Thread Name: Pictorial Wilder / Pictorial Gift Sets From: j b krygier <jbkrygie@removed> Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2001 10:47:19 -0400 A couple of questions about the first ML pictorial DJs. I recently found a copy of Wilder's "Cabala" (first ed, DJ lists 159 titles) with one of the early pictorial jackets. I scanned the DJ and sent it to Scot who put it on the Dogeared WWW site (as the DJ artwork is signed by "NB"): http://www.dogeared.com/artists/nbJackets.html Somehow I thought that the only MLs with these odd DJs were the titles in the gift set - Cellini, Romance of Leonardo, Michelangelo, etc. I notice from looking at Gordon Neavill's article on ML Gift Box Sets in The Modern Library Collector (#41) that there were many gift sets - but not sure if the DJs on gift set MLs were all in these transitionary pictorial jackets. I don't see Wilder as part of any of the sets. Toledano's guide lists two DJs for Wilder: B and P. I have seen a later ed. of Wilder in a P dj which is different from the DJ I have (the graphic may be the same - but I can't recall). Was there also a B DJ for Wilder? If so, was the Wilder title available in both B and early P DJs when issued, then a 2nd P DJ issued in the 30s? Which DJ is correct for the 1st? Curious if anyone out there has a B DJ with 159 titles on a Wilder 1st. That would mean two different but correct first DJ types - which would be peculiar! Finally - how many MLs not in gift sets were issued in these transitionary pictorial DJs? ------------------------------------- From: "Gordon Neavill" <aa3401@removed> Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 12:44:17 -0400 The pictorial jacket for Wilder's THE CABALA is a really nice one. The ML edition of this book was published in May 1929 in a uniform typographic jacket with a spring 1929 list (includes Dostoyevsky, Brothers Karamazov but not Chaucer, Canterbury Tales). The earliest of the "NB" pictorial jackets I've seen dates from fall 1931 (list of titles includes Balzac, Droll Stories but not Dreiser, Sister Carrie). It's possible the pictorial jacket was introduced earlier or even simultaneously with the typographic jacket. Fall 1929 lists inside the dj's include Chaucer, Canterbury Tales but not Hemingway, Sun Also Rises; spring 1930 lists include Hemingway but not Goethe, Faust; fall 1930 lists include Goethe but not Conrad, Lord Jim; spring 1931 lists include Conrad but not Balzac, Droll stories. Let me know the date of the list inside the pictorial jacket; if its earlier than fall 1931 I'll revise my bibliography entry . I'm envious--I don't have THE CABALA in either jacket! Just got back from a short research trip to New York, where I saw a 1928 gift box Three Great Renaissance Romances in a crumbling but original slipcase. The slipcase is covered in colored paper that echos the diamond-shaped pattern of the Keratol bindings. Labels on the front and back panels of the slipcase are titled THREE GREAT RENAISSANCE ROMANCES and list all three volumes. (The author of THE ROMANCE OF LEOARDO DA VINCI is misspelled "Merejkowsky" on the labels.) ------------------------------------- From: j b krygier <jbkrygie@removed> Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2001 13:17:36 -0400 Gordon Neavill wrote: >Let me know >>the date of the list inside the pictorial jacket; if its earlier than fall 1931 I'll revise my bibliography entry . I'm envious--I don't have THE >CABALA in either jacket! The DJ list includes Dostoyevsky, Brothers K. but not Chaucer, so it must be a Spring 1929. I guess this means that this title was 1st issued with both typographical and pictorial jackets. I am wondering if this was some kind of experiment by ML to see if the pic. jackets would aid sales? Curious if any other ML titles had two different 1st DJs? Also wondering about the scarcity of this pictorial 1st DJ vs. the typographic 1st DJ. If any of you have the later pictorial DJ - let us know it has the same DJ image as this 1st issue DJ (again - Scot put an image of the DJ at www.dogeared.com) >Just got back from a short research trip to New York, where I saw a 1928 >gift box Three Great Renaissance Romances in a crumbling but original >slipcase. The slipcase is covered in colored paper that echos the >diamond-shaped pattern of the Keratol bindings. Labels on the front and >back panels of the slipcase are titled THREE GREAT RENAISSANCE ROMANCES and >list all three volumes. (The author of THE ROMANCE OF LEOARDO DA VINCI is >misspelled "Merejkowsky" on the labels.) If it is crumbling, that may explain why these boxes are so scarce - shoddy materials! I recently