Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott (1820) Illu.

I loved it, it's amazing to think of what Scott created in writing methodology, the time overlapping is well done. Occasionally you wonder what happened to a character but eventually all loose ends are tied up. I agree though regarding Aethelstane's return from the dead was a little much and I think unnecessary to get him out of a fix the way Shakespeare used to bring them back to life. It is satisfying to have Aethelstane let the young people have each other.

The history lesson is great and leaves one thinking and looking for the actuality of the Plantagenet line. The story explains that the Normans from France were actively upgrading the culture that was predominant on the British Isles beforehand.

Ivanhoe has aligned himself with King Richard the Lion Hearted. Ironically Ivanhoe speaks possibly the fewest words of any of any character in the entire story; he is known far and wide for his actions.
The descriptions of Coningsburgh Castle are so enticing and unlike the 19th century reader I just pick up my IPhone and see it for my self, bridging both time and space from the comfort of my reading chair.

The amount of Jew bashing was a real an eye-opener; I think in terms of WWII but this hate thing has been going on forever! A substantial part of the book is devoted to Isaac and his daughter they are good characters too. Scott is only reporting on how things may have been for the Jews in the 1100's, during his time in England laws were changing with respect to discrimination.

With in-depth descriptions of the "Lists" and "tilting" all the while weaving the story between characters makes this a must read for those interested in the origins and functioning of chivalry.

I never understood how the Isles (being so small) could be so steadfast against change in one area and under constant change in another; the Scots and the Irish have maintained their uninterrupted blood lines far better than the southerners.

As I am buying exclusively Illustrated versions of the classics; I spent a lot of time on Ebay looking for the "best" illustrated version I could find; for me I think this is it. I love the Schoonover illustrations; they really help set the tone and "paint" the picture. They are old fashioned renderings, of an old fashioned story, about an old fashioned time.

Candide by Voltaire (1759) Illu. Rockwell Kent

Completely unaware of what I was getting into I picked up a vintage 1929 copy of Candide with of course cool renderings through-out. Having not followed a lot of satire in my recent readings I was unprepared for Voltaire's brutal truism's about life; it is very good, humorous in a macabre way.  

Unfortunately as with all of the publications like this one the cover is badly faded, cheap dye I guess.
But its the illustrations by Kent that I am so pleased with, how ever disturbing some of them are, and there are plenty, every page has something on it.

Death and destruction, betrayal and cruelty, what appears to be one thing is something else entirely.

Here is Candide leaving the only place that where he was happy with the treasures that ultimately carry him along in relative comfort but due to his lack of shrewdness and the unrelenting evil imposed on him by others he is regularly relieved of its burden.

Each chapter is it's own little episode that leads with the previous and ends heading towards the next.

I don't know why Voltaire wrote this book; it has a peculiar feel about it. I guess he may have been at the the forefront of the period of questioning religion and believing in science. By the time we get to Madame Bovary the questioning is in full swing!

Waverley by Sir Walter Scott (1815) Illu.

Now we are really getting back there. Waverley is a good read, I will have to read it again however because the language gap is sooo great!
Scott uses so many unheard of words in  our present day speaking that make whole paragraphs were unintelligible, so you just power through and take the hint of it.

I found this 1961 printing with illustrations by Robert Ball. They are not compelling illustrations but regardless, illustrations always add to the reading experience.

With Waverley Scott basically INVENTED the fictional historic novel format so popular today.

I have been intrigued by the English and their world building penchant. The story is about the last attempt by the Scott's to bring the Stuart "heir" back to the thrown in 1745. Again just like the Souths attempt at succession they were unprepared and over confident (a seemingly common trait of feudal societies as they implode.) If we look at the world in the 18th century we see the changes coming as population explodes and the working class shows it's tremendous ingenuity and ambition. In just another 31 years America will win it's freedom from English rule.

Scott is writing this 60 years after the fact and is trying to give us a picture of the final throws of the feudal Scotland. The translations of Gaelic are just great especially if you have any familiarity with it. Life lessons are few but the "cards we are dealt" is more than a theme, it is the story. Scott lived in a time where being born into a class was how the world was.

