Eva March Tappan's The World's Story:
A History of the World in Story, Song, and Art
14 Volumes

These books are extremely hard to find, but they are a marvelous treasure for young people ages thirteen and up! Eva March Tappan had a heart for young people and produced other wonderful things for them. Her name is one to look for wherever vintage children's books can be found, but this set is probably her greatest work.

I usually try to limit my lists and reviews to modestly priced, more easily found items, but I would hate for someone to see this set at a book sale, not have heard of it, and miss the treasure inside! And if anyone is looking for a publishing opportunity, this would be a fine one!

When we found our set, we cleared out many of our other history and geography books, for these are among the finest books that we've found.

Volume 1: China, Japan, and the Islands of the Pacific
Volume 2: India, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Palestine
Volume 3: Egypt, Africa, and Arabia
Volume 4: Greece and Rome
Volume 5: Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal
Volume 6: Russia, Austria-Hungary, The Balkan States, and Turkey
Volume 7: Germany, The Netherlands, and Switzerland
Volume 8: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, and the Search for the Poles
Volume 9: England
Volume 10: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales
Volume 11: Canada, South America, Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies
Volume 12: The United States
Volume 13: The United States
Volume 14: An Outline of Universal History

Are you ready for the good stuff yet? Talk about Living Books! These are rich--in clear text and with reproductions of appropriate paintings, you'll find that poetry, historical fiction, and exciting source documents, and more are packed into these 500-600 page volumes. I've seen nothing else like them, new or old.

To give you an idea of the depth and quality of the content in these books, I'm including here the full contents for Volume 9, England.

Stories of the Ancient Britons

• The Building of Stonehenge by G. F. Scott Elliot
• King Leir and His Daughters, A Tradition of Early Britain by John Milton
• The City in the Lake from G. F. Scott Elliot
• Julius Caesar's Two Visits to Britain by Anthony Trollope
• A Messenger from Rome by William Shakespeare
• Boadicea by William Cowper
• How the Romans Lived in Britain by G. F. Scott Elliot

The Anglo-Saxon Invasion

• Stories of King Arthur and His Court by Thomas Mallory and Tennyson
• The Stolen Boys by Sir Clement R. Markham
• How King Edwin of Northumbria became a Christian by Mrs. Elizabeth Rundle Charles

The Coming of the Sea Rovers

• The Fall of the Monastery at Croyland by Eva March Tappan
• King Edmund and the Wolf by Abbot Aelfric
• What the Boy Alfred Saw in London by Eva March Tappan
• King Alfred on Athelney by Thomas Hughes
• One Rule for Angle and for Dane by Ottilie A. Liljencrantz
• The Last Danish Invasion by Edward Bulwer Lytton

The Norman Conquest

• The Battle of Hastings by Robert Wace
• How the Domesday Book was Made by Edwin Lester Arnold
• What the English Thought of William the Conqueror from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
• The Rescue of the Princess of Cornwall by Charles Kingsley

From William the Red to John Lackland

• The Reign of the Red King by Charles Dickens
• The White Ship by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• The Escape of Maude from the Castle at Oxford by A. D. Crake
• The Castle-builders of the Reign of Stephen from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
• The Struggle between the King and the Archbishop by John Lord
• The Story of John Lackland by Eva March Tappan

Stories from the Age of Richard the Lion-hearted

• The Tournament of Ashby-de-la-Zouche by Sir Walter Scott
• The Archery Contest by Sir Walter Scott
• A Trial by Single Combat by Sir Walter Scott
• Robin Hood and Little John by unknown
• Prince Arthur and the Keeper Hubert by William Shakespeare
• Friar Bacon's Brazen Head by Abby Sage Richardson

The Later Plantagenet Kings

• The Battle of Evasham by G. P. R. James
• In the Days of Edward III by Eva March Tappan
• The First Expedition of Edward III against the Socts by Sir John Froissart
• The Revolt of the Peasants by Augustin Thierry
• The Hunting of the Cheviot by unknown
• The Mystery Plays by Eva March Tappan
• Country Life in the Days of the Plantagenets by Eva March Tappan

Lancaster and York

• The Coronation of Henry IV by Sir John Froissart
• Two Scenes in the Life of Henry V by William Shakespeare
• The Ballad of Agincourt by Michael Drayton
• Queen Margaret and the Robber by Agnes Stickland
• When the King Returned from Holland by Edward Bulwer Lytton

The Tudor Kings

• The Inposter Who Claimed the Crown of King Henry VII by Charles Dickens
• The Funeral of Elizabeth of York, Wife of Henry VII by Agnes Strickland
• The Field of the Cloth of Gold by Gustav Masson
• The Fall of Cardinal Woolsey by William Shakespeare
• The Trial of Sir Thomas More by Anne Manning Rathbone
• The Appeal of Anne Askew by Louisa Muhlback (Clara M. Mundt)

From Edward VI to the Death of Mary

• The Execution of the Twelve Days' Queen by William Harrison Ainsworth
• The Coming of Philip II by William H. Prescott
• England's Reconciliation with Rome by James Anthony Froude

In the Days of Queen Elizabeth

• The Great Queen as a Little Child by Agnes Strickland
• Sir Walter Raleigh and His Cloak by Sir Walter Scott
• When Elizabeth Came to Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott
• The Armada by Thomas Babington Macaulay
• The Fight with the Invincible Armada by David Hume
• The Revenge: A Ballad of the Fleet by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Illustrations in the volume include

• Chaucer at the Court of Edward III by Ford Maddox Brown
• The Sacred Grove by Arnold Bocklin
• The Converted Britons by William Holman Hunt
• The Baptism of Edwin by Ford Maddox Brown
• Wiclif on trial by Ford Maddox Brown
• Morning of the Battle at Agincourt by Sir John Gilbert
• The Children of Edward IV by Paul Delaroche
• Cardinal Woolsey Going in Procession by Sir John Gilbert
• Cranmer at the Trader's Gate by Frederick Goodall
• The Boyhood of Raleigh by Sir John Everett Millais
• The Last Moments of Queen Elizabeth by Paul Delaroche