Handbills (7 results)

Booklet - Unbound Pages. Condition: Very Good. 12 pages. An authentic standalone article, extracted from a larger volume. Not a reprint or reproduction, but an original work in its own right. Preserved in a modern card cover, prepared for practicality - an unassuming but serviceable presentation that favours function over finery. Size: 13 x 20.5 cms. Category: Annual Register; Cosmo Books : 29 years on ABE, 47 years taking care of customers. A bookseller you can rely on.

Attractive pair of 1940 presidential campaign handbills. 4to (each 8ĵ" X 11"). Very good. Minor edgewear and several small archivally-closed (on verso) edge tears. The FDR handbill consists of a well-known Pach Bros. head-and-shoulders portrait of Roosevelt, with "Carry On With" in large typeface on the top margin and "Franklin D. Roosevelt" in large typeface on the lower margin. The Wallace handbill consists of a closer-up head-and-shoulders informal portrait, with "For Vice-President" in large typeface on the top margin and "Henry A. Wallace" in large typeface on the lower margin. This pair were also issued in a larger size.

Four handbills showing popular images, two (13.2 x 18.4) are images of characters from Peking Opera and two (12.2 x 16.5cm) depict themes important in Chinese society at the time. Text in traditional Chinese characters. Light even browning, tiny closed tears at margin of one sheet repaired with washi. Very good. Chinese opera characters in the style of traditional woodblock prints were popular in the late Qing dynasty and early Republican period. Handbills of characters from Beijing opera were sold as collectible items that also helped to familiarise people with the characters of different operas; their costumes, make up, weapons and names. In this case there are two characters from the opera ??? on one handbill, and three characters from the opera ??? on the other. Images with social themes also made popular handbills, especially in places such as Tianjin where the influence of foreigners was pronounced. In ???? we see an immortal carrying a peach of longevity surrounded by images of fertility - a young woman and boys carry fruit and flowers, as well as other items symbolic of wealth - a coin, a vase, gold ingots, and so on, probably issued for New Year. The final handbill of the four, ????, tells the tale of a girl of eighteen married to a boy of seven. The Chinese custom of marrying a young boy to an older girl adopted into the family is thus open for discussion - everyone in the image clearly has a different opinion of the situation; from the young husband, the older farmer in the background and the two men in long scholars robes, to the modern young man in a western suit with leather shoes, as well as the girl herself. The practice of adopting a girl to bring up as a future wife for a male child was made illegal in 1949. The text mentions some of the ways in which the girl would be expected to help in her adoptive family's home.

Two very colourful handbills promoting socialism and collectivisation, 17.6 x 13cm. Both feature an image of a worker and a farmer on a decorative background. Handbills have been tipped-in onto an A4 sheet, total dimensions 19.5 x 27.8cm. Very good copies. In one image ?????????, the reader is exhorted to join in agricultural and industrial production in a positive way. In the other ???????????? the reader is asked to strengthen the union of industry and agriculture to set up socialism. Slogans are written in traditional Chinese characters, commonly used before the 1956 language reforms and the message is that of the worker peasant alliance of the early PRC. The bold colours, simplified forms, idealised workers and peasants and the use of symbolic motifs such as stylised factories, chimneys, sheaves of wheat, gear wheel, red banner and so on, indicate that these flyers date from the 1953-57 era of the first Five Year Plan.

Four delightful amusing pictures for children, two measure 13.4 x 18.6, two 12.2 x 16.6cm, text in traditional Chinese characters. Light even browning and occasional foxing at edges, strengthen with washi at one corner and in one section of a margin, very good copies. In ??? or 'Youthful Pleasures', three model children enjoy giving a performance, the two on each side are playing instruments, the middle one might have a speaking role, dressed as he is in a Confucian style, with glasses and cane. An example for children to emulate. In ??? or 'Tongue Twister', two children are sitting in a garden, a man dressed in a western suit pointing toward them. The caption above is the tongue twister, 'Shan qian you ge yan yuan yan, shan hou you ge yan yan yuan, etc. for children to practice. Another 'Tongue Twister' is composed of a comic strip of four captioned cartoons, featuring a chicken that flies over the garden wall to the Zhang's garden, where it is attacked by a dog, following which, Mrs Zhang pays compensation. The captions are minute, but provide a short rhyming story in the form of a very easy tongue twister. The moral to this tale is that whoever is responsible for loss pays compensation. ????? ?The Mouse Marries a Wife' is a humorous picture of anthromorphised mice in a wedding procession, with sedan chairs, banners and trumpets. The story caption above tells how the mouse married a wife, (although the person in the front sedan chair appears to be human). One of the attendants in the cartoon is carrying a banner stating that the marriage violates the law.

Four colourful handbills depicting children and a scene at home with the text of a tongue twister, all 13.3 x 18.6cm. Three margins reinforced with washi. In good condition with bright and lively colours. Images such as these were often used as New Year decorations. In two of the images the focus is mainly on chubby children; ???? depicts three of them eating grapes from a bumper harvest, clearly meaning not just the grapes but also the three children. In another image ????, two children are playing with a wealthy and high ranking cat, relating to parents' wishes for their children in the future, while ???, depicts eleven children playing with crickets in various containers. In ???, a very young child kneeling on a kang and a young boy also feature in the image where a woman in cooking a hotpot of tofu, with a tongue twister written in the margin above.

Four amusing coloured handbills depicting expectations of behaviour in daily life, two with social comment, 12.1 x 16.3cm, text in traditional Chinese characters. Minor occasional foxing, not affecting images, few small closed tears at margins repaired with washi paper otherwise good copies. Two of the images ?????? and ???, refer to how children are brought up, to be either obedient or disobedient, with social class appearing to play its part in the outcome. In another image ???, a group of children play happily with a tub of goldfish and watermelons on a terrace. In ??????, a graceful young woman, Second Big Sister Liu, carries a baby on her back near a temple - the text above relates her background. It amusingly points out some details in the image; how the pancake seller was so distracted by her that a dog came and stole his wares, and because the tea seller was also looking at her, he scalded his hand.