The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Longfellow (1855) Illu.

OK I know that Hiawatha is considered a little lame but it is a wonderful read. I found this illustrated 1898 copy in Frankfort Mi. and it is beautiful.
Reading it is purely fun; many of the verses roll off your tongue as if you have read them before. It is simply a pleasure at times.

One has to read the history of the writing and some of the controversy surrounding it but then just leave all of that and enjoy the ride.
I especially enjoyed the description of H building a birch bark canoe; made me want to go out and build one myself... someday maybe.
The etchings are excellent and informative. Longfellow attempts to teach a little Indian language along the way, each chapter is a discrete story within the whole tale.

A strange concept indeed considering it was just before the civil war and during a time when manifest destiny was at it's height of popular national identity. Written by a New Eng-lander feeling sorry for the inevitable, it ends with the Noble savage riding off into the sunset.

Marmion by Sir Walter Scott (1808)

                After my deep dive into the Icelandic tales of Sigurd I went thru several of the classic tales such as The Green Knight and Beowulf. Thumbing thru the books at one estate sale the title Marmion took my eye, I picked it up and instantly decided to give it a try; the title alone seems to leap out. It is great, I love it. I subsequently bought a couple of copies including the one pictured printed in 1818; it’s in pretty good shape but should not be toyed with, the 1^st one I read was in delicate shape and can’t stand much more use. The 1818 copy printed while Scott was still alive, is for collecting but a third version a 1911 copy published by the American Book Company is great because it footnotes and glossaries all of the odd terms; very helpful. 

Scott’s prose are fantastic and it is so easy to imagine reading to friends and family around the fire back before the curse of television. I will admit that prose like this is hard to read. You have to really want it and at the same time be willing to move thru it slowly and deliberately. To get thru it sometimes you simply take the gist of it, that’s easy enough but making sure you are following the story line is harder. I’m afraid that I always use Wikipedia and other such summary to help in understanding anything so foreign as this.

The writing starts like this:

 Day set on Norman’s castled steep,
And Tweed’s fair river, broad and deep,
And Cheviot’s mountains lone:
The battled towers, the donjon keep,
The loophole grates, where captives weep,
The flanking walls that round it sweep,
In yellow luster shown.
The warriors on the turrets high,
moving athwart the evening sky,
Seemed forms of giant height:
Their armor, as it caught the rays,
Flashed back again the western blaze,
In lines of dazzling light.

The story is a fictional account of the actual battle of Flodden Field, (September 1513) Scott tells of the battle and intertwines stories of love, deceit, fortunes lost and regained. The outcome of this obscure but ultimately significant battle was another turning point in English history. Again as one might say happened in the American civil war we have an extremely arrogant leadership that enlists the whole of the aristocracy only to have it destroyed. Arrogance is a blinding force in human nature.

I was so taken with the story that I subsequently read a complete 2003 publication: Flodden: A Scottish Tragedy by Peter Reese describing the battle and the actual intrigue surrounding it. This is the period of Henry VIII. 
King James (King of the Scotts) was implored by the Queen of France to distract Henry from his war with her. A chivalrous womanizer James assembled the aristocracy as best he could but was horribly demolished by his poor tactics and the latest warfare technology of the English (sound familiar?) The fathers and sons of all of the greatest Scotch families of the day were killed during this ill-fated campaign and so with it crumbled there society.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852) Illu.

Yes I am reading it; I don't think anyone reads this anymore and after a few chapters it's not hard to understand why. By the end of the 1st chapter you know which side the bread is buttered on. I love the segmented or scene like writing; neat little packages as a result of the original releases in periodical installments.

It's such and old topic I suppose that it is tiring for most people in the States to get into, however, after finishing Gone with the Wind and re-reading The Red Badge,  I felt it was a must to round out the period.

Now I understand that these two books are polar opposites and that GwtW was probably written to give "the other side of the story." So we claim to be in a "polarized" period now, HA, imagine how polarized things have to be to lead to civil war! I hear lots of people say it's coming again but that's bullshit; you can't make overfed people on cell phones get out of there house let alone go to uprising.

