The Country Alphabet.

London : Frederick Warne & Co., [1865].

[London] : Edmund Evans.

Warne's New Series of Alphabets : 2

6d.

Crane, Walter (illustrator)
Evans, Edmund (engraver and printer)
Frederick Warne & Co. (publisher)

Toy book
Alphabet book

Size
14x23 cm
Format and pagination
Oblong 8° : 12 ll. : [12] ll. pls
Signatures
A/C⁴ in 12s
Signatures note
1 gathering, sewn (binding thread between C2.3), unpaginated
Covers
Up. wpr, unsigned, reproducing details from pls 3, 4, 7, col. ptd (red, green, dark blue) on pink paper
On up. wpr: 'Price Sixpence, with Coloured Plates; or Mounted, One Shilling. | [inserted in a green and blue frame] The | [fancy, red, outlined in black] Country Alphabet | [inserted in a dark blue frame, details from pls 3, 4, 7] | [dark blue, inserted in a panel, ruled in red] London: Frederick Warne & Co., Bedford St., Covent Garden.'
On low. wpr, publishers' advts: 'Warne’s Sunday Books for Children. | Oblong 8vo., one shilling each, with handsome wrapper, and pictures printed in colours. | The History of Joseph and His Brethren. | The Proverbs of Solomon. | Each with twelve illustrations, beautifully printed in colours by Edmund Evans. | Choice Books for Children. | In imperial 8vo, price two shillings and sixpence, boards, with wrapper. | In and out of School. | With twenty-six original designs by Absolon. | Little Lily’s Alphabet. | With twenty-five illustrations by Oscar Pletsch. | London: | Frederick Warne & Co., Bedford Street, Covent Garden. | Edmund Evans, Engraver and Printer, Raquet Court, Fleet Street.'
Blank inside wpr
Illustrations
12 ills, one per page, unsigned, col. ptd (red, green, black) on one side of the sheet
Each ill. includes a vertical panel, with two (three in pls 3 and 12) capital letters each, col. ptd (red, with frames ptd in black)
Registering marks
Registering marks on pls 1.12 (3 red dots, lower side) and 6.7 (3 red dots, upper side)
Source for attribution
Drawings
Documents
Source for date
Advts
List of titles on low. wpr and ep

Chromo-relief

Publishers' Circular (1 Jul. 1865), 355: see pcb1024
Saturday Review (1 Jul. 1865), 40: see pcb1024
Bookseller (31 Oct. 1865), 749: see pcb1024

Variant (1) (a)
on paper
Variant (1) (b)
on paper pasted on linen

1974 Whalley, 139 (c.1875?, not attr. to Crane)
2016 Tancini, 177ff
2025 Tancini, I.25, I.233–8 (T5), I.241, II.155

BL: 12803.f.2. (variant (1) (a); accession stamp dated 13JA66; bound in later boards)
CUL-WaC: Waddleton.c.9.723 (variant (1) (a); inscribed “A. Hinman, New Haven, Conn”; n.a.)
NAL: 60.Y.Box II (iii) (variant (1) (b); mounted on linen; dated by NAL [approximately 1875])

