Cozy Classics - Moby Dick

Many people have sent us gifts of Moby-Dick. All of them are treasured, and will be treasured for ever. The editor is so happy to announce that  his daughter is expecting her first and the editor's first grand child. As so, this gift from a wonderful neighbor here in the center of the Capital City of the Empire State, comes so timely into our possession. Its the perfect gift, and we can not wait to read Melvilles classic to our grandson once we get to hold him in our arms!

The Cozy Classic is PERFECT, here we quote the entire text of this ultra abridged edition:

Boat - captain - leg - mad - sail  - find - whale - chase - smash - sink - float 

Each page is a word and the next is an image in felt.  What could be more perfect?  A MOBY DICK marathon would take just minutes....

Chapter XIV Nantucket

Look now at the wondrous traditional story of how this island was settled by the red-men. Thus goes the legend. In olden times an eagle swooped down upon the New England coast, and carried off an infant Indian in his talons. With loud lament the parents saw their child borne out of sight over the wide waters. They resolved to follow in the same direction. Setting out in their canoes, after a perilous passage they discovered the island, and there they found an empty ivory casket, - the poor little Indian's skeleton.

Children bring hope for the future. No matter what or how, children enliven us, enrich us, love us. 

1990 Great Illustrated Classics Moby Dick

 

This Collection has shied away from abridged children's books, for a variety of reasons, as has been discussed in the past.  Yet, here is just that. A twenty one year old copy of the Great Illustrated Classics Moby Dick, a children's abridged book, lovingly inscribed in a female hand: Chris love Gram and Grampy.

The Collection received this copy from SHP, daughter of the editor, who is an ELL teacher at the Donald McKay School in East Boston, Mass.  

That school is a just  a few blocks north of the site of school's namesake's ship yard, where in 1851 he built the Flying Cloud, perhaps the most extreme of extreme clippers. A mere 99 years later the Editor of TMDC would be born west of the site by sixty miles.  Ironic, no?

When SHP gave us this copy, she was in the company of several other gradeschool teachers from the Donald McKay School. There was a most interesting and lengthy conversation about the quality of the Great Illustrated Classics as a body of work, whether they were good for young children, true to the original work, and a viable teaching resource. We think that the opinions tended to be on the negative side. 

We just love imagining who Grampy was. He could still be alive, he may have lived in East Boston and worked at one of the remaining ship yards there, but most certainly he was something special to a young reader.

1975 Now Age Illustrated Moby-Dick

Over the years, TMDC has given as gifts editions of Moby-Dick and conversely has received as gifts editions.

More often than not, the gifts received are treasured childhood books, prized by the donator and embibed with fond memories.

Here is a donation to us from J, a long long time friend.

Stamped with the Mercy High School Library stamp on the title page.

We treasure the gift and our friendship.

1994 The Young Collector's Illustrated Classics Moby Dick

The Young Collector's Illustrated Classic is an abridged big type confection brought to the public by Kidsbooks, Inc.

There is no indication as to who the illustrator was, the graphics are by and large bounded by a solid boarder, but this portrait of a right peg legged Ahab, has elements extending to the very edge of the paper, to what purpose, I have no idea.

Head gear is fast becoming an item of interest to me, as Ahab's cover has has some foreshadowing of WWII German naval attire.

And truly his peg leg is just that a peg!

1942 Dodd, Mead and Company MOBY-DICK

The 1942 Dodd, Mead and Company, Moby-Dick, was lavishlly illustratated by Mead Schaeffer (1898-1980). Mr. Schaeffer was 24 when he was hired to illustrate this novel as well as Typee and Omoo.

He later focused on fine art and took commissions from magazines for cover work.

Interestingly, he was a personal friend of Norman Rockwell and he and his family often posed for many of Rockwell's illustrations and paintings. - (Wikipedia)

This copy in the collection is classic, in that some child sometime read the book, leaving his teeth marks on the corners.

Schaeffer chose to illustrate Ahab at the moment he confronts Starbuck with his musket and Starbuck warns: "beware of thyself, old man."

Personally, I love the illustration of Queequeg standing on a whale fast against the Peguod, guarding the catch from the sharks, one of which is clearly larger than Queequeg himself.

When done with the Ahab series, we will examine all of the images for Queequeg, a fascinating proposition...!!

1931 Saalfield Every Child's Library Moby-Dick

In 1900 Arthur J. Saalfield founded Saalfield Publishing Company in Akron, Ohio, which from that date to 1977 published children's books.

The Archives of the Saalfild Publishing Company were purchased by Kent State University and housed there.

This edition was illustrated by Alfred Conyers, with seven illustrations, contains 309 printed pages.

Details:

Light blue cloth covers with dust jacket

measures 5 1/4 in by 7 5/8 in and is 1 1/4 inch thick.

Spine is market ILLUSTRATED with a line

Here are 5 copies of Saalfield Moby-Dick's, all Identical with the exception of size and color of the binding.

For later inclusion I am preparing a series of posts of the various illustrations of Ahab.

Graphic Novel, Moby-Dick

#71 is the 1999 graphic novel from Scholastic, part of the READ 180 series.

The Moby-Dick Collection will contain no abridged editions. - Part of the unwritten by laws of the Collection.

However, how could I turn this gift down? It was a Christmas gift from Sasha Schlegel my soon to be daughter in law. Special!

Sasha works in Manhattan at BrainPOP, animated science, health, technology, math, etc, and school homework help for K-12.. its her field!

Additionally, its not the first abridged, illustrated, children's edition of Moby-Dick she has given me, so now there is a small and growing section of modern children's Moby-Dick.

NEXT POST: another Christmas gift, unavailable on line and unavailable in the US.
The acquisition of this edition was a quest in itself.