Old Stories of the East, James Baldwin

Old Stories of the East, James Baldwin, 1895, American Book Company

This beautiful antique book has been in my family for many years. I don't know where it came from but it is one that I remember seeing in a bookshelf in my home when I was a child. I have read this one twice, once years ago, and I just re-read it this year. 

It is a re-telling of stories from the Old Testament, geared toward children, with simpler writing and edited stories with a lot of gory details omitted.

This book was written by James Baldwin. I found some information on him from  this website, https://www.mainlesson.com/authors/baldwin.shtml . Here is an exerpt from The Baldwin Project website: 

(1841 - 1925)

According to his biography in the Junior Book of Authors (1951), Baldwin, a native of Indiana and largely self-educated, began teaching at the age of 24. After several years he became superintendent of the graded schools in Indiana, a post he held for 18 years. The last 37 years of his life he worked with publishers, first with Harper and Brothers and later with the American Book Company. In addition to editing school books, he started writing books of his own. After the publication in 1882 of The Story of Siegfried, he went on to write more than 50 others. His influence was widely felt because at one time it was estimated that of all the school books in use in the United States, over half had been written or edited by him. Unfortunately, his works are much less widely known today. So far as I know, none of his books are in print today.

I found the language in this book much more formal than what we use today. It's interesting how language changes, even through it is the same words we use today, it has a different feel to it. 

I can't forget the illustrations fount inside, by E. B. Edwards and lithographed plates but I can't make out the artist on them. Here is an example, showing Noah building the Ark. You just don't find illustrations like this anymore:

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