Books published by publisher G.H. Doran Co

After becoming a renowned author, Bianco wrote numerous other children's books, with her son becoming the namesake of one of them, 1925's Poor Cecco: The Wonderful Story of a Wonderful Wooden Dog Who Was the Jolliest Toy in the House Until He Went Out to Explore the World—a distinguished book that belies its somewhat priggish subtitle and is arguably better entitled than The Velveteen Rabbit to status as a classic. This lively adventure story, virtually a novel for children, is a brilliant exception to the sentimentality of Bianco's more famous book. Each of the many characters who populate the nursery toy cupboard is a distinct and amusing personality. Their interactions with each other and with the human, animal, and toy members of the world beyond it, whom they encounter on their quest for adventure/search for a lost friend, are delineated with understated humor. The relationship between the wooden dog Cecco, a natural leader, and Jensina, a highly independent and spirited wooden doll, is both subtle and funny. Superb illustrations by Arthur Rackham are a perfect complement to the narrative. While the publisher probably found it more practical to promote the shorter Velveteen Rabbit, Cecco's celebrated illustrator may have assured its survival in the catalogues of rare book dealers despite its undeserved literary obscurity.

New York: George H. Doran Company, 1924. First U.S. edition. 354 pp. Goldenrod yellow boards with red imprinting (Doran monogram is present on the spine). Book is bright and tight, in solid Very Good Plus condition, within hailing distance of near fine. Part of spine faintly tanned, one corner touched, fore-edge foxing. See scan. Rare jacket is tattered but present, essentially in two pieces, with most of spine missing. Booksellers' stamp affixed to the front pastedown - that of Charles Lauriat of Boston, perhaps akin to the Estes and Lauriat publishing firm of Boston - for the collector of those. Scarce first edition of Ernest Bramah's famed and sought after mystery, The Eyes of Max Carrados. Bramah's Carrados character - both amateur and blind - nevertheless possesses genius, and...finds the answer. Bramah, the creator as well of the Kai Lung stories, was a profound literary craftsman within his genre, much respected by purists and the general public. L-36n