I love this 1938 printing with lots of etchings in it. It has possibly the heaviest paper weight I have ever seen in a book; it feels great in your hands.In near perfect condition my copy is a pleasure to hold.



My new book collecting philosophy is to get illustrated copies whenever possible.

Stowe is a master at making a situation have all sides and emotions represented simultaneously. Occasionally Stowe speaks directly to the reader challenging all comers to reflect on the issue. In other instances it literally hurts to read some of it; Harriet knows how string you along in a most painful way at times.

Both of these books have helped me understand and come to piece with the "cards that we are dealt" theory of life. The deck of cards that we are playing from are forged in our time and place. The earlier one sees and (if possible) can separate themselves from becoming the time and place, I think, the better off. 

The amazing raw truthfulness of what was most likely unsaid back in the day is in chapter 16; like a slap in the face. As spoken by Mr. St Clair "you loathe them like a snake or a toad, you are indignant at their wrongs. You would not have them abused; but you don't want to have anything to do with them yourselves. " So Mrs. Stowe lays out it plainly, holding no punches aimed at the North.
Mr. St Clair also states: "We're in for it; we've got 'em and we mean to keep 'em - it's for convenience and our interest."

Mr. St Clair is Stowe's Rett Buttler; that is a mouth piece for trowing punches both at the North and the South. "Now as an aristocrat, you know, the world over, has no human sympathies, beyond a certain line in society. In England the line is in one place, in Burma another, in American another; but the aristocrat in all these countries never goes over it. What would be hardship and distress in his own class, is a cool matter of course in another.
From Miss Ophelia comes one of the most powerful lines in the book. In the context of Eva's dying: "Augustine!has not God a right to do what he will with his own?" I guess I have never heard this line before and as an anti religious believer in God I think it is a most universal question.

Moby Dick or The Whale by Herman Melville (1851) Illu.

                Many people think they have read it and haven’t, some have read part of and couldn’t finish it, and others read it when they were too young and need to reread it.

Like so many of the classics, reading something that includes so many “aged”  topics like GwtW and Moby Dick when in high school one should consider this only a first reading; the classics must be revisited after one is over 45 years of age. It is only then that some of us begin to see life differently and can read these writings with the eyes that they were written in.

80% of the book has nothing to do with The Whale. Melville was simply having a ball writing this, showing off his skills and knowledge of men, sailing, whales, and the world. It is a tremendous read not to be passed up due to its size. Published in 1851, The Whale is often slow, sometimes fast, and sometimes funny. Yes it has allegoric elements but it’s not one big endless myth; it is a story of the changing times in America human nature, and whales. Remember too that Melville was for a time a close friend of Nathaniel Hawthorn… ah to have a circle of friends that one could really look up to and learn from.

My copy from a Grosse Pointe estate sale is one of those “printed for you” versions beautifully made binding with gold leaf embossments. A 1977 printing that heralds original artwork, these are however some of the worst  renderings I can conceive of; they do not in any way enhance the story. Obviously when a publishing company hires a butcher on the cheap the result is less than desired and not worth the trip. I thought I might get a collectors printing but ran into too many choices and found that they command huge prices the greatest of which was a first printing asking about $83,000. I am very happy with this version. Later I discovered an unassuming (from the cover) version printed in 1982 that has awesome graphics by Rockwell Kent. Dozens of rendering scattered throughout all in the block print black & white style, I want to reread it just to have the pleasure of the images along with the narrative.

I love submerging into a time before long distance communications where a boat went out for three years and maybe even returned… and then to go out again, and again; it’s hard to imagine. When this book was written whaling boats and seafaring was one of the highest technologies of the day. It’s interesting that since then we have nearly fished out the seas. It seems so strange to me that the dream of 1960’s America (the one I was sold) about how good we would have it in the future, you know, flying cars and working at home, these have indeed occurred but only for the few. However we still have indentured seafarers on fishing boats in conditions no better than what Ishmael encountered. 

As for the unassuming version here are some of the renderings.  I just noticed that the drawings are from the very Rockwell Kent that so intrigued me in Candide.