Weird and Wonderful: Discoveries from the Mysterious World of Forgotten Children's Books (Golden Age of Illustration) - Softcover

Poltarnees, Welleran

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1595833854 ISBN 13: 9781595833853

Publisher: Laughing Elephant, 2010

Synopsis

Throughout his years of collecting and cataloging his vast library of classic children’s picture books, Welleran Poltarnees has singled out particularly unusual images and situations. He has compiled the best and rarest of these discoveries in this book.

Weird and Wonderful reveals an engaging and delightful world where imagination is given free rein. This compilation of excerpts and illustrations from 19th and early 20th-century picture books includes artists and authors like Frank Baum, Edward Lear, Gelett Burgess, Peter Newell, John R. Neill, and Charles Doyle. The book is full of rarities from the vault, often paired with an accompanying verse. Every page holds a surprise: Palmer Cox's Brownies make an appearance, as do offerings from Johnny Gruelle, Dorothy Kunhardt, a 1916 work by Hazel Frazee where a pair of elegant ladies plays dominoes, works from Ernst Kreidolf that depict the wonderful beings who inhabit the world of plants, and an anonymous 1884 illustration depicts a hive of winged capital letter Bs carrying signs. Poltarnees's brief, glowing commentary is largely superfluous, as the whimsical, bizarre, and sometimes nightmarish illustrations stand alone as fascinating relics of a bygone era in children's publishing.

These wonders and oddities are sure to captivate connoisseurs and curious young readers with an artistic bent. You will likely long for more of these beguiling images. Luckily, as Poltarnees notes in his introduction: "There are thousands more buried in our library."

About this title

About the Author

Welleran Poltarnees (1932-2016) harbored a lifelong love of gardens; his first memory was falling out of his baby carriage and landing on a bed of odorous white flowers. He used a book called Great Gardens of the World as a guide whenever he travels. His favorite time for gardens was night. His favorite garden music was Manuel De Falla's "Nights in the Gardens of Spain", and his favorite garden poem was "The Garden" by Andrew Marvell. Poltarnees was also known as the prolific author and publisher Harold Darling. He lived in both Seattle and San Diego. 

Edition details

• Publisher: Laughing Elephant
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1595833854
• ISBN 13: 9781595833853
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112