Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

T. S. Eliot

ISBN 10: 015668568X / ISBN 13: 9780156685689

Published by Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1982

About this Item

A clean, unmarked book with a tight binding. Edge wear and fading on price-clipped dust jacket. 5 1/4"w x 8 "h. 56 pages. Illustrations by Edward Gorey.

Seller Inventory # 154899

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
• Publisher: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich
• Publication Date: 1982
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 015668568X
• ISBN 13: 9780156685689
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Illustrator: Gorey, Edward
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Poetry

About this title

Synopsis

The inspiration for the iconic musical Cats, T. S. Eliot's classic and delightful collection of poetry about cats, with whimsical illustrations by Edward Gorey.

These playful verses by a celebrated poet have delighted readers and cat lovers around the world since they were gathered for publication in 1939.

As Valerie Eliot has pointed out, there are a number of references to cats in T.S. Eliot's work, but it was to his godchildren, particularly Tom Faber and Alison Tandy, that he first revealed himself as "Old Possum" and for whom he composed his poems.

This captivating edition is a curious and artful homage to felines young and old, merry and fierce, small and unmistakably round. Also includes Edward Gorey's charming pen and ink illustrations. Gorey gives a fresh intepretation of "Mr. Mistoffelees," "Growltiger," "The Rum Tum Tugger," "Bustopher Jones," "Skimbleshanks," "Macavity: the Mystery Cat," and a variety of other memorable feline strays all of whom have been brought to life on the stage in the hit musical Cats.

About the Authors

THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT was born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1888. He moved to England in 1914 and published his first book of poems in 1917. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Eliot died in 1965.

Edward Gorey (1925-2000) wrote and illustrated such popular books as The Doubtful Guest, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, and The Headless Bust. He was also a very successful set and costume designer, earning a Tony Award for his Broadway production of Edward Gorey's Dracula. Animated sequences of his work have introduced the PBS series Mystery! since 1980.