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A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys
by HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Fair with no dust jacket
- Seller
-
Littleton, Colorado, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Fair with no dust jacket. 1893. Hardcover. An 1893 reprint edition of Hawthorne's collection of 26 short stories, which first appeared in 1846. Contains both Volume I and Volume II in this single book, introduced by George Parsons Lathrop in publisher's Salem Edition. Includes a few scattered black & white illustrations, some of which are by "Church." --- In crimson paper-covered boards backed in white cloth, with titling & decorations in gilt on cover and spine. Lacks a dust jacket. --- Interior leaves are quite tanned but readable, with partial split near front of volume; binding remains relatively tight. Some light soiling to covers.; 16mo (6 to 7 in. tall); 224 pages .
Synopsis
Hawthorne made it his ambition to be a writer as a teenager, he graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine, where poet Longfellow was also a student, and spent several years traveling New England writing short stories before creating The Scarlet Letter. He wrote A Wonder-Book between April and July 1851, freely adapting six legends from Charles Anton's A Classical Dictionary . He set out deliberately to 'modernize' the stories, freeing them from 'cold moonshine' and using a romantic, readable style. This was criticized by adults but proved universally popular with children. The stories in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys are all stories within a story. The frame being that a Williams College student, Eustace Bright, is telling these tales to a group of children at Tanglewood, an area in Lenox, Massachusetts, where Hawthorne lived for a time. A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys covers the myths of: The Gorgon's Head - the story of Perseus killing Medusa at the request of the king of the island, Polydectes. The Golden Touch - the story of King Midas and his "Golden Touch". The Paradise of Children - the story of Pandora opening the box filled with all of mankind's Troubles. The Three Golden Apples - the story of Heracles procuring the Three Golden Apples from the Hesperides' orchard, with the help of Atlas. The Miraculous Pitcher - the story of Baucis and Philemon providing food and shelter to two strangers who were Zeus and "Quicksilver" (Hermes) in disguise. Baucis and Philemon were rewarded by the gods for their kindness; they were promised never to live apart from one another. The Chimæra - the story of Bellerophon taming Pegasus and killing the Chimæra.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Bluebird Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 80738
- Title
- A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys
- Author
- HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fair with no dust jacket
- Publisher
- Houghton, Mifflin and Company
- Place of Publication
- Boston
- Date Published
- 1893
Terms of Sale
Bluebird Books
All sales sold on a satisfaction guaranteed basis--all we ask is that you notify us within 30 days of purchase that you would like to return an item.
About the Seller
Bluebird Books
Biblio member since 2005
Littleton, Colorado
About Bluebird Books
Bluebird Books is the bookselling business of Eric Mayer, operating from my base in Littleton, Colorado. I specialize in classic fiction and literature, books on birds and natural history, railroadiana, biography, history and many other genres. Bluebird Books features publications by the Modern Library and Everyman's Library. I offer free shipping on books shipped within the US via USPS Media Mail. INTERNATIONAL ORDERS: I recommend that you use Biblio.com for your international orders because they have formed a partnership with Asendia to allow for much more affordable shipping on parcels weighing under 5 lb. (about 2.26 kg).
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Fair
- is a worn book that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc....
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
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