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Although Leni Riefenstahl's documentary film about the 1936 Berlin Olympics, called “Olympia,” has become an acknowledged classic, her book of photographs, “Schönheit im Olympischen Kampf” (Beauty in the Olympic Games), is less known but no less spectacular. Sometimes Riefenstahl relied on poses modeled on the antique Greek ideal… But far more original were her depictions of superbly athletic bodies soaring gracefully through the air and knifing effortlessly through the water. Riefenstahl applied certain devices characteristic of the new German photography – strong diagonals, tight croppings, and bird's-eye and worm's-eye views. No longer was the camera an earthbound witness; it took to the air and the water with the athletes. (Source: William A. Ewing, “The Body”).
Riefenstahl’s film “Olympia” documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics may be viewed on youtube:
Olympia Part 1: Festival of Nations
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLnGqMoNXRI
Olympia Part 2: Festival of Beauty
“The Chimes” is Dickens’ second Christmas book, the first being “A Christmas Carol.” It continues his social commentaries on the poor. Structured similarly to “A Christmas Carol,” the main character, Trotty, witnesses an alternative future through a series of visions and ultimately is given a second chance to put things right. “The Chimes” was a bestseller in its day, but has since been eclipsed by “A Christmas Carol.” “The Chimes” is illustrated with thirteen engravings by artists John Leech, John Tenniel, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise and Clarkson Stanfield.
In all, Dickens wrote five Christmas books: “A Christmas Carol” (1843), “The Chimes” (though dated 1845 it was released in December 1844), “The Cricket on the Hearth” (1845), “The Battle of Life” (1846), and “The Haunted Man” (1848).
“I was out to teach this girl the folly of hiring strangers to commit larceny for her, but, like most of my screwy ideas, this one exploded in my face.
“When we got to the place there was a man lying dead on the rug and the cops knocking on the front door.
“So we ran, Nina and I. Through the city streets, through mud flats and state parks and wilderness and days and nights we ran.
“Then, in the middle of our private nightmare, I fell in love with this gray-eyed blonde girl who might well be a murderess.
“Worse, she fell in love with me, without knowing how heavy was my burden of guilt.” [From the description on the back cover]
“The Chimes” is Dickens’ second Christmas book, the first being “A Christmas Carol.” It continues his social commentaries on the poor. Structured similarly to “A Christmas Carol,” the main character, Trotty, witnesses an alternative future through a series of visions and ultimately is given a second chance to put things right. “The Chimes” was a bestseller in its day, but has since been eclipsed by “A Christmas Carol.” “The Chimes” is illustrated with thirteen engravings by artists John Leech, John Tenniel, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise and Clarkson Stanfield.
In all, Dickens wrote five Christmas books: “A Christmas Carol” (1843), “The Chimes” (though dated 1845 it was released in December 1844), “The Cricket on the Hearth” (1845), “The Battle of Life” (1846), and “The Haunted Man” (1848).
One of forty-nine photographs in “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1970).
Naiche (c. 1857-1919) was the final hereditary chief of the Chiricahua band of Apache Indians. He was the youngest son of Cochise and, upon the death of his father in 1874, Naiche’s brother Taza became the chief. However, Taza died a few years later in 1876, and the office went to Naiche.
Initially peaceful and co-operative with the whites, from 1881 onwards he was associated with Geronimo in a number of breakouts from the reservation. Naiche traveled to Mexico with Geronimo’s band to avoid forced relocation to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. They surrendered in 1883 but escaped the reservation in 1885, back into Mexico. Officially the leader of the last band of renegade (i.e., free) Apaches in the Southwest, Naiche and Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson Miles in 1886. [Source: Wikipedia]
Quoting Dee Brown (pp. 411-412):
“In the end it was the Big Nose Captain (Lieutenant Charles Gatewood) and two Apache scouts, Martine and Kayitah, who found Geronimo and Naiche hiding out in a canyon of the Sierra Madres. Geronimo laid his rifle down and shook hands with the Big Nose Captain, inquiring calmly about his health. He then asked about matters back in the United States. How were the Chiricahuas fairing? Gatewood told him that the Chiricahuas who surrendered had already been shipped to Florida. If Geronimo would surrender to General Miles, he also would probably be sent to Florida to join them. . .
“And so Geronimo surrendered for the last time . . . Geronimo and his surviving warriors were shipped to Fort Marion, Florida. He found most of his friends dying there in that warm and humid land so unlike the high, dry country of their birth. More than a hundred died of a disease diagnosed as consumption. The government took all their children away from them and sent them to the Indian school at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and more than fifty of their children died there.
“Not only were the ‘hostiles’ moved to Florida, but so were many of the ‘friendlies,’ including the scouts . . . Martine and Kayitah who led Lieutenant Gatewood to Geronimo’s hiding place, did not receive the ten ponies promised them for their mission; instead they were shipped to imprisonment in Florida. . . The Chiricahuas were marked for extinction; they had fought too hard to keep their freedom.”
