Virtual Children's Books Exhibits

KITES

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Messengers

Kites

Kites

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12.  John Marchant.  Folding engraved frontispiece for Puerilia: or Amusements for the Young. Engraved by Nathaniel Parr. London: Printed for P. Stevens and sold by the booksellers in town and country, 1751.

This collection of original poems is among the first to describe pastimes enjoyed by eighteenth-century boys and girls. The volume's engraved frontispiece shows one of the earliest representations of a messenger, a piece of paper with a hole in the middle. The flyer slips it over the string so the wind can pull it up to the kite.

12a.  Bernard Darwin.  Tootleoo Two.  Illustrated by Elinor Darwin.  London: Nonesuch Press, 1927.

A more fanciful representation of a messenger, with its recipient waiting at the top! In fact, messengers are more than amusements: They can be designed to carry a load up the line and release it to the ground below. Engineers have found various ways to use kites in construction projects.