tales from the Brothers Grimm. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Brothers Grimm
Illustrator(s):
Elenore Plaisted Abbott
Indian Old-Man Stories: More Sparks from War Eagle’s Lodge-Fire (1920)
A collection of Native American myths, legends, and tales. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Frank Bird Linderman
Illustrator(s):
Charles Marion Russell
The Sandman’s Mountain: A Story for Large Persons to Read to Small Persons (1920)
The further adventures of Giddy, just five, in the Sandman’s country. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Louis Dodge
Illustrator(s):
Paul Bransom
Westward Ho! (1920)
Amyas Leigh sails from England with Francis Drake and becomes a freebooter or pirate in the Carribean. He later returns to England at the time of the Spanish Armada. The novel is blighted by it virulent anti-Catholicsm. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Charles Kingsley
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
Everychild: A Story Which the Old May Interpret to the Young and Which the Young May Interpret to the Old (1921)
Using familiar fairy tales, the author points out the necessity of loving one’s children more than oneself. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Louis Dodge
Illustrator(s):
Blanche Fisher Wright Laite
How It Came About Stories (1921)
A collection of Native American stories. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Frank Bird Linderman
Illustrator(s):
Carle Michel Boog
The Scottish Chiefs (1921)
A historical novel about William Wallace and the Scots revolt against the English beginning in 1297. Read online at Hathitrust.
Author(s):
Jane Porter
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
The Children’s Bible Selections from the Old and New Testament (1922)
Familiar stories from the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Charles Foster Kent
Henry A. Sherman
Illustrator(s):
Various
Heidi (1922)
This is the well loved story of a little Swiss orphan who goes to live in the mountains with her grandfather, her exile in the big city and her return home. Originally published by David McKay it was added to the Scribner’s Illustrated Classics in 1958. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Johanna Spyri
Illustrator(s):
Jessie Willcox Smith
Poems of American Patriotism (1922)
A selection of poems celebrating America’s martial heritage from the Boston tea party to the end of World War I. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Various
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
Quentin Durward (1923)
The story of a young Scotsman who goes to France to seek his fortune under King Louis XI. Read for free online at HathiTrust.
Author(s):
Sir Walter Scott
Illustrator(s):
Charles Bosseron Chambers
The Wind in the Willows (1923)
Mole goes out on a fine spring day and meets the water rat by the riverside. Before he knows it he is wrapped up in the doings of the river dwellers, include the notorious Toad. This is the second fully illustrated edition. The end papers used were from the Bransom edition. The British edition was published in 1922. Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Kenneth Grahame
Illustrator(s):
Nancy Barnhart
Paul Bransom
David Balfour: Being Memoirs of His Adventures at Home and Abroad (1924)
In this second volume, David Balfour continues his adventures as he puts himself on the right side of the law, reclaims his inheritance and finds himself a wife.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Robert Louis Stevenson
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
The Children of Dickens (1925)
Short excerpts from Dicken’s novels introducing his child characters.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Samuel McChord Crothers
Illustrator(s):
Euphame Mallison
Jessie Willcox Smith
Peter Pan and Wendy (1925)
This is J. M. Barrie’s most famous work. It tells the story of Peter Pan, a mischievous little boy who can fly, and his adventures on the island of Neverland with Wendy Darling and her brothers, the fairy Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, the Indian princess Tiger Lily, and the pirate, Captain Hook. This version was simplified for younger readers.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
J. M. Barrie
Illustrator(s):
Mabel Lucie Attwell
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1925)
The Indian Prince calling himself Captain Nemo prowls beneath the sea seeking his revenge.
Author(s):
Jules Verne
Illustrator(s):
William James Aylward
Hans Brinker: or, The Silver Skates (1926)
Hans and Gretel’s father has been unable to work. If Hans wins the skating race it will help to support the household. Hans decides to ask the famous brain surgeon if he can help their father.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Mary Mapes Dodge
Illustrator(s):
George Wharton Edwards
The Last Days of Pompeii (1926)
A tangled tale of love and deceit unfolds beneath Vesuvius in the year 79 A.D. and comes to a climax with the volcano’s eruption
Author(s):
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton
Illustrator(s):
F. C. Yohn
The Children of the New Forest (1927)
When the Roundheads triumph in the English civil war they burn down the Beverley family’s home. The orphaned children escape to the forest where they are taken in by Jacob Armitage, an old family servant. As in a Robinsonnade, they must learn to earn their own living while surrounded by deadly enemies.
Author(s):
Frederick Marryat
Illustrator(s):
Bernhard Stafford Good
Michael Strogoff A Courier of the Czar (1927)
Unusual for Verne, this is a straight adventure story. Michael is sent by the Czar to warn the governor of Irkutsk of the presence of a traitor on his staff. On the Trans-Siberian railway Michael finds a wife. Unfortunately, at least in this translation, the book is very poorly written. The illustrations are worth seeing.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Jules Verne
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
Drums (1928)
This is the story of Johnny Fraser and his part in the Revolutionary War in the South.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
James Boyd
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
Smoky the Cow Horse (1929)
The story of a cow horse and his various masters.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Will James
Illustrator(s):
Will James
Jinglebob (1930)
This is an authentic tale of cattle ranching in the 1880’s.
Author(s):
Philip Ashton Rollins
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1930)
This is the first appearance of Peter from the book The Little White Bird. This is the fourth Rackham illustrated edition.
Author(s):
J. M. Barrie
Illustrator(s):
Arthur Rackham
The Story of Roland (1930)
James Baldwin retells the story of Roland the great knight of France and his service to Charlemagne.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
James Baldwin
Illustrator(s):
Peter Hurd
The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1931)
Chadwick Buford is an orphan who finds a home for himself and his dog Jack in the Kentucky settlement of Kingdom Come. He has many adventures during which he discovers his true parentage, fights in the Civil War and returns to Kingdom Come.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
John Fox, Jr.
Illustrator(s):
N. C. Wyeth
The Story of Siegfried (1931)
A retelling of the Norse and German myths of the hero warrior Siegfried.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
James Baldwin
Illustrator(s):
Peter Hurd
Lone Cowboy (1932)
This is a fictionalized autobiography by Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault, born in Saint-Nazaire-d’Acton, Quebec, who moved to the United States and changed his name to William Roderick James. He is best know as the author of Smoky the Cow Horse.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Will James
Illustrator(s):
Will James
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1933)
This is the first of Howard Pyle’s four books that encompass the Matter of Britain - that is the story of King Arthur. It tells of how Arthur became king and some of his adventures.
Read online at archive.org.
Author(s):
Howard Pyle
Illustrator(s):
William James Aylward
Howard Pyle
The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions (1933)
This is the third of four volumes by Howard Pyle regarding the Matter of Britain - that is King Arthur and his knights. In this volume he tells of the adventures of Sir Launcelot du Lac and the birth of his son who was to become Sir Galahad - sans peur et sans reproche. This is the Brandywine edition.
Author(s):
Howard Pyle
Illustrator(s):
Harvey Thomas Dunn
Howard Pyle