Books In Search Of Children: Speeches And Essays By Louise Seaman Bechtel

New York: The Macmillan Companmy, 1969. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Xx, 268 Pp. Red Cloth. First Printing Stated. Fine In Fine Price-Clipped Dust Jacket. Small Remainder Dot On Bottom Edge Of Page Block. No Soiling Or Browning. Per Wikipedia, Louise Seaman Bechtel 1894 -1985) Was An American Editor, Critic, Author, And Teacher Of Young Children. She Was The First Person To Head A Juvenile Book Department Established By An American Publishing House. In 1919, She Became The Editor Of The Macmillan Publishers' New Juvenile Department, And The First Person To Head A Juvenile Book Department Established By An American Publishing House. Macmillan's President, George P. Brett, Later Wrote About The Founding Of The Department: "It Had Occurred To Me [That Children's] Books Would Benefit More Than Any Others, Perhaps, From Separate Editorial Supervision." Brett Believed That Women Knew More About Children And Would Therefore Make A Better Department Head. Even With The Freedom To Develop The New Department, Brett Still Expected Seaman To Develop Her Own Advertising Copy. She Inherited Macmillan's Standard Children's Titles Including Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Charles Kingsley's Water Babies, And Mary Louisa Molesworth's The Cuckoo Clock. During Her Fifteen-Year Tenure As Managing Editor At The Macmillan Company, She Expanded Macmillan's Children's Titles To More Than 600 New Books, A Milestone In The Growth And Development Of American Literature For Children. During The Great Depression, Bechtel Was Able To Continue Publishing Novels Through The Reputation Of The Publishing House. Three Of The Books She Published, The Trumpeter Of Krakow By Eric P. Kelly In 1929, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years By Rachel Field In 1930, And The Cat Who Went To Heaven By Elizabeth Coatsworth In 1931, Were Awarded The Newbery Medal. As An Author, Bechtel's Best-Known Books Are The Brave Bantam[6] In 1946, And Mr. Peck's Pets In 1947. During Her Long Career, Bechtel Acquired An Incomparable Collection Of Children's Books. Later Donated To Vassar College And The University Of Florida In Gainesville), It Exceeded 3,500 Volumes, Among Them Rare Folk Tales, Asian And African Legends, Greek Mythology, Aesop's Fables, Tales From Shakespeare, And Early Twentieth Century Children's Book Illustrators Such As Arthur Rackham, Kate Greenaway, And Boris Artzybasheff.