The Biggest Bear (Parkistani printing in Urdu with laid in letter to Dan Burne Jones)

[Chok Anarkli], [Lahore, Pakistan], 1957. Edition Unstated. Softcover (Perfect Bound). Very Good Condition. Illustrator: Lynd Ward. Book For the Lynd Ward completist, as was the previous owner -- Dan Burne Jones who sought to collect all editions of books written and illustrated by Ward. This is his copy of the Pakistani printing of Ward's 1953 Caldecott Metal award-winning book, published through Franklin Publications in New York. WorldCat shows only two holdings: The Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. According to the Library of Congress' description of its Franklin Book Program Collection, "Franklin assisted developing countries in the creation, production, distribution, and use of books and other educational materials. Its efforts were based on the premise that through wider and improved education, underdeveloped nations could better utilize their human resources to help eliminate hunger, poverty, overpopulation, and economic paralysis." As an indication of the effort to which Jones went to build his collection, there is a 1958 letter to him from Franklin Publications saying they had been unable to find an Arabic edition of "The Biggest Bear" for him. This printing is in Urdu, not Arabic, although that language's script is based upon the Persian script used in Arabic as a result of the Muslim conquest of the region in the 12th century. Also included is a printout of the first two pages of the Library of Congress' finding aid for Franklin's Urdu publications in which "The Biggest Bear" is listed as the 35th book (U 35) This book includes a provenance card stating it is from the collection of Lynd Ward’s long-time friend Dan Burne Jones. Jones was a fellow artist whose own work was influenced by Ward and Rockwell Kent. He built a collection of Ward-illustrated books for the creation of a bibliography (apparently unpublished but in a collection of Ward material in the Penn State archives). A collection of papers about Ward and Kent written and gathered by Jones is held by the Smithsonian Institution. Size: Small Quarto (9-11"). Text is in Urdu. Item Type: Book. The text block is tight, bright and unmarked. Very Good Minus softcover with the front cover art of Johnny and the bear with the title in red in Persian cursive script. The title is in white on black on the spine and there is a blurb in Urdu on the rear cover. Note: The book reads right to left, so the front cover is at the back. There is a 1/4" tear at the head of the spine and 1/4" missing at the foot of the spine. The black spine is heavily worn at the folds . Illustrator: Lynd Ward. Quantity Available: 1. Category: Children; Illustrated; Caldecott Winner; Pakistan; 1950s; Urdu Language; Fiction. Main Picture: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Front cover. Picture 2: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Rear cover. Picture 3: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Title page. Picture 4: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Copyright page and first page of the text. Picture 5: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Sample two-page spread. Picture 6: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Sample two-page spread. Picture 7: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Sample two-page spread. Picture 8: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Sample two-page spread. Picture 9: Ward (1957), The Biggest Bear (Urdu) - Laid-in letter to collector Dan Burne Jones from Franklin Publications dated 1958. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 1374. .