Today, I started a second, new Tumblr blog called “Old Beautiful Illustrations”. It is, and will be, a selection of art scanned out of old books that I either was given or acquired somewhere along the way. So today, I posted scans from two books I have, each depicting tales from the 1001 Nights – or The arabian Nights. The first book, Tales from the Arabian Nights, was given to me by my paternal grandfather when I visited him in Norway with my father in 1971. I was 7. I poured over the illustrations you’ll see in the link above, hardly reading the stories for their marvellous depictions in dense and rich colour. Those illustration were by A.E. Jackson, and the book was published in London in 1920 by Ward, Locke & Co., Limited. The book even has my grandfather’s signature in it (b.1895).
The second book is entitled “The Arabian Nights – Their Best-Known Tales” and was edited by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith, with illustrations by Maxfield Parrish. And that book has my great uncle’s signature in it.
I have lots more to post at that new blog, so stay tuned!
Frontispiece & Title Page
August Hellum
My paternal grandfather.
Peter Midelfart
My Great Uncle on my father’s maternal side.
Christian Midelfart
My paternal great grandfather – on my father’s mother’s side.
Wow. Went to both blogs. You are doing some interesting work with Adobe Ideas. Some really compelling images. Incredible. So many though! I couldn’t scroll through them all. And I love the idea for the blog on illustrations from books – that’s going to be something I hope I can steal from sometimes? Just luscious stuff.