Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Eliot, T. S.

ISBN 10: 0151686564 / ISBN 13: 9780151686568

Published by Harcourt Brace & Co., San Diego, New York, London, 1982

About this Item

Source for the musical "CATS". First published in 1939, this edition was issued in 1982 with illustrations provided by Edward Gorey. A "mystery" bookplate SIGNED by Gorey is tipped onto the front free end paper. Those familiar with Masterpiece Mystery on PBS will recognize his distinctive style ! A later printing but a FINE book in NEAR FINE jacket ( slight sunning to spine). Seller Inventory # JD5806

Bibliographic Details

Title: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Co., San Diego, New York, London

Publication Date: 1982

Binding: Hardcover

Illustrator: Edward Gorey

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Signed: Signed by Illustrator(s)

Edition: Illustrated Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

T.S. Eliot pays tribute to "Mr. Mistoffelees, " "The Run Tum Tugger, " "Macavity: The Mystery Cat, " and a variety of other cats in this engaging collection of humorous poems. Originally composed to amuse Mr. Eliot's intimate friends, to whom they were sent anonymously, these verses have proven irresistible to cat lovers, lovers of nonsense, and admirers of T.S. Eliot throughout the English-speaking world.

Review:

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, it isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

The phenomenal worldwide success in the 1980s of the musical Cats refuelled interest in T.S. Eliot's classic Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats on which the stage extravaganza was based. Old Possum's Book, originally published in 1939 and dedicated to Eliot's godchildren, contains a delightful rogues' gallery of felines, including the Rum Tum Tugger cat whose "disobliging ways are a matter of habit", Mr Mistoffelees "The Original Conjuring Cat" and Macavity: The Mystery Cat "the master criminal who can defy the law". Loved by generations of children and adults alike, Old Possum is perhaps most remarkable for having been written almost as an aside, a plaything, by Eliot, as a distraction from the internal religious and philosophical wranglings he charted in Four Quartets.

A warm and witty collection of free-verse poems, which demand to be read aloud and given full dramatic import, this edition of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats has been reissued by Faber and Faber Limited in a slim pocket-sized edition, with original tongue-in-cheek illustrations by Nicolas Bentley. --Catherine Taylor