old illustrations

TalkTattered but still lovely

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old illustrations

12wonderY
Edited: Apr 2, 2014, 5:24 pm

I want to point out a publisher who has collected old illustrations and re-published them in a variety of gift books.

They've gone by several names-
Darling & Company
Blue Lantern Studio
Laughing Elephant

They've used the images for greeting cards, as well.

The lead collector is Welleran Poltarnees, whose real name is Harold Darling.

I was sorting books and found Sharing the Pleasures of Reading which has 50 or so illustrations of people reading, along with some text on the subject.
They are generally cheaply available from the Goodwill in Seattle, Washington, which is where the publisher is located. I buy them through half.com by the handful at a time to save shipping costs.

There are 48 titles on his author page. Do go shop for your favorite subject.
My most favorite is This is My Wish for You.

2fuzzi
Apr 2, 2014, 8:07 pm

BB....

I checked out his books. When I saw the cover for A Book of Unicorns, I remembered having it, brand new. It is now ordered...

32wonderY
Jun 30, 2014, 4:32 pm



This is the first of the small gift books I've collected.

42wonderY
Sep 10, 2014, 4:37 pm

Researching Margaret Armstrong today, I stumbled across one of her illustrations for her Field Book of Western Wild Flowers:



(actually, there are multiple examples on Pinterest.)

And I loved reading about her and her very accomplished family. I've left some cool links on her author page.

5fuzzi
Sep 10, 2014, 4:49 pm

I love looking at these!

6MrsLee
Sep 12, 2014, 11:28 am

>4 2wonderY: That is lovely. Reminds me of some Audubon prints my grandmother had, minus the birds.

7Sakerfalcon
Sep 12, 2014, 1:16 pm

>4 2wonderY: That is so beautiful. Accurate enough to ID the plant, yet lovely enough to hang on the wall.

8fuzzi
Sep 12, 2014, 5:12 pm

I came home with yet another copy of The Jungle Books...but this one has llustrations by Edward and Maurice Detmold. Gorgeous...

92wonderY
Sep 13, 2014, 2:18 pm

Have you posted illustrations elsewhere?

10fuzzi
Edited: Sep 13, 2014, 6:22 pm

>9 2wonderY: for this book, not yet. However, they appear to be the same as those posted in my The Jungle Book thread, here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/175681# (scroll down to post 21)

112wonderY
Sep 15, 2014, 8:00 am

Yes, I have to agree - Gorgeous!

122wonderY
Sep 16, 2014, 11:01 am

I recently acquired another of Harold Darling's collections. This one is Weird and Wonderful: Discoveries from the Mysterious World of Forgotten Children's Books.

Truly weird. I'm not sure about the wonderful part yet. Dancing automobile parts, mother and child playing up in the telephone wires, food of all sorts doing things that food shouldn't do...

13fuzzi
Sep 16, 2014, 12:37 pm

>12 2wonderY: reminds me of Monty Python...

142wonderY
Oct 28, 2014, 1:00 pm

I've finally gotten around to reading Love Finds the Way by Paul Leicester Ford. I must be missing something. The story is rather minor, yet it has been lavishly illustrated and bound, and the artists are the prime names of the time, Harrison Fisher and Margaret Armstrong. I'm thinking they must have been great personal friends with Ford, and did the work out of sympathy or perhaps pity.

Every page spread is decorated with flower scrolls, six different designs alternating though the book. Here is one of them



This is Armstrong's work. She also did the cover design, and it is just as lavish as her covers for van Dyke and Myrtle Reed.

This story is a short romance of the Revolutionary War period.

15fuzzi
Oct 28, 2014, 3:15 pm

Nice pages.

162wonderY
Oct 28, 2014, 3:20 pm

Yes, they're delightful, and I will keep the book.

17aviddiva
Dec 12, 2014, 5:05 pm

That is beautiful. It reminds me of some of my Gene Stratton-Porter editions, which also have lovely flowers on the pages.

182wonderY
Edited: Jun 2, 2016, 1:37 pm

I just noticed today's Google tribute is for Lotte Reiniger and I would like to share my appreciation for her work.

Lot's of her stop action silhouette films are now available on the web:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25SP4ftxklg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kku75vGDD_0

Do take the time to watch one.

Here is one where you can see her scissors work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvU55CUw5Ck

19BonnieJune54
Jun 2, 2016, 4:54 pm

>18 2wonderY: Lovely Thanks for sharing.

202wonderY
Aug 1, 2023, 10:28 am

There’s a lady on Instagram that has the most gorgeous books; and she posts some of the illustrations. Today she chose The Spirit of Paris and shared the names of some of the French illustrators.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvZz_nLN6Fc/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

There is a copy available, but a bit expensive for me. Sigh.

21BonnieJune54
Edited: Aug 1, 2023, 10:49 pm

Thanks for sharing. She has beautiful boots. Argh!! Books
Edited.

222wonderY
Aug 1, 2023, 3:49 pm

>21 BonnieJune54: Haha! I went searching for the boots. I thought I’d missed something till I realized… autocorrect.

23fuzzi
Aug 2, 2023, 8:15 am

>18 2wonderY: Wow, wow, wow...

I just passed it on to my university Film minor son.