Drawings
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.2 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 1)
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.3 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 2; inscribed and dated 'The Country Alphabet, D.C. April 5, 1865')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.4 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl 3; inscribed and dated '33. Country Alphabet. April 13')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.5 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 4; inscribed and dated '29. H.I. April 9, 1865')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.6 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 4; inscribed and dated '39/30. Country Alphabet. H.I. April 7')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.7 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 5; inscribed and dated '42. Country Alphabet. Jackdaw & Kite-Flying. April 24')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.8 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 6; inscribed and dated '38. Ladder. Mill. April 20, 1865')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.9 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 7; inscribed and dated '35. Nutting. Orchard. Country Alphabet. April 17, 1865. Deliv. 19')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.10 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 8; inscribed and dated '41. Plough. Quarry. April 24, 1865')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.11 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 9; inscribed and dated 'Country Alphabet. Rabbits. Stile. April 18, 1865. Deliv. 19')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.12 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 10; inscribed and dated '37. Country Alphabet. Team. Urchin. April 18-19, 1865. Deliv. 19')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.13 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 11; inscribed and dated '39. Vine. Waggon. April 21')
WAG: WCA.1.1.1.1.5.14 (graphite on tracing paper drawing for pl. 12; inscribed and dated '40. X. Yew. Z Path. April 23'; all contained in album Jenny Wren | Cock Robin | Country Alphabet)
Documents
JRUL: WCA/2/2/2/1 (Crane's journal for 1864-1867 with references to The Country Alphabet: f. 5v, 6 Mar.: 'Order from Evans. Sketch for Alphabet of games. Aunt Sally. Alphabet of Games. Changed to Country Alphabet.'; f. 6r, 17 Mar.: '1. Alphabet of Games. Country Alphabet. (12 blocks) 2. Proverbs of Solomon. (12 blocks) 3. 104th Psalm. (12 blocks)'; 18 Mar.: 'Worked at 104th Psalm & Proverbs'; f. 6v, 20 Mar.: 'Took in 2 Psalms & 2 Proverbs. Sketches to Evans'; 23 Mar.: 'Sketches for Psalm & Proverbs to be treated in modern way. Worked at them & A B of Country Alphabet up to 11:30pm instead of 79 Newman St.'; 24 Mar.: 'at Evans’s at 10am. Delivered A B no. 1 & 3 sketches (Psalm & Proverbs)'; f. 7r, 27 Mar.: 'Country Alphabet'; 29 Mar.: 'Note from Evans. Order for 12 Psalm & 12 Proverbs cancelled'; f. 7v, 4 Apr.: 'Alphabet C D'; 6 Apr.: 'Delivered C D C.A. (Country Alpha.) to Evans who sent H I'; 8 Apr.: 'H I (Country Alpha.)'; f. 8r, 10 Apr.: 'Delivered […] H I (C.A.)'; 11 Apr.: 'E F G of Alpha.'; 12 Apr.: 'E F G […] returned to alter'; 13 Apr.: 'Alpha. E F G'; f. 8v, 17–18 Apr.: 'Alphabet'; 19 Apr.: 'Alphabet delivered E F G, N O, R S, & T U (4 blocks) to E. Evans Esq.'; 20–22 Apr.: 'Alphabet'; f. 9r, 24 Apr.: 'Alphabet deliv.d – P Q, L M, V W, X Y Z, J K – (5 blocks) being the last of Country Alphabet. Re.d from Edmund Evans Esq. the sum of fifteen pounds for the same')
JRUL: WCA/2/2/2/1/5 (loose sheet formerly inserted in WCA/2/2/2/1 between ff. 8–9 with references to The Country Alphabet: 'April 24, 1865. Edmund Evans Esq. to Walter Crane. Designing & drawing – The Country Alphabet. 12 blocks at £1-5/-. £15-0-0. Rec.d April 24. Walter Crane')

Included in
The Popular Alphabet Book / from Designs by Phiz, Crane, &c. - London : Frederick Warne & Co., 1866 [but 1865]
Has version/s
The Country Alphabet : With Illustrations Printed in Colours. - London : Frederick Warne & Co., [1867]
Has version/s
The Country Alphabet. - London : Frederick Warne & Co., [1869–82]
Included in
Aunt Louisa's Alphabet Book / Printed in Colours by Evans and Kronheim. - London : Frederick Warne & Co., [1870]
Included in
Aunt Louisa's Alphabet Book : Comprising The Nursery Alphabet, Country Alphabet, London Alphabet, Alphabet of Games and Sports, with Twenty-Four Pages of Illustrations / printed in colours by Evans and Kronheim. - London ; New York : Frederick Warne & Co. ; Scribner, Welford and Armstrong, [1880]

267001842
800581466
913355404

https://www.picoboo.eu/catalogue/pcb1023

Francesca Tancini, "The Country Alphabet". In PiCoBoo, accessed October 10, 2026, https://www.picoboo.eu/catalogue/pcb1023