Who then was this Gustave Dore?

The Terrible Gustave Dore by Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt - Apparently only two printings. - Marchbanks Press, NY, NY, 1943 & Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn, 1976 -

"Originated as a lecture given before the Groller Club in New York City on December 14, 1939" -

On the first page the author, Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt asks the question, "Who then was this Gustave Dore?" He goes on to ask, "What sort of life did he live? Was he a happy man and his life a rich one? What were his ambitions, his hopes and fears? What caused his early death?"

These are questions Helmut asked and sought answers for. He had grown up seeing and admiring pictures by Gustave in the Bible and Perrault Fairy tales long before he could read.

Dante and the Lion

Hellmut says in the paragraph after his questions, "On the following pages I have tried to answer these questions. My search has brought me close to Gustave Dore. He has become a friend. Perhaps you too will discover a friend in him."

25 Illustrations, some full page and some in text are scattered through the book plus there is a sample of his handwriting. A very good biography. - Quite a good book. -

- prying1 -

The above picture is just a portion of the work. I had to crop it for this posting.

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A few copies are available and can be found through Bookfinder.com.

Hat Tip to WorldCat.org for their resources.
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The Virgin of Waikiki by Don Blanding

Here is a review of the poem/book "The Virgin of Waikiki" - A Torrid Tragedy of the Tropics by Don Blanding.

Don Blanding is well known for his tropical poetry and this little volume is a good example of his humorous verse writing abilities.

A nearing 40's spinster is the 'hot' topic of this steamy tropical ballad.

From the DJ:
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Every Author has his flippant moments, and it was such a mood that the Virgin of Waikiki was created. As the author explains "A tragedy as Poignant as Virgin Annie's could only be treated frivolously, thus sparing the heart strings of the reader".

Those who seek may find a Moral in this tale - - We say "may".
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Quite a fun read until the "tragedy" part at the end. Can't say any more without spoiling it.

The forward by H.M.S. (Henry M. Snyder) says:

"At a recent dinner of the Wampus Club in Los Angeles, the author, Don Blanding of Honolulu was called upon to contribute to the entertainment. In responding he read his original poem, The Virgin of Waikiki.

It was felt that a number of appreciative souls who were not present at the reading of the poem were deserving of the pleasure which this rare and piquant piece affords to Epicurean literary tastes. For the benefit of this small circle of the cognoscenti an edition was privately printed "upon the altar of fellowship." This edition was quickly exhausted as was also a second printing. The present edition with illustrations by A. B. Butler, Jr. is the publisher's response to what seems to be a steadily growing demand for further copies.

What Lady Lou did for Alaska; what Kipling's Mandalay did for India, perhaps, indeed, this rollicking epic ballad of Virgin Annie may do for Hawaii."

In the back of the 1933, Henry M. Snyder edition there is a yellow envelope pasted in.

It has printed on it, "For sundry reasons the astonishing consummation of the ballad must be withheld, temporarily only -we hope- from further enjoyment of the reader." and two drawings of little angels (one obviously Hawaiian) with ukuleles.

It is my guess that the envelope was pasted in because the printery, Country Life Press, Garden City New York, discovered too late the omission of the copy and they had the unused envelopes on hand. - The DJ appears to be of the same material as the envelopes. I wonder if they had both bits of stock on the shelf and were glad to get rid of them. (8-P

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WorldCat Network

The Bookshop Blog posted an article titled, "The fine art of Book Pricing."

Quite a good read for any bookseller and it has a few tips for books that are "one of a kind". - I've come across a few that I just can't find through Google or Yahoo. Just a couple days ago I found I own "Hooray for a Roue'" by H.R. Washburne. Could only find a single reference that was really a dead link from some joker of a booksales site that had the title listed but no book for sale.

Well that told me that someone else out there had at least heard of the book. I wasn't holding a figment of my imagination. I saw the title on the internet so I knew it must exist. It is book of poetry that I will soon be listing. Unless I misplace it in one of my stacks...

I started working on the author's name and in my search I came across WorldCat.org.

I was too slow in getting this resource I've found over to the good folks at The Bookshop Blog for them to post it in the article so I left the following in their comments.

Here is another Handy Dandy Book Resource I found just recently.

http://worldcat.org/

They have a toolbar search engine you can load on to the top of your browser page. Just type in the tile or author and it takes you to the page you want. - Lists Libraries that carry the book and tabs can (hopefully) take you to other info that is helpful.

Sign up and in your profile you can link to your website and blogsite. Create lists of books you like and check out profiles of other people with similar tastes. That is if they don’t have their profile private which you can do too if you prefer the anonymity.

As occasion and time permits you can add to their site the table of contents and/or a short synopsis/review of a book which might (or might not) get people to check your profile and go to your website.

I’ve seen some books where they give the printing history which can be very helpful too.

So far I’ve found it helpful and have found a couple books listed that it was difficult and/or impossible to find on Google or Yahoo.

Hope to see you there.

WorldCat has a lot of growing to do and needs a bit of help in doing so. It is a good resource and those who love books can make it even better. I encourage book sellers and book buyers to visit, Sign up, try the toolbar, and join the fun.


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The Angel and The Star By Ralph Connor

Came across a little book that I thought I'd share. The Angel and the Star by Ralph Connor and Illustrated by Cyrus Cincinnatto Cuneo - Copyright 1908 - Fleming H. Revell Company.

A well written Christmas story giving personality and dialog to the descriptions found in Luke. It is divided into two sections. The first called,

"The Angel" and the second, (you guessed it!) The Star.

The first section is the story as told from the shepherd's point of view and the second of the Magi as they travel through Jerusalem and on to Bethlehem.

Throughout the book there are nine color illustrations in line with the stories. (1908 Fleming H. Revell Company hardcover - Can't speak for all editions)

Paintings reproduced through the letterpress process have been bound in with the pages. The pictures are by Cyrus Cincinnatto Cuneo (1879 - 1916), whose work has drawn over $30,000 at auction, and they add quite a bit of character to this little volume.

A few copies are available online for reasonable prices. If you decide to purchase a copy you may want to write to the sellers in advance and make sure that the issue they are selling has all 9 pictures in it. There was both an American and Canadian printing and I have only the American one in hand.

I hope to post a few pics a bit later. Time for me to go to work...

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