NA
by [Lemke, Horst], illustrator probably
NA. Very Good. Unpublished, but with a touch of editing, an original illustrated story of a levitating circus act. While no authorial credit(s) are given, we believe the illustrator was Horst Lemke, a prolific German illustrator closely associated with Erich Kästner, among others. The style is precisely the spare yet exuberant in precisely the same manner as Lemke, and in fact, some of the human figures are very close figures drawn in Lemke's published works. While Lemke could certainly have inspired an imitator, the similarities are just too great, and the quality too high, to make this a strong possibility, and the manuscript most definitely looks as if it was not only prepared for a commercial publisher, but also that it had been probably reviewed by a publisher. And although Lemke is far better known in the German-speaking world, he did contribute to works published originally in English, and did so around the time of this manuscript's likely production. Oblong, 26 by 38 cm. 21 leaves, with pen-and-ink drawings on most pages (rectos and versos) and original accompanying text. Rompopo is the producer of a small traveling circus whose chief attraction is Levitatia, or Mildred, who has the amazing ability to fly until she puts on too much weight because the coachman who is in love with her has been spoiling her with candies. When she falls in love with a loyal spectator Pastrami, Rompopo chases the young man away. Disconsolate, Levitatia soon sheds the excess weight, allowing her to fly better than ever and become an even bigger sensation. The story ends with her flying to Pastrami, leaving Rompopo in the lurch.
(Inventory #: 004910)