Hartwell James. The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales. Illustrated by John R. Neill. Philadelphia, Henry Altemus Company, 1906.
I was a cat person long before I was a dog person and it’s still cat week (which I didn’t announce) so this seems like a good fairy tale choice. The book is interesting because it contains artwork from 2 different sources. The frontispiece and title story The Cat and The Mouse are illustrated by an unnamed traditional Persian artist and the remainder of the book is illustrated by John R. Neill, who is famously known for illustrating the stories of Oz.
The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales. Frontispiece
The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales. Introduction. (by J. Neill)
The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales. Contents. (by J. Neill)
The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales. List of Illustrations. (by J. Neill)
“No one was happier than this cat. ” page 10 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“The mice began to make merry.” Page 19 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“Discretely they bore their gifts.” Page 20 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“The King was sitting on his throne.” Page 25 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“So he mounted his elephant.” Page 31 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
Here ends the traditional artwork. All the art that follows is by J. Neill.
“The Lion sprang upon the princess.” Page 36 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“A Beautiful young woman appeared.” Page 51 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“A brass vessel full of round white stones.” Page 60 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“Priests were calling the people to prayer.” Page 65 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“Get out of my shop!” Page 71 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“Is this fish male or female?” Page 84 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
“Are you a human being or a beast?” Page 89 – The Cat and The Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales.
via: Project Gutenburg
Cover Photo via: Aleph-bet Books
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