E. H. Bender, Albany

Ephraim Bender (1820-1892) was a native of Albany County in New York. He established his namesake publishing firm in 1843 and was in business until the 1880’s.

Although the dates are not exact, it appears that the two juvenile series were published sometime in the 1850’s. Bender was a bookseller, blank book manufacturer, publisher and stationer. The address on the cover can be used to determine if the book was published before or after 1855.

75 State Street 1844-1854
73 State Street 1855-1880's

1. Grandmamma Easy's Large Toy Books
2. Marks' Colored Toy Books

Grandmamma Easy's Large Toy Books

Story of Joseph and His Brethren
Michaelmas Day or the Fate of Poor Molly Goosey
Stories about Europe
Merry Multiplication Table
Troubles of Harry Careless Going Too Far
Pretty Lullaby Songs
Farmer Fallowfield's Stories
Little Jack Horner and His Mince Pie
Very Little Stories about the Alphabet
Little Tom Thumb and His Mother
Wonders of a Toy Shop
Alderman's Feast

A Grandmama Easy's series was published by Brown, Bazin & Co. and N. P. Greene & Co. but it had mostly different titles. Other Albany publishers also printed this series with the exact same titles in the same format.

Wraps. Beige and blue seen seen. The front cover has a picture of Grandmamma reading to some children. 10.25" x 7.25"
Eight pages not including the covers.
(Based on the street address, this series was published after 1855.)

Marks' Colored Toy Books

The History of the Children in the Wood
House that Jack Built
Cinderella
Ladder in Learning
Goody Two Shoes
Dame Trot and Her Comical Dog
Little Dame Crump
Old Mother Hubbard and Her Dog
Little Red Riding Hood
Whittington and His Cat
History of Johnny Gilpin
Life and Death of Cock Robin

This twelve book series was published by numerous firms. The format published by American firms was the exact same as the third and last one used by Marks and included the same titles.

These books were originally published by J. L. Marks, a London publisher, in the 1830's and 1840's. The latest edition by Marks is identical to the edition shown here.

Wraps. Various colors. eight pages, not including the covers. 7" x 4.5"

(I have not seen a Bender copy of a Marks' Colored Toy Book. I am showing a picture of another publisher's book which is identical except for the publisher name.)