[CHILDREN'S BOOK]. A manuscript album of colored drawings and b/w sketches of Africans, Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians
![[CHILDREN'S BOOK]. A manuscript album of colored d](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/356/879/1607879356.0.x.0.jpg)
- s.l. (Germany or Austria?) , s.d. (late 19th or early 20th ce
s.l. (Germany or Austria?), s.d. (late 19th or early 20th century?). Poor. 64mo (70 x 55 mm). Homemade binding, cloth spine (loosening, front cover perished); back cover: board covered with glazed paper, present on the pastedown inside (detaching) but the glazed paper on the outside is torn away. VERY WORN (see the 44 IMAGES on our website), the back cover becoming unstable but all the leaves are attached. Preserved in a fine cloth case which is perfectly fitted to allow the manuscript to be correctly removed and completely protected. HIGHLY CURIOUS LILLIPUTIAN ALBUM CONTAINING JUVENILE DRAWINGS OF THE MOST UNLIKELY ASSEMBLAGE OF UNDER-REPRESENTED PEOPLES, NAMELY AFRICANS, NATIVE AMERICANS, AND ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS, ALL DEPICTED IN THEIR NATIVE HABITATS AND INDIGENOUS ATTIRE.
We have never encountered a manuscript such as this one, either in permanent collections on in the trade. Our album contains 41 colored drawings and b/w sketches on 35 leaves, with a number of blanks bound in. They include:
AFRICANS: 28 drawings and b/w sketches, including hunting scenes (some on horseback); nude and partially clothed Africans; African landscapes with lions, tigers, and great birds (some devouring each other); an African child being saved from a tiger by an angel; and a man and woman dancing in a garden; three Africans cultivating grapes; several Africans fighting, and much more. Some of the drawings feature palm trees and rounded huts. The caption on one of the drawings reads "In die Jagt" (sic).
NATIVE AMERICANS: 9 drawings and b/w sketches, including hunting scenes with the hunters in full headdress with feathers; in one of the drawings a group of three men are in combat with a tiger who leaps from a large tree. Interestingly, some of the drawings likewise feature palm trees. The caption on one of the drawings reads "Zweiter Theil vom dem Ameriganer oder Idianer."
ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS: 4 drawings and b/w sketches, the most remarkable being a scene of two men seated beneath a tree, a large dinosaur bird flies immediately above, and in the sky a peaceful sun sees all. The caption on one of the drawings reads "Dritter Theil von dem Australiener."
GNOME: 1 b/w sketch. The gnome wears a backpack and carries a gnarled walking stick, his conical hat bearing a heart-shaped ornament, in the background a laughing sun peers over the horizon.
That Parts II and III have a divisional title suggests that there were one or more leaves at the beginning of Part I as well, now no longer extant. Nonetheless, this is a fascinating little children's manuscript and remains A REMARKABLE SURVIVAL.
CATALOGUER'S NOTE: We are grateful to Dr. Claudia Bubenik for helping us transcribe the juvenile German inscriptions.
We have never encountered a manuscript such as this one, either in permanent collections on in the trade. Our album contains 41 colored drawings and b/w sketches on 35 leaves, with a number of blanks bound in. They include:
AFRICANS: 28 drawings and b/w sketches, including hunting scenes (some on horseback); nude and partially clothed Africans; African landscapes with lions, tigers, and great birds (some devouring each other); an African child being saved from a tiger by an angel; and a man and woman dancing in a garden; three Africans cultivating grapes; several Africans fighting, and much more. Some of the drawings feature palm trees and rounded huts. The caption on one of the drawings reads "In die Jagt" (sic).
NATIVE AMERICANS: 9 drawings and b/w sketches, including hunting scenes with the hunters in full headdress with feathers; in one of the drawings a group of three men are in combat with a tiger who leaps from a large tree. Interestingly, some of the drawings likewise feature palm trees. The caption on one of the drawings reads "Zweiter Theil vom dem Ameriganer oder Idianer."
ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS: 4 drawings and b/w sketches, the most remarkable being a scene of two men seated beneath a tree, a large dinosaur bird flies immediately above, and in the sky a peaceful sun sees all. The caption on one of the drawings reads "Dritter Theil von dem Australiener."
GNOME: 1 b/w sketch. The gnome wears a backpack and carries a gnarled walking stick, his conical hat bearing a heart-shaped ornament, in the background a laughing sun peers over the horizon.
That Parts II and III have a divisional title suggests that there were one or more leaves at the beginning of Part I as well, now no longer extant. Nonetheless, this is a fascinating little children's manuscript and remains A REMARKABLE SURVIVAL.
CATALOGUER'S NOTE: We are grateful to Dr. Claudia Bubenik for helping us transcribe the juvenile German inscriptions.
Details
Title
[CHILDREN'S BOOK]. A manuscript album of colored drawings and b/w sketches of Africans, Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians
Author
[Anonymous Juvenile Artist]
Condition
Poor
Publisher
s.l. (Germany or Austria?)
Date
s.d. (late 19th or early 20th ce