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THE ALPHABET ABECEDARIUM

Name: THE ALPHABET ABECEDARIUM
Author: Richard A. Firmage
ISBN: 0-87923-987-5

SOME NOTES ON LETTERS

by Richard A. Firmage ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 7, 1993

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Firmage, usually an editor and designer of other's books, has himself written, designed, illustrated, and typeset this learned and occasionally comic homage to the Roman alphabet—the building blocks of his trade and, he makes clear, of Western civilization itself. To a generation raised on Sesame Street—where letters are animated, personalized, empowered, and celebrated—Firmage's compendium of lore will seem like a logical extension of childhood, a postgraduate course in the alphabet. Addressing himself to the ``light-hearted, the fun-loving, and the free-thinking,'' the author draws on numerous disciplines—religion, physics, music, art, architecture, numerology, astronomy, astrology, math, literature, philology, calligraphy, etc.—and on various histories (of typography, paper, and printing) to create individual genealogies of letters—attributing biographies to them, as well as personalities and reputations. There's the ``legitimacy'' of the letter H; the ``hidden world'' of I; the ``success story'' of J; the ``celebrated'' O; the ``much used, often abused'' T; and the ``philosophical'' Y. Firmage considers influences both ancient and modern—from cave paintings to computers, from the Pythagoreans, cabalists, Etruscans, Phoenicians, Celts, Greeks, and Plato to Gutenberg, Benjamin Franklin, James Thurber, Marshall McLuhan, and Dr. Seuss. He populates the ``magical, powerful'' world of the alphabet with hundreds of historical, fanciful, artistic, and emblematic designs—some integrated into the text, others running along the bottom of the page—and comments on their uses, flaws, and evolution. A triumph of presentation on many levels, not the least of which is Firmage's narrative voice—congenial, well-paced, wide- ranging, and gifted with a clear sense of his readership.

Pub Date: Dec. 7, 1993

ISBN: 0-87923-987-5

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Godine

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.