Inspiring Older Readers

posted on 08 Nov 2015

Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights by Charlotte and Emily Bronte : illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg

These two volumes were published in 1945 by the New York publisher Random House. Remarkably the functional, rather dull slipcase is still in tact but it was clearly not designed to be part of the overall artistic package because it has no decoration on it and it does not carry the titles of the books. I have a suspicion that the slip case was actually part of the shelf packaging and may well have been meant to be thrown away once the books were back home and placed on the shelves.

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The books themselves are on a beautiful thin, creamy paper and the text is printed in two columns on each page. Rather than coming across as crowded and cluttered, the design is actually clean and open and very inviting. However, the knock-out element of these books is the Eichenburg engravings. Wow! Eichenberg was a very interesting character - a German national who, after the First World War, developed a strong anti-war philosophy and took a left of centre oppositional stance to the rise of Hitler. To save his life and career he moved to the USA before the outbreak of WW2 and, after flirting with Eastern religions, became a life-long Quaker.

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He worked in wood-prints and engraving and illustrated lots of classic literature and, not surprisingly given his style, he also illustrated plenty of children's classics. The depth of his illutrations are a marvel to behold - it's a real skill to retain detail and still produce luminous black and white illustration.

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I'm also fond of this collection because I stumbled on it in a small junk shop in a small town in North Carolina, just outside Raleigh. The shop was packed with all sorts of vintage clothing and knick-knacks and there wasn't a book in sight. This was hidden behind a pile of old linen tablecloths and baby clothing and the shop owner didn't even know she had it. $20 got it for me and I was delighted to liberate it and bring it back to add to my collection.

 

Terry Potter

November 2015

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