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Stated Copyright 1922 by Christopher Morley. Early printing; no other dates, indications. Large 6 3/4" x 9 3/4" design. Blue boards, black spine titles, moderate shelf wear, some whitish areas of discoloration. Spine vignette of bi-pedal dog figure donning tophat and cane at spine. Pages near fine; no writing. Frontispiece color plate by Arthur Rackham: "Sometimes he suspected that he loved them as God does - at a judicious distance." Three additional whimsical color plates and b&w Rackham designs and vignettes throughout. Bind good, square; hinges intact. Scarce original wrapper, some edge wear, closed tears, rub, spine sunning; clipped, protected in acid-free clear sleeve. Front panel in blue with titles features color design matching Rackham frontispiece; front and back flaps feature summary and excerpts from this tale with small Rackham devices. Back panel advert for Books by Christopher Morley Now Published by J. B. Lippincott. Near good with very good interior of early trade volume of Rackham in same intact wrapper. Morley and Rackham! A combination calculated to bring delight to all those who appreciate artistic merit in any field. The Odyssey of Mr. Gissing has become an American classic. Sheer enjoyment from cover to cover. Its charms lighten and its satire is never bitter. Arthur Rackham is the one artist whose draughtmanship and scollery can match the rare wonder of Christopher Morley's story. A fine tale for young and old warmly illustrated by the iconic Arthur Rackham. As a child, the fable and designs are exciting and enchanting and for those of age more truths may be discovered. Morley's essential message is do not be afraid to seek out your dreams and do not be surprised if what you desire can be found right where you are. "Each in turn may call this a fairy story, a dog story, an allegory or a satire, but all will be moved by the beauty and the meaning - that seems to live within the realm of those books that go on and on making friends and spreading enchantment. Gissing, its hero, is a dog who searches the world for an ideal, and then finds in the smoke of his own furnace fire a hint of the heavenly blue that he had been seeking." "Morley admirably creates a canine world through names alone. There are Mike Terrier, the curate Mr. J. Rover Poodle, the upper-class and working-class neighbors Mrs. Airedale and Mrs. Collie, the nursemaid Mrs. Spaniel and little Shaggy, her puppy, Gissing s adopted puppies Groups, Bunks, and Yelpers, haughty Mr. and Mrs. Chow and their "intolerably spotless" little Sandy, the landlady Mrs. Purps, the sales clerk Miss Whippet, the matronly Mrs. Mastiff, the compulsive shopper Mrs. Dachshund, the parishioners Mr. Dobermann-Pinscher, Mrs. Griffon, and Mrs. Retriever. There are the place names like Dalmatian Heights and the little shrine of St. Spitz. These are intermixed with humanless real locales like Paris and Atlantic City, Murray Hill and Fifth Avenue and Broadway and Wall Street, Delmonico s Restaurant and Trinity Church, and real historical personages like the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, and Masefield; to make this our real world only inhabited by dogs, rather than some imaginary planet of dogs." - Fred Patten. Christopher Morley was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and graduated in 1910 as valedictorian. He then went to New College, Oxford University for three years on a Rhodes Scholarship. He was one of the founders and a long-time contributing editor of the Saturday Review of Literature. A highly gregarious man, he was the mainstay of what he dubbed the "Three Hours for Lunch Club". Printed in the United States of America. 227 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.
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