Author: Evgene Field
Illustrtator: Maxfield Parrish
(no date or publisher on my book--first page seems to be ripped out. Best guess--1904)
My great grandpa, George Ittleman, came to the new world and settled in Brooklyn with many other Jewish families. He was in the first graduating class of Columbia Law School. Seems just a hop, skip, and a jump away, but, at the time, it was a difficult journey to make--from one end of the city to the other. Upon graduation, George was known in the community as a very learned man.
His daughter, my maternal grandma, Gladys, became a French teacher and believed strongly in education and the power of reading.
Meanwhile, my maternal Grandpa's family came to the new world and became jewlers (as was common with many Jewish immigrants). My Grandpa left this family business to become a collector of used and rare books which he then auctioned off. I am not sure the whole story, but, as told in our family, he went for his passion. That has stuck with me my whole life. His passion was books. He wanted to be surrounded by them. He worked until the day he died. I think it's a beautiful story.
My mom has always been a huge reader. She studied to become an English teacher (though she had three kids and ended up staying at home to raise us and then becoming a stock broker for my dad's company). My first distinct memory from childhood is my mom reading a Robert Frost poem to us while we were waiting for swimming lessons to begin. She explained to me that "many miles to go before I sleep," had a double meaning. I was completely dumbfounded that a poem could say two things at once. It was such a huge awakening to the power and beauty of poetry even though I was probably too young to fully appreciate Robert Frost.
When my grandpa died, we sold a lot of his collection, but we each took a few things that were interesting or meaningful to us. One of the most unique things we found were panels from a French version of Lafontaine Fables.
I also inherited a very old book called Poems of Childhood. It smells musty and I sneeze everytime I open it up. The illustrations are covered with thin tracing paper, giving me the hunch that it's really old, maybe something I could take to Antique Roadshow and make a mint.
Truth be told, I haven't yet shared this with Mirette. I think I'll pull it out some special time and think of my grandpa while we are turning the birttle old pages.
Eugene Field (1850-1895) is most known for the poem Wynken, Blynken and Nod. His father was the lawyer for the defense of the Dread Scott case. The book that I inherited appears to be published in 1904, but you can buy a new edition of this book at Amazon.
http://www.eugenefieldhouse.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=64
The illustrator Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) lived and worked in New Hampshire. His illustration credits include L. Frank Baum's Mother Goose in Prose and Arabian Nights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxfield_Parrish
As for Benjamin Rabier (1864-1939), the illustrator of our panels, he had an illustrious career as well, including coming up with the icon for Laughing Cow Cheese. I had NO idea.
http://lambiek.net/artists/r/rabier_benjamin.htm
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