Topsys & Turvys
New York: The Century Co., 1902. Oblong quarto. Color illustrations. Original glazed pictorial boards. Contemporary ownership inscription on front free endpaper, some wear with light loss at extremities. Item #121657
Each page offers a metapicture, framed by a couple -- the first line appears below the image and right-side up, the second line above and upside-down. One turns the book 180 degrees to complete the rhyme, and perspective completely alters the picture's meaning (see 'Keywords for Children's Literature, ed. Philip Nel and Lisa Paul, New York: NYU Press, 2011, p.182). First published in 1893, with a second series in 1894, this edition was used -- presumably due to the greater clarity of reproductions of Newell's illustrations -- for the Dover reprint in 1964. The book has been celebrated in modern times as an exemplar of metafiction.
Price: $100.00