A
Sentimental Journey (Through France and Italy), by Laurence Sterne.
A Penguin
Book. A follow-up, of sorts, to his great “Tristram Shandy”. “He launches into
conversations with no story to tell, little plan of narration, and a habit of
slipping down every side-turning … but there is no getting away from him. What
begins as an account of the dying author on a tour by coach through France and Italy,
ends up as a treasury of dramatic sketches, pathetic and ironic incidents,
philosophical musings, reminiscences and anecdotes.” – cover blurb. At the
finish of this book (which I believe was intended to go into more volumes) he
writes: “So that when I stretched out my hand, I caught hold of the filles de
chamber’s – END.”
Ranking:
Essential.
File Code:
Travel? Novel? Paperback.
Medieval
English Verse, Edited and Translated by Brian Stone.
Another
Penguin anthology. Poetry religious and secular, and it must be remembered that
from this period it is Catholic religion, though it does have its own peculiar
English tang. Tolkien’s area of course, and so of added interest to me, as I
nose into his territory like a timid tourist. A fairly recent acquisition.
Ranking:
Keeper.
File Code:
Poetry. Medieval. Paperback.
Phantastes
and Lilith, by George MacDonald.
Both of
these are Eerdman Books (Eerdmans Publishing Company is a religious
publishing house based in Grand Rapids, Michigan), both have an Introduction by
C. S. Lewis (adapted from an essay), and both have covers of such wonderfully
deep and glowing colors that they rival Maxfield Parrish himself. Admired by
Lewis Carroll, G, K. Chesterton, and C. S. Lewis (who attributed “Phantastes”
for ‘baptizing his imagination’ and contributing to his conversion), MacDonald
wrote these ‘fairy tales for grownups’ as a strange spiritual odyssey. The
style is admittedly hard for a modern-day reader, and I must confess to not
having thoroughly read them through, but with some skipping and parsing for the
‘story’. But what I have read has gifted me with lingering images and insights.
Ranking:
Essential.
File Code:
Fantasy. Novel. Paperback.
At the Back
of the North Wind, by George MacDonald
An Airmont
paperback, and that means a certain level of cheapness, but it is Complete and
Unabridged. With line illustrations that I’m almost certain are adapted from
Frank C. Pape’s paintings for the book. One of MacDonald’s stories that combine
fantasy and religious allegory. This old copy made its way all the way from
California!
Ranking:
Keeper.
File Code:
Fantasy. Novel. Children’s Book. Paperback.
The Princess
and the Goblin, by George MacDonald.
An Airmont
paperback, and now that I think of it, probably my only physical copy of the
book. I used to have a hardback (bought at HEB, of all places), but I either
must have given it away or sold it, or just clean forgot where I put it, which
seems unlikely. Aha! Jules Gotlieb appears to be the cover artist whose work I
admire; the interior illustrations are the classic ones by Arthur Hughes. The
best of MacDonald’s fairy tales, it was made into a terrible animated film with
Molly Sugden and Rik Mayel as voice actors. Also parodied in “Fractured Fairy
Tales” on the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
File Code:
Children’s Book. Classic. Paperback.
The Princess
and Curdie, by George MacDonald.
From Chariot
Books, a religious publishing house. I remember I got it at the St. Andrew’s
Episcopalian Book store, one of those times I went with Mom. Got some L’Engle
and Lewis there, and Chesterton’s “St. Francis of Assissi”. And a toy Noah’s
ark with little animals. And Bible cradles. A sequel to “The Princess and the
Goblin”, it suffers a bit from ‘sequelitis’. I didn’t read it all the way
through in this form.
Ranking:
Essential.
File Code:
Children’s Book. Classic. Paperback.
The
Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi.
I love these
old Airmont Books Classics Series editions. I have seen their painted cover art
described as “cheesy” but there is one uncredited artist whose style I admire,
and “Pinocchio” has it. Also some rather poor interior line illustrations. We
had an old copy of Pinocchio in what I call a “coffee can” or “department
store” edition, a cheaply bound cardboard-covered book that lost its front so
long ago I can’t remember what it looked like – maybe The Children’s Press
edition. Which is neither here nor there. I have a much better copy.
Ranking:
Keeper.
File Code:
Children’s Book. Classic. Paperback.
Stories of
King Arthur, Retold by Blanche Winder. (2 copies)
With line
illustrations that are adapted, I have seen, from paintings illustrating an
earlier hardback edition. I read this back in Fifth Grade, in Mrs. Harris’s
class, and was blown away with the story of Merlin more than any of the
knightly adventures, and found the retelling of the Grail and the founding of
the Round Table to be numinous experiences. This version of The Matter of
Britain has affected me more deeply than any subsequent telling, perhaps in a
way even more than T. H. White. I must have been just the right age. The
picture of the evil fairy-man taking the king’s daughter reminded me of
“Gargoyles” and seemed very ominous to me, and old Merlin playing his harp
stirred something sorcerous in my soul. An Airmont book, cover (probably) by Jules
Gotlieb. I have another copy protected in a plastic sleeve.
Ranking:
Essential.
File Code:
Legend. Arthurian. Children’s Book. Paperback.
The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum.
No reason to
have this copy, except I just like Oz in all its version. Cover by Roy Krenkel,
Jr., and if I’m not mistaken, interior illustrations are his too. [Krenkel was
an American illustrator who specialized
in fantasy and historical drawings and
paintings for books, magazines and comic books. – Wikipedia]. An Airmont
Classic, apparently they did “The Land of Oz” as well, with a very misleading
cover.
Ranking:
Keeper
File Code:
Children’s Classic. Fantasy. Paperback.
The Wind in
the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame.
Another
Airmont classic, artist for the cover and interior line illustrations unknown,
but obviously the same, and might have been slightly influenced by Rackham. No
real reason to have this edition except cheap nostalgia.
Ranking:
Keeper.
File Code:
Children’s Classic. Paperback.
The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories, by Washington Irving.
An Airmont
Classic and an anthology of Irving’s short stories. Cover, I suspect, by Jules
Gotlieb. “A collection such as this one, which ranges more generously over
Irving’s whole work [other than ‘Rip’ and ‘Hollow’] may not only teach us why
Irving was once so popular but may suggest that Irving has more to offer a
modern reader than just his two most famous stories.” – blurb from the back
cover.
Ranking:
Keeper.
File Code:
Anthology. Short Stories. Paperback.
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