1blue.eyes2
Two of Theodore Dreiser's novels were published by the LEC, two other LEC books have their introductions written by Dreiser (Of Human Bondage and The Way of All Flesh), and there is a very significant mention of Dreiser in the opening sentences of the LEC Billy Budd and Benito Cereno's introduction. (And I would like to know if he is referred to in any other LEC production.) Recently I decided to purchase a first edition of his book 'A Hoosier Holiday'. It was reported to be an account of an automobile road trip Dreiser and a friend made in 1915 with the book itself published in 1916.
I've started reading it and it is exceeding my expectation so far. It's not just a book about an automobile road trip--although it is probably the first book involving an automobile road trip ever written. But what adds to the charm of the book are the digressions in the book when Dreiser shares his thoughts with the reader or when he shares a discussion with the reader. The topics involved usually pertain to American history and politics but there is also some philosophy, some religion, some sociology and something about the impact in North America about what was going on in Europe at that time. The format is unusual and the closest comparison that I know of is with Hemingway's 'Green Hills of Africa' in which one finds discussions pertaining to literature featuring as interludes in a book about hunting.
The road trip started with a party in Dreiser's apartment in NY where one of the invitees was the illustrator Franklin Booth. Booth had art studios in NY and also in his native Indiana, and it was Booth who suggested to Dreiser that he was going to Indiana (Dreiser's native state) and would he like to come along in Booth's car. Dreiser agreed and they were joined by a third person--Booth's chauffeur Speed or Speedy (his nickname) who was also a decent car mechanic. The route chosen was not the shortest one; rather it was based on a scenic route Dreiser had found described in a magazine.
And something very fortuitous happened because of Booth accompanying Dreiser on this road trip: This book has been profusely illustrated by Booth. I am liking this book so much because of Dreiser's writing and Booth's illustrations that I am tempted to make this trip myself some day, going on the same scenic route taken by Dreiser and Booth and Speedy. It should not be that difficult since Dreiser mentions all the places they visit on this trip.
This is a book that is missing just one ingredient: the Macy Magic. The paper and typography could have been better and I wish at least some of the illustrations would have been in color. The technology being used to transfer the illustrations onto the pages of this book is also obviously inferior as compared to LEC productions with the result that many of the illustrations are not as sharp as desired. Still, for a book published in 1916, this was a very decent effort and the idea of a top writer and a reputed illustrator travelling together and later collaborating on a book remains worthy of emulation. (If you think about it Covarrubias went to the South Sea islands (as per the ML of the LEC Typee) so as to see the same sights which Melville may have seen, for the purpose of illustrating Typee, but he was not accompanying Melville and had in fact gone to the place several decades after Melville did. Further, I doubt if Covarrubias went to Nuku Hiva--the ML would have highlighted this otherwise; he probably only went upto Tahiti.)
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I give below the illustrations in the Dreiser book since I think they would be of interest to some in this forum.
In the illustrations above, the first is taken from the front end papers of the book and the second from the rear end papers: both the illustrations are identical.
I've started reading it and it is exceeding my expectation so far. It's not just a book about an automobile road trip--although it is probably the first book involving an automobile road trip ever written. But what adds to the charm of the book are the digressions in the book when Dreiser shares his thoughts with the reader or when he shares a discussion with the reader. The topics involved usually pertain to American history and politics but there is also some philosophy, some religion, some sociology and something about the impact in North America about what was going on in Europe at that time. The format is unusual and the closest comparison that I know of is with Hemingway's 'Green Hills of Africa' in which one finds discussions pertaining to literature featuring as interludes in a book about hunting.
The road trip started with a party in Dreiser's apartment in NY where one of the invitees was the illustrator Franklin Booth. Booth had art studios in NY and also in his native Indiana, and it was Booth who suggested to Dreiser that he was going to Indiana (Dreiser's native state) and would he like to come along in Booth's car. Dreiser agreed and they were joined by a third person--Booth's chauffeur Speed or Speedy (his nickname) who was also a decent car mechanic. The route chosen was not the shortest one; rather it was based on a scenic route Dreiser had found described in a magazine.
