ILLUSTRATED books with tales of Jack the Giant Killer, Mother Goose and the Pied Piper of Hamelin are going on public show for the first time.

Over 50 exhibits from the Dootson Collection will be on display at the History Shop alongside books of fables, poetry, morality and a rather unusual bible.

Although the majority were published in the 19th century, the earliest volume dates to 1796. The illustrations are superb, both black and white and coloured prints from woodcuts, engravings and lithographs in the collection bequeathed to Leigh by solicitor Thomas Robert Dootson in 1952.

The illustrators, including Kate Greenaway, Walter Crane and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, were well known in their time, and are still well loved today.

But the history of Dootson's gift is almost as fascinating as the collection itself.

Originally, it was offered to the town in 1937, and as a result, a design for a new central library was drawn up, which included accommodation for the collection. Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War II put a stop to these plans.

The books (several thousand volumes) are typical of those that a middle class businessman of the period would collect. The rest of the collection is mainly devoted to books on the history and geography of Lancashire, and is a wonderful source for local study.

The History Shop at Wigan will be running sessions, with a professional storyteller, for younger children during the Easter holidays --'Fantastic Stories and Tremendous Tales'.

Visitors, young and not so young will also be able to read old and modern stories for themselves in a specially created reading area, and if anyone wants to try their hand at writing and illustrating their own stories, the History Shop will display them in the exhibition.

Call 01942 828128 to book a place. Admission is free.