When Mother Lets Us Cut Out Pictures by Ida E. Boyd (1912 First Edition) - Paul Elder & Co. Stamp ✂️📜🏡

This volume is an authenticated First Edition, First Printing of When Mother Lets Us Cut Out Pictures, published by Moffat, Yard and Company in 1912.

The book is a rare and highly collectible artifact of early 20th-century American juvenile education and domestic life. It is an early example of a child's activity guide, authored by Ida E. Boyd, a teacher of art.

The book's value is profoundly secured by a unique, witty inscription from "Ike" and the scarce book stamp of Paul Elder & Co., San Francisco, establishing a rare and desirable dual layer of personal and commercial history.

2. About the Artwork/Book/Object 📖✍️✨

The book is a charming, instructional guide designed to teach children the fundamentals of paper-cutting and shadow-picture creation. It moves beyond simple instruction to integrate the craft with lessons on domestic subjects, nature, and storytelling. The content is organized around themes like "Chairs," "The Table of the Three Bears," "A Department Store," and "Christmas Decoration," providing templates and ideas for creative play.

The book's focus is on developing a child's artistic perception and manual dexterity through fun, accessible projects. It features numerous detailed black-and-white silhouette illustrations by the author herself. These graphic images and the detailed table of contents reveal its practical purpose: to provide structured yet imaginative play that aligns with the educational ethos of the Progressive Era.

3. About the Artist/Author/Maker ✍️🏛️

Ida E. Boyd was a respected educator, identified as a "Teacher of Art, Brooklyn Training School for Teachers". This professional background provides the book with a verifiable foundation in academic pedagogy, distinguishing it from simple mass-market novelty guides. Her work reflects the educational reforms of the early 20th century, which prioritized arts, crafts, and vocational training alongside traditional academic subjects.

Boyd's approach, which emphasizes learning through creative activity, made this book a cornerstone for domestic education. Her unique contribution is acting as both the author and the illustrator, creating a seamless integration of instructional text and visual guidance. This combination makes the book a direct, tangible artifact of an early Progressive teacher's personal curriculum.

4. Historical/Political Era Context 🌍🕰️📜

This book was published in 1912, a critical year during the Progressive Era in America. The early 1910s were a time of rapid social change, characterized by urbanization, industrial growth, and the development of new educational and social theories.

The book's publication coincides with the rise of manual arts and vocational training in public schools, a movement that sought to integrate practical skills into the classroom to prepare children for modern industrial society. The focus on domestic, supervised activities reflects a common desire to instill structure and practical virtue in children amidst the chaotic cultural shifts of the time. This volume is a time capsule of a key moment in American educational and domestic history, capturing the zeitgeist of purposeful play and applied creativity as defined by the era's leading educators.

5. The Ideal Collector 💡🧐🏛️

This volume is tailored for a Curator of American Educational Ephemera and a Scholar of Early 20th-Century Domestic Arts. The Ideal Collector is someone who seeks First Edition instructional texts that document the history of childhood and educational trends.

The book belongs in a collection that focuses on the history of American bookselling, with the presence of the Paul Elder & Co. San Francisco stamp making it a non-replicable piece of West Coast commercial history. The unique, humorous inscription also appeals to the collector who prioritizes traceable personal narratives that humanize the artifact.

6. Value & Rarity 💎✨🏛️

This book is an authenticated First Edition, First Printing from 1912 and is 113 years old. Its rarity is moderate, based on the low survival rate typical of fragile children's activity books. As a First Edition, it holds a strong base value.

The book's value is powerfully secured by the Ephemera Premium derived from the combination of the unique, dated "Ike" inscription and the Paul Elder & Co. San Francisco bookseller stamp. This verifiable duality of personal and commercial history is a form of non-replicable asset. The obvious wear and child's markings require a mandatory deduction, but the documented chain of ownership and First Edition status override this deduction to justify a premium retail price.

7. Condition 🔎📚✨

This is an authenticated First Edition hardcover lacking the original dust jacket. The volume's condition reflects heavy, documented use as a child's activity book.

• Positive Qualities:

  • The binding remains relatively secure, providing structural integrity.

  • The internal pages are complete and contain all original instructional text and silhouette illustrations.

  • The handwritten inscription from "Ike" and the Paul Elder & Co. stamp are clearly legible.

• Imperfections:

  • The tan cloth boards are moderately soiled, rubbed, and darkened.

  • The boards and corners exhibit heavy shelf wear and fraying, especially at the spine ends.

  • There are scribbles and doodles on various internal pages, confirming a child actively used the book.

     

  • The front cover lettering has clear pencil markings, adding to the used aesthetic.

8. Fun Facts & Unique Features 🤓📜🤩

• The publisher, Moffat, Yard and Company, was an American publishing house known for printing works by early 20th-century authors like Bliss Carman and Mary Roberts Rinehart.

• The title itself, "When Mother Lets Us Cut Out Pictures," is part of the larger "When Mother Lets Us" series, a popular collection of early instructional guides for children.

• The book contains a full-page ad on the back endpaper for Paul Elder & Co. San Francisco, a major arts and crafts publisher and bookseller highly regarded for its distinctive book design.

• The whimsical, personal inscription from "Ike" is a tangible piece of domestic social history, documenting the book's journey as a humorous gift within a family in the 1910s.

9. Supporting Information 🏷️📦💰

• Title: When Mother Lets Us Cut Out Pictures

• Author/Illustrator: Ida E. Boyd

• Year of Publication: 1912

• Publisher: Moffat, Yard and Company

• Place of Origin: New York

• Format/Binding: Hardcover, Tan Pictorial Cloth Boards

• Edition: First Edition, First Printing (Copyright 1912)

• Rarity: Moderate Scarcity (Children's First Edition), Unique Inscription and Bookseller Stamp

• Verbatim Transcription of Inscription/Marking:

  • Handwritten Inscription: "Not so much to help in your career but rather to help you cut it out. Sincerely, Ike.".

  • Book Stamp: “Paul Elder & Co. San Francisco”.