From Publishers Weekly
"A" is for Angelfish; "F" is for Fritillary; "T" is for Tarsier; and "X" is for Xenorhynchus Asiaticus. Clearly miniaturist Marie Angel's An Animated Alphabet, with it's beautifully calligraphed letters supporting carefully detailed animals, was not aimed at teaching small children their letters with the aid of furry familiars. Created between 1967 and 1970, it was published as a black-and-white pamphlet by Harvard's Houghton Library. Now David Godine is bringing it out in full color as part of its Pocket Paragon series.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Publisher
This is not your average, whitebread alphabet book! Marie Angel is arguably the finest miniaturist to have worked in this century. Her luminous, delicate, and fanciful paintings are executed with the care and skill of a Medieval artisan, but her palette, as well as her figures, are entirely modern. Almost thirty years ago, Marie Angel was commissioned by Philip Hofer of the Houghton Rare Book Library at Harvard University to create a new Animated Alphabet, one that would be comprised of animals Angel knew and loved (and her knowledge of animals, as well as of flowers, is both prodigious and entirely eclectic). Harvard published her results in a small, utterly delightful booklet, but printed the illustrations only in black-and-white.
Now, for the first time, this phenomenal alphabet has been reproduced as it should be: in full color. Here are all twenty-eight drawings (every letter, plus title and colophon pages), slightly larger than actual size in 300 line screen, and printed on a paper nearly as sensuous as the vellum on which the originals were painted. This is a jewel not only for collectors of alphabet books by for anyone who appreciates the genius of a master doing what she loves best.
