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Our Wonder World / New Wonder World

Geo. L. Shuman & Co. produced an absolutely fascinating set of "encyclopedia" type books in the early part of the 20th century. Though apparently long gone, some old copies of these books show up from time to time. They were not an A-Z type set. They were 10-11 volumes of books, based on different "subjects". In fact, being that they were available from 1914-1963, they could well have served as "home-school" books for many children. They are certainly educational, informative, delightful, and packed full of all kinds of different matter, ranging from space and technology to sports and animals to children's poems and illustrations. Produced in a quality that we don't often see in the latter part of the 20th century, they are actually an incredible set of books to page and read through. And, some of the illustrations are just superb.

The books were roughly of 8" by 11" pages, with many of the sets being leatherbound. They may look ancient, but inside those pages are a whole treasure of delightful stories, pictures, information, etc. Below is pictured the spines of an early(probably 10s or 20s) set of Our Wonder World books(less the last volume/index).

Our first experience with these books was an old(1918) set of the books picked up at a second hand sale. A volume or two was missing, but even so, there was much to appreciate in the books. One of the things that stuck out vibrantly were a number of delightful illustrations by Nellie Littlehale Umbstaetter. First, the "Fairyland" paintings caught our eyes, but then even the gentle "illustrations" pulled us in even further. In searching for more information and/or works by Nellie, we've not been able to find the wealth of excellent works that are in these sets of books.

We're not fully sure of exact dates of when her illustrations may have been removed from the books, but we can relay this. ALL of the "early works" we have from these books are from the 1918-1928 era of "Our Wonder World" books. We recently have been able to see a 1944 set of the "New Wonder World" books, and only the "fairyland" type Nellie works are to be found. Obviously, Geo. L. Shuman & Co. had to keep developing and evolving this set of books and sooner or later much of the information was probably changed.

If you run across a set of these, try to take a good look at the books, they are absolutely fascinating. Of the 10-11 volumes, there are two of most interest in relation to Nellie. Volumes 5 and 9 in the sets we've seen have contained her works. These are usually referred to as "The Child in the Home" and "The Mother's Homebook" subtitles, respectively. Generally, they are more "story" and creatively oriented, and Nellie's delightful works fit in superbly with the rest of the pages in these books.

Below is a picture of an early copy open to the "Snowmakers" page. As you can see, both the "The Snow Makers" AND "The Home of the Snow Makers" were on facing pages. This was the same for the other "fairyland" sets in the books, making for a most wonderful view on two pages! We've wondered if there were ever "stories" written for these paintings, but we've also thought that they are so full of detail and wonder that in a way, they tell a wonderful story in themselves.

As noted, this set of books was in print from 1914-1963. Below is a breakdown of the years it was printed as well as the changes in its title.

Known as "Our Wonder World", it was printed in 1914, 1918, 1923, 1928, & 1930.

Known as "New Wonder World", it was printed in 1932, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1960, 1962, & 1963.

The set was published by Geo. L. Shuman & Co. up until sometime, probably in the 50s or early 60s, when it was published by the Parents Magazine Education Press(PMEP). We're not sure of the changes there, nor what happened to the Shuman Co., but we have not seen any trace of the set being printed after 1963. Though it was a loss to not have such a set of books available, it is nice to know that there WAS once such a great set of books. Some of the later "New Wonder World" era of books was also known as "The New Wonder World, A Library of Knowledge" and also as "The New Wonder World Cultural Library". We gather this may have coincided with PMEP obtaining the books.

[NELLIE LITTLEHALE] [BIOGRAPHICAL INFO.] [EARLY WORKS] [LATER WORKS] [WONDER WORLD BOOKS]

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