Simon Stålenhag was featured by Caine back in 2016, and there is some interesting news out: a TV series based on his Tales from the Loop is coming out April 3! I’m a little bit excited because I had no idea this was in the works, and also I just bought his book The Electric State. Soundtrack composed by Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan.
Here’s the trailer, it looks suitably unfathomable and weird and slightly creepy to me:
Looking forward to this very much!
The moss is sprouting! ©voyager, all rights reserved
Over the winter, Jack has been walking on the trail beside me, but today he kept wandering into the forest, and even though there’s still plenty of clean snow on the ground, Jack has a knack for finding the messy places.
“Your feet are all muddy, Little Buddy,” I called out as he ambled toward me.
“I Know Mommy, isn’t it wonderful. I love the way mud feels when it squishes between your toes, don’t you?” he replied as he kept walking past me and into the trees again.
“Toe squishing is fun, Jack, but I prefer to do it when the air is warm, and the mud is just a bit cool, not icy cold like today… Hey, where are you going? I thought we could walk together,” but he was already gone, and I was left talking to myself. When I finally found him around the next bend, I pointedly asked why he kept wandering off.
“The forest folk are awake, Mommy! I’m just going around saying hi.” Jack’s face was gleaming with delight, and his tail was sailing high and waving happily.
“That’s nice, Bubba. How are things in the wee world?”
“Busy. The plants are all waking up early, and it’s too soon for some of them, and the farmers and voles can’t manage it all, so everyone is pitching in. Mrs. Noyless said that even the governors are helping to tickle roots. Oh, there’s Chitchat Charly, Mommy. I’ll catch-up. Bye,” and he was off again, leaving me with a few points to ponder and knowing that Jack would be reticent to tell me more.
I’m going to have to find a way to earn the trust of the little folk. They’ve been watching me for 16 years, so they must know that I’m friendly and kind. Maybe there’s something that I can do to be of service to them. Maybe there’s something they want or need that I can bring them. Maybe, it’s going to be an interesting spring.
Norma Bright Carson. The Fairy Housekeepers. Illustrations by Hazeltine Fewsmith. Boston, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard co., 1917.
I fell in love with this book! There is only 1 coloured illustration in it, however, the plain drawings are charming and delightful and entirely typical of the Art Nouveau Period. I’ve included all of the full-page illustrations, plus a few others, but if you get a chance I encourage you to check out the entire book. (The address is at the end) There are small illustrations on most pages and the story is a sweet look at how the fairies work as the seasons progress.
Lucy S. Crandall. The Fairy Glass. Philadelphia, Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1872.
Lucy S. Crandall. The Fairy Glass. A Story for Boys And Girls. Philadelphia, Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1872.
Grimm, Jakob / Grimm, Wilhelm: Sneewittchen / [Jakob und Wilhelm Grimm.] Gezeichnet von Franz Jüttner. – (Scholz’ Künstler-Bilderbücher ; 6). Mainz 1905. Scholz.
According to a study group in Lohr, Bavaria, Snow White is based on Maria Sophia von Erthal, born on 15 June, 1729 in Lohr am Main, Bavaria. She was the daughter of 18 th century landowner, Prince Philipp Christoph von Erthal and his wife, Baroness von Bettendorff.
After the death of the Baroness, Prince Philipp went onto marry Claudia Elisabeth Maria von Venningen, Countess of Reichenstein, who was said to dislike her stepchildren. The castle where they lived, now a museum, was home to a ‘talking mirror’, an acoustical toy that could speak (now housed in the Spessart Museum). The mirror, constructed in 1720 by the Mirror Manufacture of the Electorate of Mainz in Lohr, had been in the house during the time that Maria’s stepmother lived there.The dwarfs in Maria’s story are also linked to a mining town, Bieber, located just west of Lohr and set among seven mountains. The smallest tunnels could only be accessed by very short miners, who often wore bright hoods, as the dwarfs have frequently been depicted over the years.
The Lohr study group maintain that the glass coffin may be linked to the region’s famous glassworks, while the poisoned apple, may be associated with the deadly nightshade poison that grows in abundance in Lohr.
A German historian has also postulated that it may be the true story of Margarete VonWaldeck. (via ancient origins.net/myths)
According to Sander, the character of Snow White was based on the life of Margarete von Waldeck, a German countess born to Philip IV in 1533. At the age of 16, Margarete was forced by her stepmother, Katharina of Hatzfeld to move away to Wildungen in Brussels. There, Margarete fell in love with a prince who would later become Phillip II of Spain.
