Ludwig Bemelmans

"In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines... the smallest one was Madeline." So begin the beloved Madeline children's books of Ludwig Bemelmans, the Austria-Hungary born American writer and illustrator. Here are a few examples of his beautiful work.

Madeline. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1939. First edition, first printing.

This is interesting, the dummy Cover for Madeline and the Bad Hat, ca. 1956/57. Pen, ink, watercolor, and gouachevia The Estate of Ludwig Bemelmans via — This is interesting, the dummy Cover for *Madeline and the Bad Hat*, ca. 1956/57. Pen, ink, watercolor, and gouache
via The Estate of Ludwig Bemelmans via

Original painting "I'm sorry, the horse must go". Sold for over $27,000 on Skinner Auctions

MADELINE AND THE BAD HAT. NY: Viking (Dec. 1956) via

To the One I Love the Best by Ludwig Bemelmans

Ludwig Bemelmans The New Yorker,  March 21, 1942 — Ludwig Bemelmans The New Yorker, March 21, 1942

The Adventurers: books of adventure and exploration

I Married Adventure, by Osa Johnson (Mrs. Martin Johnson). 1940. Mrs. Johnson writes of the years she and her husband spent in Africa and the south seas.

Beryl Marham | West with the Night 1942. A woman writes about her adventures as a bush pilot in Africa.

Richard Evelyn Byrd. Discovery. The Story of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1935.

Maciej Hibner

Hibner, a Polish graphic designer born in Warsaw in 1931 was an important figure in the Polish school of poster design. Here are just a few of his wonderful book jackets and film posters from the fifties and sixties.

"Zielone złoto" Michał Rusinek Cover by Maciej Hibner Published by Wydawnictwo Iskry 1960

Maciej Hibner | Alibi Doskonale (Two Way Stretch) 1963. British (British Lion), 1960. Director: Robert Day. Starring Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White.

"Smak soli i pieprzu" (Powiesť o dietstwie) Michał Sztitelman Translated by Zofia and Stanisław Głowiakowie Cover by Maciej Hibner Published by Wydawnictwo Iskry 1965

El verdugo (1963), Luis García Berlanga.

John O'Hara lending library

I just bought this copy of Sweet and Sour, so I thought it was a good time to put together a post of a few of my first editions by O'Hara, as well as a few nice ones I don't possess. I love the design of this book jacket!

Sweet and Sour, by John O'Hara First UK edition 1955

A Rage to Live 1949 via Live Auctioneers

Butterfield 8 1935 signed first edition via eBay. Cover by Arthur Hawkins, Jr.

William Steig

I recently subscribed to The New Yorker online so that I could become dangerously addicted to their massive archive of past issues. Here are a few of my favorite covers by Steig, who created thousands of covers and cartoons for the magazine beginning in 1930. Plus... a book I found on Etsy! There's a wonderful postscript to his life here.