Vintage Books by Laura Lee Hope

24 June
Today I thought I'd start sharing the books that I grabbed from the freebie pile that my mom and I stumbled upon last weekend. You can read about it here: Treasure Trove Tuesday in case you missed it.

Now let me just say right off the bat that I'm not a bibliophile by any means.

Vintage Books by Laura Lee Hope
Source Unknown

I do have quite a few old books but I've collected them mostly for their display qualities. Like many of you I like to stack them up and use them as little pedestals for things around the house, lean them against things, display them in bird cages and cloches, etc.

When my mom and I were going through the pile of books we found I felt kind of rushed and since I don't really know what I'm looking at in the way of a book having any monetary value, I just went with their display qualities... covers mostly!

Anyway, the books I'm sharing today are all by Laura Lee Hope... or so the books say...


Since I'm writing this post I decided to do a little research about this "author" and what I found is that Laura Lee Hope is not an actual person but rather a pseudonym used by the producer of The Bobbsey Twins and other series' of children's novels. In fact there were at least nine different authors who wrote under the name of Laura Lee Hope... interesting!!



These three books are from a series of 14 volumes of "Six Little Bunkers". Here is the excerpt from the back of one of the books:

Delightful stories for little boys and girls which sprung into immediate popularity. To know the six little Bunkers is to take them at once to your heart, they are so intensely human, so full of fun and cute sayings. Each story has a little plot of its own - one that can be easily followed - and all are written in Miss Hope's most entertaining manner. Clean, wholesome volumes which ought to be on the bookshelf of every child in the land.

Isn't that sweet?! Well... all except for the lie about being written in "Miss Hope's most entertaining manner"! ;o)



 These are all dated 1918!



The covers are cloth with dark blue writing and the image is pasted onto the front of the book.


Each one has a few cute illustrations.





The other two are Bobbsey Twins books... The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat and The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore. I had not heard of the Little Bunkers but I have heard of the Bobbsey Twins!


This one is dated 1915.


The Bobbsey Twins was one of the longest running series with 72 books beginning in 1904, the last book being published in 1972. Here is the excerpt about these books:

Books that charm the hearts of the little ones, and of which they never tire. Many of the adventures are comical in the extreme, and all the accidents that ordinarily happen to youthful personages happened to these many-sided little mortals. Their haps and mishaps make decidedly entertaining reading.


This one is dated 1907 but sadly the back is in very poor condition :o(



I found that all of these books (well, with the exception of the damaged one) go for anywhere from $20 to $40 each.

I love to think about children reading these books back in the day... before video games... before television... when reading and playing outdoors was what children did :o)

I have lots more books to share so stay tuned for another post coming soon!


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  1. I Never heard of the six little bunkers but I loved the bobsey twins. They were the first series books I Read and I specifically remember the sea shore one. That's probably why I love the beach so much.

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  2. These are so cool! I love the covers and illustrations. What a sweet free find! Like you, I have heard fo the Bobbsey twins but not the Bunkers. Have a great day!

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  3. Oh, how I love these books! Don't be mad about the pseudonym authors writing books. Several major authors today just write an outline and have ghost writers write the actual books. Now I have to go read the post about the free pile - I missed it.

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  4. I heart old books. So does my husband. One of our favorite dates is lunch at our favorite downtown eatery followed by hours spent browsing a local vintage/antique bookstore. Those books you have are so sweet. The illustrations are lovely.

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    1. That sounds like a great date to me!

      Tania

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  5. I'm a bibliophile too Tania! My Mother has a wonderful copy of the Bobbsy Twins and it's in exquisite condition. I love your books. I wrote about being a bibliophile a while back. I am actually getting up the courage to purge some of my books and donate them. I have several vintage books that I will hold tight though. Hugs!

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  6. I just found your blog this morning and have enjoyed my visit. I really like your post on the vintage calender towels. A while back I found one from the year my oldest daughter was born. I looked for just the right "70's" fabric and used it in a quilt with the towel as the focal point. It was a hit! Thanks for the visit, I will stop by again.

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