book illustrations - some favorites

YES! What great art for a kid to get hooked on reading. I had all the covers and titles memorized at one time.
Nancy Drew had what I would call noire illustrations too

Uncle Wiggily Longears

I was born and bred with Nancy Drew - probably the trigger for my fondness for a good police procedural.

Nice to see the illustration.

I have never heard about this book, but the illustrations are just fantastic at least for a grown up. See if I can get it to read. The book sounds very good.
I often like to read certain children´s books.

Here's some bits from The Edge of the Storm (Al filo del agua) - illustrations by Julio Prieto

The opening of each chapter starts with a depiction of the first letter with perhaps a bit about the chapter -




another linocut, this time full page (though the scan cut the left edge off) -



one more -



not as dark on the page as shown here..

i like children's books too

Edward Gorey provided cover illustrations for Freaky Friday


his work, The Gasshlycrumb Tinies, is a horrendous alphabet



my personal favourite

By the way, Osso, this is a terrific thread that you have started.

I once researched the history of book illustration. Illustrations printed from engraved wood blocks and those printed from engraved metal plates have different characteristics that add their own "effects" to the illustration.

Also, the illustrator is considered the first interpreter or critic of a literary work.

i'll second that

I'll thirded that sentiment! :-p

Thanks, wandel. I should still look it up that previous thread and give a link. (After I do some gardening..)

Engraved wood - is that the same as what I call woodcuts? Or somehow finer lined?

Interesting, your point that the illustrator is the first interpreter/critic. That seems true.

Loved it when Set pointed out about the change in Sherlock Holmes/Doyle illustrator - the "mistaken" choice (my words) being how we perceive him all these years.

There's another book on the edge of my memory, that I no longer have... some
elaborate illustrations re an italian tale (but which?)

I'm learning a lot - there is so much that I've missed along my idiosyncratic reading way. For example, I've never read Gorey and now I want to.

Micawber!

EdgarB, what is your sig line? I like it.

It's the last lines of a poem I wrote.

I figured as much, thanks for answering.

every time i read it i think of the Phil Ochs line, "it's always the old who lead us to the war, it's always the young who die"

Lynd Ward was an amazing illustrator in woodcuts. He published several "novels" done entirely in woodcuts with no text.

http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2010/10/13/the-woodcuts-of-lynd-ward/

Especially the first one is very striking. And, very intricate. I suppose what you can finesse has to do with the exact wood..

I have a friend/artist who showed with us who does very intricate ink drawings, and that first piece reminds me of that intricacy but also probably bears less error happening while doing the engraving.

I have to read the article more closely ( just planted the sage, now for the thyme..)

A recent publication that I love is The Lion & The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney. There is no text, just page after page of luscious watercolors. He is a fabulous book artist, but this book is particularly lovely.



But, one of my favorite, older illustrators has already been mentioned by JD (were we separated at birth?). I adore Gorey.