The illustrated songbook is an appealing hybrid, now seldom seen, as fewer homes have a piano to stack them on, and fewer people read music. Many of these songbooks were meant for children, although there are plenty of examples for adults.

Here’s one for the nursery: The Most Popular Mother Goose Songs, published by Hinds, Hayden, & Eldredge, New York, 1915. The illustrations are by the busy children’s illustrator Mabel Betsy Hill, not to be confused with the new Zealand painter Mabel Hill (judging by a Googling, some do). Each of its 44 thick pages contains a song with piano accompaniment, printed in blue, set inside a delicately colored illustration. “Kitty White” and “Higgilty Piggilty” are typical examples. (You can, of course, click on them to enlarge them.)

(Posted by Doug Skinner)