Without looking for a children’s book at all, I found a 1931 French alphabet book at the brocante.
I thought it would be darling to take the pages apart and frame them for a child’s room. I never did. I have trouble cutting books—old paper, fabric, lace, ribbon-
It probably comes from the time I cut up a very rare book without knowing it was rare, pasted it all over my wall like wallpaper, and only later learned its value. A small art project. A large mistake.
Since then, I look at old pages in a very different light. That book is from 1931, and it remains intact.
Some lessons arrive fully framed.
Oh how regret can be educational.
Mon Alphabet Illustré (Hachette, 1931) is a French children’s alphabet book illustrated by André Pécoud, (1880–1951) was a Parisian illustrator who worked extensively with Hachette from the 1920s through the 1940s, contributing to hundreds of books and magazines.
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