Schuler, Théophile. - Strasbourg: Schuler, 1869. A handwritt - Lot 149

Schuler, Théophile. - Strasbourg: Schuler, 1869. A handwritten inscription on the title page in Schuler’s own hand states: “Proofs of the English edition of my alphabet, with the letter W added after the first French edition and the change to the letter E. Th. Schuler, Strasbourg, 1869.” Schuler’s illustrated book *Le premier livre des petits enfants* was published by J. Hetzel, with text by J. Macé and P.-J. Stahl, in 1870, without the letter W and with a different letter E. These proofs document the new changes adopted by Schuler for the English edition. Each engraving is numbered and identified in pencil by the author. The appeal of this alphabet book lay in introducing young readers to the letter, which was integrated into the illustration to the point of becoming a sort of object to be discovered. The book contains 27 engravings (title page and 26 letters) mounted on tabs and presented in a modest late-19th-century cardboard case with a title label on a plastic strip (Dymo).