Little Folks Magazine 1877-1878 Cassell Petter Galpin Illustrated Volume
 
Title & Bibliographic Details
Title: Little Folks: A Magazine for the Young
Series: New and Enlarged Series
Volumes Included: Volumes VII & VIII bound together in one volume
Publisher: Cassell Petter & Galpin, London, Paris & New York
Date: c.1877–1878
Edition: Early Victorian periodical issue
Illustrations: Two colour frontispiece plates with tissue guards plus numerous engravings throughout
 
This substantial Victorian juvenile volume contains two consecutive yearly volumes of Little Folks, including extensive illustrated stories, poetry, educational articles, competitions, puzzles, music, natural history, travel writing, and moral tales aimed at nineteenth-century children.
 
Dating can be closely placed to 1877–1878 from internal references including “Award of Prizes in the Competitions for 1877” and “Prize Competitions for 1878.” The publisher imprint also supports this dating, as the firm traded as Cassell Petter & Galpin between 1858 and 1878 before becoming Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Company.
 
Historical & Bibliographic Context
Little Folks was one of the most successful Victorian illustrated children’s magazines and formed part of the enormous expansion of juvenile publishing during the nineteenth century.
 
The magazine blended entertainment with moral education, reflecting Victorian attitudes toward childhood, religion, science, empire, geography, literature, and self-improvement. Contents include stories, poems, scientific explanations, travel writing, puzzles, music, craft projects, natural history, and historical articles.
 
Subjects range remarkably widely, including Icelandic volcanoes, Morocco, South Africa, Canadian life, Warwick Castle, Napoleon, the Royal Navy, science experiments, telephones, photography, embroidery, and zoology. The work provides a fascinating insight into Victorian educational culture and family reading habits.
 
The colour plates and dense illustration programme greatly enhance its visual appeal and collectability.
 
About the Contributors
The volume includes work by numerous Victorian writers and contributors associated with nineteenth-century juvenile literature, including Old Merry, Julia Goddard, and others connected with educational and moral children’s publishing.
 
Binding & Exterior Description
A heavy and substantial Victorian volume, half bound with a leather spine, leather corners and inner board edges, with grained cloth boards.
The spine features gilt lettering and gilt decorative panels. The page edges are edge sprinkled.
The binding remains intact and structurally robust with age-related wear including:
rubbing to leather, particularly along the spine and board edges 
light marks and scratches 
bumping and rubbing to corners 
small rips to leather at corners 
small splits at the head and tail of the spine 
a partial split to the lower spine edge adjoining the rear board 
Despite wear, the book retains strong shelf presence and an attractive Victorian appearance.
 
Interior Condition
Brown pastedowns and free endpapers.
 
The pages are lightly tanned with occasional light foxing, marks, and small creases consistent with age and use. Other than a small pen “x” on page 323 of Volume VII, there is no significant writing internally.
 
There is a very small hole to page 1 and overleaf of Volume VII together with the occasional small edge tear. A handful of tears pass through text but do not obscure readability.
 
The pages remain tightly bound overall, though there are light gutter cracks between pastedowns and free endpapers.
 
Both colour frontispiece plates are present with tissue guards:
Hurrah! For The Snow 
Bosom Friends 
 
Numerous engraved illustrations throughout also remain present.
 
Pagination checked complete:
Volume VII: iv + 380 pages 
Volume VIII: iv + 380 pages 
 
Physical Details
Dimensions: Approximately 24.5 cm x 19.3 cm x 3.9 cm
Weight: Approximately 1534 g
 
Rarity & Collector Notes
This combined Victorian binding is best described as uncommon to scarce in complete and attractive condition.
 
Individual issues of Little Folks survive more frequently than substantial bound annual volumes retaining colour plates and strong original Victorian bindings.
 
The appeal of this copy lies in:
its early publication date 
extensive illustrations 
colour plates with tissue guards 
substantial Victorian binding 
wide-ranging educational and literary content 
insight into Victorian childhood and publishing culture