Claiming to be the first book to deal with the evolution of mechanical toys, following on the history of automata from very early times, "Automata and Mechanical Toys, an Illustrated History", provides an excellent introduction to this fascinating area of collecting. First published in 1976, this edition issued in 1988 by Bloomsbury Books of London. The author, Mary Hllier, herself an enthusiastic collector of antique toys has contributed articles on the subject to both Encyclopaedia Americana and Encyclopaedia Britannica. Hard covers, large format, 200 pages, a wealth of black and white illustrations plus some few in colour, original dust jacket.