And something very fortuitous happened because of Booth accompanying Dreiser on this road trip: This book has been profusely illustrated by Booth. I am liking this book so much because of Dreiser's writing and Booth's illustrations that I am tempted to make this trip myself some day, going on the same scenic route taken by Dreiser and Booth and Speedy. It should not be that difficult since Dreiser mentions all the places they visit on this trip.
This is a book that is missing just one ingredient: the Macy Magic. The paper and typography could have been better and I wish at least some of the illustrations would have been in color. The technology being used to transfer the illustrations onto the pages of this book is also obviously inferior as compared to LEC productions with the result that many of the illustrations are not as sharp as desired. Still, for a book published in 1916, this was a very decent effort and the idea of a top writer and a reputed illustrator travelling together and later collaborating on a book remains worthy of emulation. (If you think about it Covarrubias went to the South Sea islands (as per the ML of the LEC Typee) so as to see the same sights which Melville may have seen, for the purpose of illustrating Typee, but he was not accompanying Melville and had in fact gone to the place several decades after Melville did. Further, I doubt if Covarrubias went to Nuku Hiva--the ML would have highlighted this otherwise; he probably only went upto Tahiti.)
-----
I give below the illustrations in the Dreiser book since I think they would be of interest to some in this forum.
In the illustrations above, the first is taken from the front end papers of the book and the second from the rear end papers: both the illustrations are identical.
6GardenOfForkingPaths
>1 blue.eyes2: Very nice indeed. Thank you for the write-up and photos.
7blue.eyes2
>6 GardenOfForkingPaths: >5 wcarter: Glad you liked the illustrations. I looked around to see if I could find some other interesting illustrations by Franklin Booth and I came across one I especially liked. It is titled 'Farmer on the Fence' and it (or something similar to it) could have been included in this book.
8laotzu225
Thanks for the effort! It would be great if this could in some way be reprinted. Coincidentally, last night I was at a concert and heard Knoxville: Summer of 1915 by Samuel Barber on a text by James Agee. The "recollection" of something we did not live through but feel simpatico to was similar.
9blue.eyes2
>8 laotzu225: A Hoosier Holiday has been reprinted twice in more recent times--by Hastings College Press in 2016 and by Indiana University Press in 1997 and 1998. I have a copy of the Indiana University Press hardcover edition of this book. None of the Booth illustrations are incorporated in this edition. Further, although the typography of this edition's introduction is ok, the typography of the main text is pretty bad--as if someone photocopied the text from some other work.
Never heard of Knoxville before (though I looked it up after I read your post), but one work composed around this same time that I have been reading intermittently is the LEC edition of Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology. I hope to post a review of this book in the near future.
Never heard of Knoxville before (though I looked it up after I read your post), but one work composed around this same time that I have been reading intermittently is the LEC edition of Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology. I hope to post a review of this book in the near future.
10Django6924
>8 laotzu225:
"Knoxville: Summer of 1915" was printed as a preface to Agee's posthumous, semi-autobiographical novel, A Death in the Family. Although one can't be certain Agee would have done so himself, it is quite appropriate. I have long cherished my recording by Eleanor Steber, the soprano for whom it was written.
Barber was quite a fan of Agee, and set one of his poems for chorus: "“Sure on This Shining Night.” My stepson performed this when he was a member of the Los Angeles Children's Choir.
"Knoxville: Summer of 1915" was printed as a preface to Agee's posthumous, semi-autobiographical novel, A Death in the Family. Although one can't be certain Agee would have done so himself, it is quite appropriate. I have long cherished my recording by Eleanor Steber, the soprano for whom it was written.
Barber was quite a fan of Agee, and set one of his poems for chorus: "“Sure on This Shining Night.” My stepson performed this when he was a member of the Los Angeles Children's Choir.
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