Margarete’s father and stepmother disapproved of the relationship as it was ‘politically inconvenient’. Margarete mysteriously died at the age of 21, apparently having been poisoned. Historical accounts point to the King of Spain, who opposing the romance, may have dispatched Spanish agents to murder Margarete.
So what about the seven dwarfs? Margarete’s father owned several copper mines that employed children as quasi-slaves. The poor conditions caused many to die at a young age, but those that survived had severely stunted growth and deformed limbs from malnutrition and the hard physical labour. As a result, they were often referred to as the ‘poor dwarfs’.
Whether true or not, the story has persisted into modern times thanks to Walt Disney and his 1937 classic telling of the tale. I’ve included the artwork done by Franz Juttner, a German artist, in 1905 for the Sneewittchen book pictured above.
Walter Crane. The Sleeping Beauty Picture Book, containing the Sleeping Beauty, The Baby’s Own Alphabet and Bluebeard. New York, Dodd, Mead and Co., 1911.
Sleeping Beauty is an old fairy tale that has had many incarnations. One of the best known, is this version by the prolific Children’s Book Illustrator, Walter Crane. Crane is an interesting artist who studied under William Morris, one of the founders and great artists of the Arts and Crafts movement. Crane is known for some fine art pieces, but his contributions to the nursery book arts are legendary, during its heyday at the end of the 1800’s and early 1900’s. This edition also has Bluebeard’s Story and Baby’s Own Alphabet. I’ve included all the plates for Sleeping Beauty, but only the first plates of the other 2 stories. The last plate of Sleeping Beauty is my favourite – I think she looks rather stunned to find herself so suddenly awake and rapidly married. If you’re interested you can see the entire book at the Internet Archive, where you can always read the whole book.
Anna Alice Chapin. Illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith. The Now-A-Days Fairy Book. New York, Dodd Mead Company, 1911.
The fairy book this week is a short one with only 2 illustrations, but the story is charming and the artwork is sweet. I’m in love with the picture of the teddy bears, but the monkey is pretty cute, too. Enjoy.
The Now-A-Days Fairy Book, page 38.
The Now-A-Days Fairy Book, page 68.
Margaret Vandegrift. Illustrated by E.B. Bensell. The Absent Minded Fairy. Philadelphia, Ketterlinus Printing House, 1884.
The digital scans of this book contain a bit of extra love. Many of the pages have been hand-coloured in crayon to add a flourish to the original drawings, and I find them utterly charming. My favourite is page 19 with the elephant up a tree. The artwork is Victorian in flavour and the story itself is sweet and well told. I’ve included the first page that is without artwork because the opening sentence is delightful and sets the tone for all that follows. You’ll find all of the full-sized plates below the fold. Enjoy.
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.
Louie Chishom. Celtic Tales. Cover art and illustration by Katherine Cameron. U.K. and U.S., T.C. & E.C., E.P. Dutton, 1910.
Louise Clarkson Whitelock. Fly Away Fairies and Baby Blossoms. New York, E.P. Dutton and London, Griffith and Farran, 1882.
The artwork in this week’s fairy tale book is typical of the Victorian period. I’m not especially fond of this style of art, but I think this book is interesting because its fairies look a lot like like cherubs. I also think the eyes of the children in the book look dull and creepy which is an unexpected bit of a laugh in a children’s fairy story book.
Parker Fillmore. Mighty Mikko: Finnish Folk Tales and Fairy Tales. Illustrated by Jay Van Everen. New York : Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922.
I’m overdue for highlighting Finnish Fairy Tales so our book this week contains a wealth of old Finnish folk stories translated for an English-speaking audience. Illustrator Jay Van Everen breathes life into the stories using graphic, modern drawings with geometric and abstract elements. There is only 1 colour plate in Mighty Mikko, but Van Everen was best known for his bright, colourful abstract paintings. Nonetheless, Van Everen’s black and white drawings for Mighty Mikko are bold and full of interest. The artist uses 2 different styles of illustration in the book – one for the first half of traditional tales and another for the second half of the book which contains the continuing saga of Mikko. Both styles are interesting and worth a good look so I’m going to break this post into 2 parts. Part 2 will be posted next Saturday.
Enjoy!