found a Keratol covered copy of the Romance of Leonardo - no DJ unfortunately. That Keratol stuff is really peculiar! ------------------------------------- From: "Gordon Neavill" <aa3401@removed> Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 16:26:24 -0400 John's pictorial jacket for Wilder's THE CABALA is a real find and demonstrates the value of Scot's work in putting images of ML jackets on the website. The later pictorial jackets I've seen for THE CABALA are different from John's spring 1929 jacket. The title and the illustration by "N.B." are the same, but the later jackets are Henry's Dj 6 style with the author between two colored bands at the top and "THE MODERN LIBRARY" between two colored bands at the bottom. The later pictorial jackets for THE CABALA don't mention the introduction by Herbert Gorman on the front panel of the jacket. What's going on here? When the ML published Merejkowski's ROMANCE OF LEONARDO DA VINCI in 1928, it was made available in a uniform typographic jacket for display with the series as a whole and also in an optional pictorial jacket for booksellers who wanted to display the book on tables apart from the rest of the ML. Guerney's translation was commissioned by the ML, the book had a huge potential sale, and the ML encouraged booksellers to promote it and display it prominently. The pictorial jacket helped the book reach a large market, and Cerf told booksellers that they would have the option of ordering other selected forthcoming titles in pictorial jackets. I was never sure how many 1928/29 titles were actually available in pictorial jackets. I was frankly skeptical that many of them were. Now we have living proof that THE CABALA was available in spring 1929 in a pictorial jacket as well as a typographic jacket. I doubt that all new titles at this period were available in pictorial jackets, but there must have been a number that were. The pictorial jackets with double bands that later became common in the balloon cloth period had not yet been introduced, and the optional pictorial jackets were similar in appearance to the pictorial jackets used in the 1928 gift box, THREE GREAT RENAISSANCE ROMANCES. Does anybody else have early pictorial jackets without the double bands characteristic of Henry's Dj 6 style--especially for titles not sold as part of a gift box? They're not common, but they must exist for more titles than I, at least, know about! ------------------------------------- From: dbapaper@removed> Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2001 17:31:29 -0400 I have a First Edition of The Memoirs of Casanova with a Toledano Type 5 DJ (p.178 of guide) similar in style to John's copy of The Cabala. It's in the "Gift Set" style, with no mention of The Modern Library on the front panel; two numbers on the spine, above and below the title; and the "transitional" rear panel without solid rules. The DJ has the Spring 1929 list on the reverse side and "159 books" on the rear panel. Like John's Cabala, this DJ credits the author of the introduction on the front panel, which I believe was dropped in later versions. I reported this DJ to Scott a few weeks ago because it seemed to push back the correct first issue number for the DJ, which is listed in the guide as 169. I'm not sure about the propriety of attaching a scan to a listserv email, so I'm sending a scan to you (with a copy to Scot Kamins). Perhaps you can respond to the group later. ------------------------------------- From: j b krygier <jbkrygie@removed> Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 23:31:16 -0400 dbapaper@ix.netcom.com wrote: >I have a First Edition of The Memoirs of Casanova with a Toledano Type 5 DJ >the Spring 1929 list on the reverse side and "159 books" on the rear panel. >I reported this DJ to Scott a few weeks ago because it seemed to push back the correct first issue >number for the DJ, which is listed in the guide as 169. Out of curiosity, is this a situation where the transitional pictorial DJ is earlier than the regular pictorial DJ, or are there 1st eds. of Casanova in the 'regular' pictorial DJ with 159 titles on the DJ? Also - I don't see Casanova listed as part of any of the Gift box sets (Modern Library Collector #41) Finally - it would be great to see any of the three DJs from the "Three Great Modern Novels" box set in Scot's compilation of ML djs color on dogeared.com. Toledano reproduces Hardy's "Return of the Native" in the Guide (p. 180 - a 'problem' dj) and Neavill reproduces Hardy and Butler (MLC #41) - but all in b/w. These DJs have to be some of the funkiest ML djs ever. -------------------------------------