Books with title Pitzmaroon: or The Magic Hammer

It can be hair-raising reading children’s books from the 19th century here in the 21st century. Sensibilities have changed. Charles A. Beach’s children’s book, originally published in 1874, is full of adventure, making it undeniably fun to read—your kids and grandkids will surely get a kick out of it—but the story is also full of blood, cannibalism, cheating, overcharging, beheading, and general violence. And if all that isn’t enough to give you doubts, he throws in some racism, some anti-Semitism, and even some polygamy—two beautiful wives is one of Pitzmaroon’s rewards at the end of the story... suggesting, to married men everywhere, that Mr. Beach was a lifelong bachelor. But in spite of the various and sundry flaws of political-incorrectness and bigotry, the 21st-century reader eventually has to admit: this book from a century and a half ago, with its blood, gore, violence, and etc., is a helluva lot more fun to read than most of the ingratiatingly saccharine sap we produce in our own, so-called more civilized era. Parents and grandparents are going to watch the yawns and inattention disappear from their listeners’ little faces, and watch those same faces light up as the little munchkins start listening and even laughing out loud when they start hearing Pitzmaroon being read to them. Here’s the thing: anybody with children or grandchildren who seem extra difficult to engage in the process of learning to read, maybe something like “Pitzmaroon”—with its magician who periodically vomits gallons of blood, its 27 humorously grotesque illustrations, and its virtuous hero who is often not very virtuous at all—is just the thing to engage them. Preparing old books for digital publication is a labor of love at Travelyn Publishing. We hold our digital versions of public domain books up against any others with no fear of the comparison. Our conversion work is meticulous, utilizing a process designed to eliminate errors, maximize reader enjoyment, and recreate as much as possible the atmosphere of the original book even as we are adding the navigation and formatting necessary for a good digital book. While remaining faithful to a writer’s original words, and the spellings and usages of his era, we are not above correcting obvious mistakes. If the printer became distracted after placing an ‘a’ at the end of a line and then placed another ‘a’ at the beginning of the next line (they used to do this stuff by hand you know!), what sort of mindless robots would allow that careless error to be preserved for all eternity in the digital version, too? Not us. That’s why we have the audacity to claim that our re-publications are often better than the originals.

Pitzmaroon has some very interesting illustrations, but... Childrens' books from the 19th century can be something of a puzzle in the 21st. Sensibilities have changed. Virtue in Pitzmaroon is rather loosely defined, rewards lavished regardless of right. It would seem that the only behaviors considered vices are kidnap, cannibalism, cheating at games and overcharging. Offhand racism and mindless violence, though still very much a part of our society, are not, so we wish to believe today, appropriate material for consumption by a child. How racist is Pitzmaroon? The hero offhandedly beheads a Jew and a Negro. How violent? The illustrations depict the two beheadings, a lobotomy and a hanging, and the illustrations merely scratch the surface. You would think that amongst all the violence a racist incident or two might not be all that noticeable. But it is, like a thumb in your eye. In the story, Pitzmaroon's ethics are not in question. But if you met the man you might not be impressed by his "virtue." Should our hero kill a Jew taylor because he overcharges? Should he win by cheating a cheater? Defending himself, should he take the head off the negro guard "Bugaboo" when he could simply knock him out. Should he trick a woman into marrying him? Even ignoring the racism, the violence and the questionable ethical decisions the hero makes, this story is rife with events of the type parents may want to insulate their children from. One that stands out is a mystery magic man who, out of the blue, vomits gallons of blood. Quite a surprise, and not at all nice. And in a bit of a linguistic coincidence, the giant who holds twelve beautiful princesses captive just happens to be named old Horny-boy. Pitzmaroon does appear to have a moral, but it's not one that many of today's parents will find palatable: Cheat and kill and you will get what you want. But not too much, or someone will kill YOU. XIXXXI edition September 2010