Children's Literature Website Launched

UF LIBRARIES LAUNCH ONLINE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE TREASURY
 
 
A century’s worth of classic children’s literature now is available online – colorful illustrations included --
through the efforts of the University of Florida Libraries.
 
“Literature for Children” is a collection of treasures published largely in the United States and Great Britain
from 1850 to 1950. It is comprised of over 1,100 volumes from the departments of special collections at
several of Florida’s State University System libraries.
 
This website was created to increase access for scholars and the general public to rare 19th century
children’s books. The site provides an interesting panorama of the movement in children’s literature from
the primarily instructional and overtly religious (i.e. Christian) to the availability of a more diverse literature
produced purely for the enjoyment it offers.
 
At the core of this collection are books from UF’s 93,000-volume Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s
Literature, housed in the Department of Special and Area Studies Collections of the George A. Smathers
Libraries.
 
Included in the online collection are playful volumes such as “Dogs Grand Dinner Party,” “Al Alligator and
How he Learned to Play the Banjo,” and “Peter Rabbit and his Ma,” plus moral and cleanliness volumes
like “What I Must Try to Be,” “Honoring Parents” and “Sanitation: the Means of Health.”
 
The foundation for the collection was a cataloging and preservation microfilming and digitizing project
funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The first phase of the two-year grant was awarded
in 2000 to cover the years 1850-1869; a second two-year phase to cover the years 1870-1889, has been
applied for; and a third phase to cover the years 1890-1910, will be applied for in the future. The collection
will continue to build with additional volumes from State University System libraries and upon completion
will be the world’s largest online collection of literature for children, said Rita Smith, curator of the Baldwin
collection.
 
“Uploading the text alone just wouldn’t have imparted the true value of the collection. Actually seeing the
volumes as they appear on the library shelf allows for a full appreciation of the evolution of children’s
literature publishing,” Smith said.
 
Smith went on to say that another unique aspect of this set of online children's books is the way it
demonstrates the development of the use of color in children's literature. The early books were either in
black and white, or were hand-colored. Throughout the 1860s and ‘70s, color processes were developed,
and this is reflected in the illustrations in the children's books.
 
The online Literature for Children collection can be found at http://palmm.fcla.edu/juv/. Literature for
Children is a component of Publications of Archival and Museum Material --
http://susdl.fcla.edu/collection.html.
 

© 1999 University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries P. O. Box 117001  Gainesville, FL 32611-7001 Please read our disclaimer. Send comments and/or questions about this site to  Barbara Hood Last Updated August, 2001