Into the Archive: Arriving Yesterday ... and Today

 

The Everlasting Man: A Guide to G.K. Chesterton’s Masterpiece (Hardcover – March 18, 2024)

by G.K. Chesterton (Author), Dale Ahlquist (Commentary)

Among the many masterpieces of G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man is his crowning achievement. It was the book that set a young atheist named C.S. Lewis on the path toward Christianity. Evelyn Waugh called it “a permanent monument” that “needs no elucidation.” And its lively prose and compelling defense of Christianity have dazzled readers ever since.

But a little elucidation, it turns out, is needed. Chesterton’s presentation of the story of humanity and religion is filled with obscure literary, historical, mythological, philosophical, and theological references—most of which are largely lost on today’s readers. And Chesterton’s paradoxical and apparently wandering style proves, at times, disorienting to newcomers.

In this groundbreaking guide—the first of its kind—one of the world’s leading authorities on Chesterton walks readers through the entirety of this great apologist’s text. Complete with an introduction, footnotes, and running commentary, Dale Ahlquist’s tour through Chesterton’s classic will draw new readers into his literary world—and old readers even deeper into his literary genius.  – Amazon.

Written in 1925 as a response  to H. G. Wells’ The Outline of History. I have a copy of the text included in one of the rather unwieldy Ignatius editions, along with two others, but this (including the new explications and commentary) will be a much easier reading copy. Physically, it’s one of those books where the sleeve and the actual cover are the same. Includes a red ribbon book marker.

 

El Blanco, The Legend of the White Stallion (Scholastic, 1961)

When a legendary white colt is born, he seems to fulfill an ancient prophecy and brings rain to a sun-parched valley. But can El Blanco survive both the dangers of the wild and the horse hunters who seek to capture and tame his wild spirit? Charcoal illustrations by Gloria Stevens. "The Legend of El Blanco" is an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. It aired on September 25, 1966. 

While researching another Scholastic book, I ran across this one, and remembered it in a flash. It was ubiquitous during the McQueeney years, ran as a show now and then on Disney, and somehow or other (my theory inclines to a garage sale) we got a copy of it. I don’t think we ever much read it, at least not assiduously; in my youth, ‘horse books’ were deemed more appropriate literature for girls. Don’t know when it disappeared from our archive. I fear that I am entering that peculiar stage of senility where you develop a fondness for something you never particularly liked but which reminds you of your childhood, and so I had to get it. That almost heraldic cover of white cream on sky blue is giving me Rohirric vibes. An unconscious influence?

Rutherford Montgomery (April 12, 1894 – July 3, 1985). While still at school, Montgomery began writing stories about the wild animals that lived around his family's farm. He went on to write books about aviation and the people, landscapes, and animals of the American West, particularly horses. In all, he wrote more than 100 books. He seemed to favor ‘color’ titles, including Big Red, the Golden Stallion, Little Black, and Big Brownie.

From 1941 to 1946, Montgomery was a writer for Dick Tracy. He worked as a creative writing teacher 1955–57 and as a scriptwriter for Walt Disney Studios 1958–1962. Some of the more intriguing (to me) titles he produced are:

• A Kinkajou on the Town
• The Living Wilderness
• Walt Disney's Cougar: A Fact-Fiction Nature Story
• Weecha The Racoon

But my brothers might also remember this little paperback:

Update: Arrived today!

Misty of Chincoteague (Paperback; first published 1947) by Marguerite Henry (Author), Wesley Dennis (Illustrator)

On the island of Chincoteague, off the coasts of Virginia and Maryland, lives a centuries-old band of wild ponies. Among them is the most mysterious of all, Phantom, a rarely-seen mare that eludes all efforts to capture her—that is, until a young boy and girl lay eyes on her and determine that they can’t live without her.
The frenzied roundup that follows on the next Pony Penning Day does indeed bring Phantom into their lives, in a way they never would have suspected. Phantom would forever be a creature of the wild. But her gentle, loyal colt Misty is another story altogether... (-Amazon)

Marguerite Henry (1902 - 1997) was the writer of many ‘horsey’ books like Stormy: Misty’s Foal (among others set on Chincoteague), Brighty of the Grand Canyon, and Justin Morgan Had a Horse. Her legacy extends beyond that sort of thing, of course; look her up on Wikipedia! Mrs. Harris read Misty to us in 5^th Grade, and we got a copy of it which pretty much suffered the same fate as El Blanco. I thought I was getting the nostalgic cover (well, that was the picture offered) but I got this:

At least it has the original interior illustrations. Misty herself still survives as a stuffed museum exhibit. Isn’t that special! And somehow … horrifying.