The Inside Story of the Elizabeth Nesbitt Room
The Story of Mankind

28) The Story of Mankind was the first book to win the Newbery Award for the best book written for children in a given year. Hendrik Van Loon won it in 1922 and signed this copy for Frances Clarke, who had recently graduated from Carnegie Library School. Later, Frances Clarke Sayers became an eminent storyteller, writer and critic - and was a beautiful woman, as you can see from the inscription, referring to Beauty and the Beast and showing a bleeding heart, presumably Mr. Van Loon's.