About the Cloth Books e-Collection

 

 

The Arne Nixon Center has collected and preserved a number of cloth books with publication dates ranging from the 1860s to the 1960s.These cloth books, also frequently called rag books, are quite different from the soft, quilted fabric books sometimes given to toddlers. They were printed on muslin or linen, and were typically alphabet primers and picture books with simple stories and rhymes for beginning readers.

 

Between August of 2014 and January 2015, a significant portion of the Center's cloth books were digitized, and are now accessible to the public. A sampling of this e-collection is viewable on the "Exhibit" page, and the full e-collection may be accessed via Henry Madden Library's Digitized Collections directory. 

 

*Because of copyright considerations, many cloth books in the physical collection could not be digitized, and the digital exhibit and e-collection only represent a fraction of what is available on-site at the Arne Nixon Center.