The Lost Child-Heros of Hector Malot

Hector Malot (1830-1907) was a prolific writer of children's stories who penned some of the great popular classics of French literature. His children's classics were stellar examples of a genre that extolled the ideal of the noble child who overcomes adversity through right-mindedness, honesty and loyalty--behavior so dear to the hearts of parents of every country & epoch.  From the introduction to the American edition of his 1869 novel, Ronnie: "Noble character, richly honest purpose and loyal endeavor shine through the pages of this book, brushing aside hardship and peril to mark Ronnie as a lively, inspiring boy who will long be remembered." 

Malot's photograph seems to me to project the forlorn appeal of his young characters.

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NOBODY'S GIRL (Deluxe Edition  1929)

New York: Cupples & Leon Company. 1929. Deluxe Edition of the first American edition of 1922. Originally published in France in 1893 as En Famille. A companion to the deluxe edition of Nobody's Boy, 1930. Translated & adapted by Florence Crewe Jones. Eight vibrant color illustrations by Thelma Gooch. 9 ½" tall x  7 ⅛ " wide. 318 pages. Red cloth binding with a subtle grain, an inset paste-down cover illustration of a young, innocent-looking, slightly raggedy waif cast out of a distant village & alone in the world.  Cover slightly worn with a bit of rubbing to corners & a tiny corner tear. Raised gilt titles on the cover are bright. Spine has a few small spots & gilt a bit dulled.Hinge between dedication  & half-title pages slightly loose w/a small amount of light staining. VG+. Neat original owner's dedication opposite half-title page. This book is for sale on my website: Old Ink Inc Rare Books.

NOBODY'S BOY (Deluxe  Edition 1930)

Publisher: Cupples & Leon Company, New York, 1930. First published in France in 1878 as Sans Famille. This Deluxe Edition of the first American edition of 1922. Translated & adapted by Florence Crewe Jones, with eight charming, richly rendered color illustrations by Thelma Gooch.  A companion to the deluxe edition of Nobody's Girl, 1929. 9 ½" tall x 7 ⅛" wide, 333 pages. Brown textured cloth cover with a large paste-down inset cover illustration of raggedy boy trodding the cobblestones of a village, his only companions three dogs & a monkey in a little red jacket who sits on his shoulder. Cover is slightly worn with minor rubbing to the corners & gilt letters.  Spine is clean with slightly faded gilt.  Binding tight. Neat original owner's dedication opposite half-title page. VG+. This book is for sale on my website: Old Ink Inc Rare Books.

RONNIE  (1st American Edition)

New York: Cupples & Leon Company, New York. 1937. First American edition.Originally published in France in 1869 as Les adventures de Romaine Kalbris.  Hardcover. Blue cloth boards with color medallion of a boy pasted down & inset on cover. Four black & white illustrations by Thelma Gooch. Translated & adapted from the French by Florence Crewe-Jones. Sunning to the spine & minor exterior edge wear, rubbing & soiling. Original owner's name faded & in a childish script on inside of front cover. G+. For sale on my website.

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Gertrude Stein read The Great Gatsby & saw that it was good...

From a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald: 

"Here we are and have read your book and it is a good book. I like the melody of your dedication ["Once again to Zelda"] it shows that you have a background of beauty and tenderness and that is a comfort. The next good thing is that you write naturally in sentences and that too is a comfort. You write naturally in sentences and one can read all of them and that among other things is a comfort. . . . You make a modern world and a modern orgy strangely enough it never was done until you did it in This Side of Paradise. My belief in This Side of Paradise was alright. This is as good a book and different and older and that is what one does, one does not get better but different and older and that is always a pleasure. . . . "

Gertrude Stein cracks me up. ___________________________________________________________________

"In my younger and more vulnerable years," I saw the 1974 film of The Great Gatsby with Robert Redford as Gatsby, Mia Farrow as Daisy, and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway, featuring a Karen Black so lubricious, a teenage girl wanted to shade her eyes.

As I remember it, and this may be wildly inaccurate, the movie began with a long shot of Redford standing on a dock with his back to the camera, making a frail open-handed gesture into the distance.  The camera then moved closer and closer in.  From Gatsby:

"...a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars...he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling.  Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock."

With the camera  tight to the back of his head, which filled the entire screen, Redford slowly turned & looked directly at the audience with an expression I can't describe but will never forget. Likewise, I'll never forget the long, quivering, palpable gasp from every woman in the theater.  My first, and with Karen my second,  encounter with adult female desire.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott.

The Great Gatsby (First Edition, first issue).

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925. First Edition. First Edition, first printing. First issue, with all four textual variants present, including: page 60, line 16 "chatter" vs. "echolalia," page 119, line 22 "northern" vs. "southern," page 205, lines 9-10 "sick in tired" vs. "sickantired," and page 211, lines 7-8 "Union Street Station" vs. "Union Station." Scribner's seal on copyright page. Near Fine condition without the rare dust jacket. Quite clean and trim, with a tiny stain at the middle of the spine, a small spot and very light soil on the rear board, and a small, tidy owner name at the top of the front flyleaf. A very attractive copy. $4125

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The Book of Fair Women, Photographs by E. O. Hoppe'

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E. O. Hoppe’                                               
The Book of Fair Women

32 Gravure Plates
Alfred A. Knopf.  No date on title or copyright page. 32 Plates. No. 454 of 500 copies.  Introduction + two essays "Beauty" and "Charm" by Richard King, 1922.  A large-format limited edition with a hand-made batik paper binding and tipped-in gravure plates.  Unfortunately, the batik cover has not aged well;  however the inside is Good, the pages firmly bound, and the lovely plates are near Fine.  Most of the plates are masterfully tipped-in and secure, some have come loose, and one is missing.

Hebe, England

E. O. Hope' was an Edwardian Modernist and one of the most successful photographers of his time.  His presentation of "ideal types" of beauty include Nordic, Latin, Asian, Polynesian and African with British, European and American beauties culled from the age's fashionable and upper class icons was controversial & garnered a lot of publicity.

Madam Mika Mikun, Poland

  




London's National Portrait Gallery is currently running a show of  Hoppe's photographs that features the photos from The Book of Fair Women. For further information about the show and Hoppe', please go to the following link:  Hoppe', National Portrait Gallery.

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