Childcraft by W. F. Quarrie and Company | Volumes 1-6 with Parent Guide 1934

Childcraft, Volumes 1 through 6 plus the Parent Guide, published by W. F. Quarrie and Company, Chicago, 1934. A complete early set with Parent Guide. Condition is fair across the set. Please see photos for full details.

Condition notes: most volumes share a similar level of wear, with some staining on the covers, very slight water damage to the pages, minor binding issues on some volumes, and small page staining throughout. There is a charming inscription on the inside cover recording the names of the children in the family for whom this set was purchased, a lovely personal detail that gives this particular set a real human story. Volume 1 has the most significant damage, with approximately four loose pages, more pronounced binding wear, and greater water damage than the remaining volumes. All condition details are visible in the photos and buyers should review them carefully before purchasing.

A first year 1934 set of Childcraft is a genuinely rare piece of American educational publishing history. The vast majority of surviving Childcraft sets collectors encounter are from the 1940s, 1950s, and later decades, making an original 1934 W. F. Quarrie edition a much harder find. The inscription recording the children's names adds a deeply personal dimension to this set, turning it from a mere reference collection into a real artifact of one American family's home education in the 1930s, a wonderful glimpse into domestic life during the Great Depression era.

The Childcraft series was first published in 1934 by W. F. Quarrie and Company, then also publishers of the World Book encyclopedia, making this set from the very first year of the series' existence. Childcraft was created as an encyclopedia for young children, with simple texts and illustrations designed to make learning fun, with volumes covering subjects including literature, short stories, poetry, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, mathematics, and the sciences. W. F. Quarrie and Company had purchased World Book in 1919 and during the 1930s assembled an editorial advisory board to guide the project's development, bringing the same rigorous editorial standards to Childcraft that had made World Book a household name. The company was later purchased by Chicago magnate Marshall Field III in 1945, and the Childcraft name eventually became part of World Book Inc., one of the most recognized educational publishers in the world, with the series ultimately translated into a dozen languages and shipped to more than fifty countries globally.


A wonderful addition for collectors of antique educational materials, American publishing history, 1930s Americana, illustrated children's reference books, or anyone drawn to the nostalgic world of mid-century home education.