Absurd A.B.C.
By Joan Bruce, Specialist Librarian, State Library of Queensland | 22 July 2025
The Absurd A.B.C., 1874, Walter Crane, RB 398.8 1874, History and Art of the Book Collection
As bright today as when it first came off the press, the aim of this entertaining alphabet book was to tempt children to read. It must surely have succeeded.
The Absurd A.B.C., 1874, Walter Crane, RB 398.8 1874, History and Art of the Book Collection
Its familiar nursery rhymes were illustrated by one of the greats of children’s book illustration, Walter Crane, and the wood blocks engraved and printed by Edmund Evans.
The Absurd A.B.C., 1874, Walter Crane, RB 398.8 1874, History and Art of the Book Collection
Evans was a master of the process of wood block colour printing, referred to at the time as chromoxylography. It was intricate work, requiring a separate wood block for each colour of the image being reproduced.
The Absurd A.B.C., 1874, Walter Crane, RB 398.8 1874, History and Art of the Book Collection
The Absurd A.B.C. was no. 110 in the series of sixpenny toy books published by Routledge and Sons, and one of many illustrated by Walter Crane.
Illustrated children’s books from the Victorian period are one of the features of State Library’s History and Art of the Book Collection.
This quirky alphabet book will be on display in State Library’s Australian Library of Art showcase from August 2025. Weekly curator’s tours will be held in August 2025 and monthly tours from September 2025 until the close of The Word Made Flesh display in early 2026.
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