CHILDRENS’ GAMES ANNOTATED BY A FOLKLORIST: The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren; Children’s Games in Street and Playground

Owned and annotated by folk lore researchers, Nigel and Mary Hudleston of Rillington in north Yorkshire, two First Editions of these seminal works in the field of folklore and children's studies based on many years of research involving contributions from over 10,000 children across England, Scotland, and Wales.

Laid in is a handwritten letter and envelope from Iona Opie to Nigel Rillington discussing ‘the game “rag a dell” - ‘your recollections of Scarborough schooldays to our notes on the various games you mention’. The books are lightly annotated with a system of ticks and occasional verbal annotations, suggesting a process of checking and verifying of the Opies’ text, apparently by Mary Rillington.

1. Children’s Games in Street and Playground, First Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1969. Hardback in very good condition, in very good dust wrapper. Scribblings regarding specific page numbers to front pastedown below ownership stamp ‘M Hudleston’. Small note written to top of free endpaper. Laid in are 3 letters including one handwritten from Iona Opie to M Hudleston dated Feb ‘70 discussing games and folklore activities and two further typed copy letters between Mrs Kaiser and Iona and Peter Opie dated ‘67 and ‘68 discussing ‘the actual performance of a dancing bear with the Addy-addy-on-kon-kay song’. 371 pp.

2. The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, First Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1959. Hardback in very good condition, in very good dust wrapper. Gift inscription to front pastedown reads ‘Mary,with Nigel’s love Nov ‘59’. Ownership details written to top of front free read ‘Mary Hudleston, Rectory Farm, Rillington, Nr Walton’. Boards near fine condition. Text block sound, fresh and unmarked throughout. Dust wrapper lightly shelf worn to top edge. 417 pp. Infrequent annotation.