Mcelligots Pool, Signed (2 results)

Hardcover. Later printing. This early 1960s printing was inscribed by Dr. Seuss for a young mother in 1963 at a bookshop one mile from Dr. Seuss's home in La Jolla, California. It was acquired by us directly from the person for whom this book was purchased, to whom it was inscribed, and whose family enjoyed this book for three generations. This copy is inscribed on the lower left corner of the front free endpaper verso in four lines "for | JiLL | with Best Wishes | Dr. Seuss" with a characteristic Dr. Seuss squiggle between the valediction and signature. EditionMcElligot's Pool was originally published in the fall of 1947. It was Dr. Seuss's first children's book since 1940, and marked his return to his life's purpose after the significant interruption of his Second World War service. "In 1946 Lieutenant Colonel Geisel was discharged and awarded the Legion of Merit for 'exceptionally meritorious service in planning and producing films.'" This book is one of the six now-suppressed Dr. Seuss titles, no longer published due to alleged insensitivity therein.This copy is a later printing, which we can speculate with confidence was printed between fall 1962 and fall 1963, when this copy was purchased and inscribed. In the list of "the other books by Dr. Seuss" on the rear face of the dust jacket, the most recent is Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, published in the fall of 1962. The list lacks Hop on Pop, and Dr. Seuss's ABC, published in the spring and fall of 1963, respectively. The front flap, front face, spine, and rear flap of this dust jacket are nearly identical to the first printing, except for "295/295" on the upper front flap in lieu of the first printing's "250/250" and the lack of a "$2.50" price on the lower left corner of the rear flap (which some first printings had and some did not). ConditionAs Dr. Seuss surely intended when he signed this copy for a young mother in 1963, this book has been read, a lot, and then some more. If you seek a pristine, "trophy" copy, this book is not for you. Instead, it is imbued with provenance and story. Condition is very good in a very good dust jacket. The glossy paper-covered boards binding is tight and unfaded, with only light scuffs to the boards, a small blemish to the lower rear cover, and modest wear to the spine ends and corners. The contents are bright with light spotting almost entirely confined to the page edges. Dr. Seuss's inscription, inked in blue on the lower left front free endpaper verso, is bright and clean. Affixed to the lower left rear pastedown is the printed and illustrated ticket of "John Cole's Book & Craft Shop" in La Jolla, California, where this book was purchased and inscribed. The dust jacket is unclipped and almost entirely complete, with only the tiniest hint of a chip to the bottom edge of the rear face. The jacket is also clean and unfaded. Modest wear is primarily confined to the joints, flap folds, and spine ends, most noticeable, as with the binding beneath, at the corners and spine ends. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.ProvenanceThis book's life story is as compelling as the story within.In 1959, the family of the "Jill" to whom this book is inscribed moved from Los Angeles to Point Loma in San Diego a beautiful peninsula protecting San Diego's vaunted natural harbor. Point Loma is just a few miles south of La Jolla, the seaside promontory to which Dr. Seuss had moved in 1948, where he lived the rest of his life, and where he wrote the majority of his books. In July 1963, Jill had her first child a boy, Jeff. For Jill's birthday that November, her mom decided to give her a gift that she could share with her new baby. Jill's mom was friends with Barbara Cole, proprietor of John Cole's Books in La Jolla, and Barbara was friends with Dr. Seuss, who lived exactly one mile away from the shop. So, with Barbara's help, Jill's mom got Dr. Seuss to inscribe 22 brand new copies of his books of which this is one in the fall of 1963. Jill read and reread these books to Jeff and his little sister, Lauren, born in 1966, throughout their childhood. Jill and her husband raised Jeff and Lauren in Point Loma, in the same house where, eventually, they read and reread this and their other Dr. Seuss books to their granddaughters, just as they had once read them to their children. With both children and grandchildren grown, Jill decided to entrust her Dr. Seuss books to us. Hence we now offer this book from their collection to a new owner for the first time since it was purchased for Jill by her mom and inscribed by Dr. Seuss in 1963. Reference: Younger & Hirsch, First Editions of Dr. Seuss Books, 2002, with 2004 corrections, Entry 53, pp. 131-133.

First edition with the 250/250 price on the front flap as well as the $2.50 price added to the rear flap (state 'c') of the first Dr. Seuss title to feature full-color art on every other page. Quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated throughout. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author, "For Mrs. Haye with very kindest regards- Dr. Seuss." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Uncommon signed and inscribed. The story begins as a boy named Marco fishes in a small, trash-filled pond, McElligot's Pool. A local farmer laughs at the boy and tells him that he is never going to catch anything. Nevertheless, Marco holds out hope and begins to imagine a scenario in which he might be able to catch a fish. First, he suggests that the pool might be fed by an underground brook that travels under a highway and a hotel to reach the sea. Marco then imagines a succession of fish and other creatures that could be in the sea and therefore the pool. He imagines, among others, a fish with a checkerboard stomach, a seahorse with the head of an actual horse, and an eel with two heads. When Marco is done imagining, he tells the farmer, "Oh, the sea is a so full of a number of fish,/ If a fellow is patient, he might get his wish!" Geisel painted some of the water colors that illustrate McElligot's Pool while vacationing with his wife, Helen, at the summer home of their friend Kelvin Vanderlip, in southern California. The book was the first Dr. Seuss book to use water colors for its illustrations; however, because of budget concerns, Random House published half of the book in black and white, alternating between two pages in color and two pages in black and white. It became a Junior Literary Guild selection and garnered Dr. Seuss his first Caldecott Honor.