collections

i love daphne du maurier...she's one of those authors that i can read everything she has ever written (wilkie collins is another)...i thought that theo made a great companion for the scapegoat. a "sprightly" love story and a story of a doppelgänger who tries to right the wrongs of the other.
isn't that 'scapegoat' font fantastic ?!

theo: a sprightly love story by frances hodgson burnett
1877, f.m. lupton publishing co., new york

the scapegoat by daphne du maurier
1957, doubleday & co., new york

collections

i've been getting emails asking if i sell books...and the answer is "i do!" i don't usually sell the books that i feature here on rad library because i don't want this to be a commerce blog, but rather an expression of my love for these books. i will be featuring from time to time though, books that i sell, although primarily because i sell books that i think are beautiful or wonderful in some such way. these collections are an example of that.

i've seen very few book covers as beautiful as great pictures described by great writers...the design is just fabulous, and with very little fading too. one of the pleasures of collecting and resourcing books is the little gems that are sometimes tucked within, such as this pressed plant. it's fun to imagine how it found its home here, on a walk in a park, maybe a gift from a friend.
both of these books are rare and great references for the cerebrally inclined. last image is the second book.

great pictures: as seen and described by great writers
edited and translated by esther singleton
rare and letterpress printed, 1901, dodd, mead and co., new york

lectures on the history of english literature by professor william marvel nevin, ll.d.
edited by rev. theodore appel, d.d.
a memorial volume, 1895, intelligencer printing office, lancaster, pa
rare and letterpress printed

a very special house

very few capture a child's expressions like maurice sendak. happy happy pictures in this one, although i particularly love his 'darker' work. this one is a caldecott honor book.

a very special house by ruth krauss
library bound, 1953, harper & row, new york
illustrated by maurice sendak

lucinda: the little donkey

lucinda is a bad donkey who ends up saving the day. i love books about stubborn, willful animals. particularly when they end up being heroes. lucky for me, there are lots out there!

lucinda: the little donkey by irma wilde
an elf book, 1952, rand mcnally & co., chicago
illustrated by george wilde

snow white vs. snow white...part 2

in comparison to the last book, this one is quite different. it has a definite sci-fi comic book quality to it that fits the year it was published, 1985. i think there's an obvious and deliberate divergence from the walt disney version...and i find it refreshing. i quite like both, but find this one a bit more meaty.

you can see an annotated version and a listing of various snow white books here...there's more here too.

snow white and the seven dwarfs
1985, gallery books, new york
illustrator not credited (any clue?)

snow white vs. snow white...part 1

one of my interests about books is seeing how a story can be retold over and over...or illustrated time and again. this is particularly suited to fairy tales, i think. it really interests me how different artists interpret the work, and how the culture of the time affects the illustrations as well. the culture of the time can influence the work itself too, i suppose.

anyways, i thought it would be fun to juxtapose two different snow white books from my collection.

the first is a golden book originally printed in 1952...this copy is a forty-second printing (1979) and is the familiar Walt Disney version. an odd aside that i've noticed is; that only twice in this whole book are snow white's eyes illustrated as open (well three if you count her as an infant)...the rest of the time they're closed. this must mean something profound, although currently i am at a loss as to what.

walt disney's snow white and the seven dwarfs
story adapted by jane werner
forty-second printing, 1979, golden press, wisconsin
illustrations by the walt disney studio
adapted (ie...illustrated) by campbell grant

muggins takes off

i just realized i have quite a few of rand mcnally's elf books...this is one that i love! the same author as this book too.

muggins takes off by marjorie barrows
a tip-top elf book, 1964, rand mcnally & co., chicago
illustrated by anne sellers leaf