Never Was Otherwise

“Martin knew nothing about America, or he would have known perfectly well that if its individual citizens, to a man, are to be believed, it always is depressed, and always is stagnated, and always is at an alarming crisis, and never was otherwise; though as a body, they are ready to make oath upon the Evangelists at any hour of the day or night, that it is the most thriving and prosperous of all countries on the habitable globe.”

― Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1842)

The Dangers of Reading Without Historical Sense

"But a large number of those who might otherwise read and enjoy Dickens are undoubtedly "put off" (as the phrase goes) by the fact that he seems to be echoing a poor kind of claptrap in his choice of incidents and images. Partly, of course, he suffers from the very fact of his success; his play with these topics was so good that every one else has played with them increasingly since; he may indeed have copied the old jokes, but he certainly renewed them. For instance, "Ally Sloper" was certainly copied from Wilkins Micawber. To this day you may see (in the front page of that fine periodical) the bald head and the high shirt collar that betray the high original from which "Ally Sloper" is derived. But exactly because "Sloper" was stolen from Micawber, for that very reason the new generation feels as if Micawber were stolen from "Sloper." Many modern readers feel as if Dickens were copying the comic papers, whereas in truth the comic papers are still copying Dickens." --GKC, Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens.

Book Bounty: Alternative Middle School Library

Honestly, what did people do in the old days when they hit middle age and nostalgia kicked in? They had to rely on fickle memories that grow dimmer every year, on whatever chance scraps of their childhood had escaped oblivion, or on the haphazard treasures that garage sales, second-hand bookshops, or flea markets would occasionally cast ashore. Now-a-days, of course, you can find just about anything that you care to search for on the internet, and buy it on eBay or similar sites. But a side effect or added bonus of this bountiful provision is the discovery of what my brother John and I have come to call alternative childhood memories: toys or books of equivalent style or age to those that you fondly cherish, but which due to availability or chance you never saw. These combine to form an unusual mix of nostalgia and novelty. The Book Bounty I want to talk about in this post are all books I could have read when I was in Middle School (Grades 6-8) but somehow never did.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Libico Maraja (Grosset & Dunlap, 1952). I have spoken elsewhere in this blog about the Italian artist Libico Maraja and shown some of his illustrations for this edition. I will only add that this volume has some line drawings as well as the gloriously solid color characterizations by Maraja that I love so well.

The Story of Dragons and other monsters, by Thomas G. Aylesworth (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1980). Now, the good reason I never read this in middle school is that it wasn't published until I was in high school. But Thomas G. Aylesworth was a great producer of books on monsters and magic, their history and cultural impact, throughout my childhood years. Volumes of significance include Werewolves and Other Monsters (1971), Vampires and Other Ghosts (1972), and The Alchemists: Magic Into Science (1973). I love the subject of dragons; I had thought that The Story of Dragons would be a book of similar quality to these others. Unfortunately, the writing became scantier and more jocular in tone, the illustrations of poorer quality and badly displayed (often recycled from his earlier work) and sometimes of doubtful relevance. I do not know if this had anything to do with Aylesworth's switch from Addisonian Press to McGraw-Hill, or was simply changing times both for the author and the publishing world. But I had to get this book, to take a look.

Hubble's Bubble, by Elaine Horseman, illustrated by John Sergeant (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1964). This book was actually in our middle school library, and I was pretty interested in it, but I could never check it out. This is because my last name is Babel, and anything with the word bubble or bobble in it was grist for the mocker's mills (and if you think no-one would have noticed me getting this book, you have forgotten how intensely public life in middle school is). Instead, I browsed it on the shelves, and was interested in the general set-up: five British children have a magical summer adventure in a cathedral court. The character I liked was Alaric Hubble, aged 12, a science enthusiast who buys an old book (from a disappearing shop, no less!) of what he thinks are chemistry experiments, but which turns out to be full of magical recipes. A lab in a secret room, animal transformations, and flying adventures ensue, along with the intrigue of keeping the adults from finding out. I am still in the process of reading this, so forbear to give a final opinion, but it is certainly redolent of period airs, from John Sergeant's line drawings to the advertisement for P. L. Travers "new" book, The Fox at the Manger, on the back.

Nathaniel's Witch, by Katherine Gibson, illustrated by Vera Bock (Longman's, Green and Co., 1941). This book was brought out by the same team that produced Cinders, the lost childhood book I've written about before; the existence of Nathaniel's Witch was even pointed out by Peter Sieruta on the same site that helped me find Cinders. It is the story of Nathaniel Endicott, 11 years old, who is that rarest of characters in children's literature, an orphan. It is 1785 in the United States of America, and among his other troubles, Nathaniel finds he must help a reluctant witch escape the power of the evil Witchmaster (highly hinted to be the Devil himself). The Witchmaster has scornfully declared the witch can escape "only when you are St. Nick!" Nathaniel decides they can make this come true if the Witch delivers toys on Christmas Eve, and the adventure of the book is them trying to accomplish this against all odds and the Witchmaster's opposition. While I was reading the tale I began to feel it was designed to be a perfect 1940's film: I even cast it using period actors in my mind, with Jackie Cooper as Nathaniel, Veronica Lake as Jacquett the Witch, Basil Rathbone as the Witchmaster, and S. Z. Sakall as the Toymaker. It was a highly enjoyable tale and one I am glad to add to my library.

The illusion of an alternate past is greatly added to by the fact that most of these volumes are ex-library, and though they are from as far afield as Spokane, Washington or Bedford, Virginia, they are exactly in the form I would have read them, once upon a time.

From A Christmas Carol: Quotes

"Nephew!" returned his uncle sternly, "keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine."

"Keep it!" repeated Scrooge's nephew. "But you don't keep it."

"Let me leave it alone, then," said Scrooge. "Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!"

"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say," returned the nephew: "Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round--apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that--as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good: and I say, God bless it!"

--from A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.