The story unfolds against the backdrop of the political conflict between Russia and Great Britain in Central Asia in the period 1893-98. The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of the people, culture, and varied religions of India, and features Kim, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and a poor Irish mother who have both died in poverty. Living a vagabond existence in India, Kim earns his living by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He embarks on a series of great adventures after becoming a disciple of an aged Tibetan Lama and later recruited by the government to carry a message to the head of British intelligence. Thus begin the espionage and spiritual threads of the story, which are destined to collide.
Kim is one of Kipling’s most popular books and, in 1998, the Modern Library ranked it No. 78 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The book was turned into a great film in 1950 starring Errol Flynn.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR5qoOSkfAQ
Kipling's blind stamped design of a Viking ship on the front cover, which is present on many of his books from Doubleday, may have been the inspiration for the Viking Press and its own Viking ship logo established in 1925.
An adorable 1960s haiku book (published in Tokyo) that sings the praises of insects and plants of all kinds. It's illustrated with lovely drawings by late California artist Earl Thollander.
Sometimes I wish I had eight arms too....
Illustration from a vintage children's book: "The Adventures of Captain William Walrus" 1972 - Illustrations by Giannini.
Cover to a wonderfully illustrated 1960s book about tall ships.
Great Days of Sail.
by Jean Riverain
Published by Follett; First Edition (1965)
Detail from Brian Wildsmith's version of Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses," illustrated in 1966.
"Das arme Jesulein. Gemalt und geschrieben von Ida Bohatta-Morpurgo
Verlag - Josef Müller, München"
Mother's childhood Christmas storybook.
Written and illustrated by Ida Bohatta-Morpurgo de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Bohatta
First edition, 1931
--------------------------------------
1931. A szegény Kisjézus.
Írta és illusztrálta: Ida Bohatta Morpurgo de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Bohatta
Mamám gyerekkori karácsonyi mesekönyve
Kiadó: Josef Müllerr Verlag, München. Első kiadás
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
In the late summer of 1831, in a remote section of southeastern Virginia, there took place the only effective, sustained revolt in the annals of American Negro slavery . . .
The revolt was led by a remarkable Negro preacher named Nat Turner, an educated slave who felt himself divinely ordained to annihilate all the white people in the region.
"The Confessions of Nat Turner" is narrated by Nat himself as he lingers in jail through the cold autumnal days before his execution. The compelling story ranges over the whole of Nat's life, reaching its inevitable and shattering climax that bloody day in August.
"The Confessions of Nat Turner" is not only a masterpiece of storytelling; it also reveals in unforgettable human terms the agonizing essence of Negro slavery. Through the mind of a slave, William Styron has re-created a catastrophic event, and dramatized the intermingled miseries, frustrations -- and hopes -- which caused this extraordinary black man to rise up out of the early mists of our history and strike down those who had held his people in bondage.
A native of the Tidewater region of Virginia, William Styron grew up not far from Southampton County, where Nat Turner's revolt took place. The story of Nat Turner was the subject of the first novel that the author wanted to write, and he has maintained a special interest in American Negro slavery ever since. He has written three other novels, "Lie Down in Darkness," "The Long March," and "Set This House on Fire."
Foundation and Empire was the second book in Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Decades later, Asimov wrote two further sequel novels and two prequels. Later writers have added authorized tales to the series. The Foundation Series is often regarded as one of Isaac Asimov's best works, along with his Robot series.
The premise of the series is that the mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept of mathematical sociology. Using the laws of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting 30 thousand years before a second great empire arises. Seldon also foresees an alternative where the interregnum will last only one thousand years. To ensure the more favorable outcome, Seldon creates a foundation of talented artisans and engineers at the extreme end of the galaxy, to preserve and expand on humanity's collective knowledge, and thus become the foundation for a new galactic empire. [Source: Wikipedia]
Either Robert Silverberg or Marion Zimmer Bradley is assumed to be the author of this novel. In 1959, publisher William Hamling launched Nightstand Books, an imprint for paperback original sex novels by authors working under house names. From 1961 on, Hamling's primary editor was Earl Kemp. Pseudonymous writers for Kemp/Hamling included Lawrence Block, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Harlan Ellison, Evan Hunter, Robert Silverberg and Donald E. Westlake. Hamling was one of the earliest publishers of gay-themed books.
William Andrew Pogány (1882-1955) was born in Hungary, studied art in Budapest, and worked in Paris briefly before moving to London in 1905 where he worked as a book illustrator for ten years. He moved to New York in 1915 and had success as a book illustrator and designer of stage sets and hotel interiors. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is one of Pogany’s best-known books. It is a bold artistic experiment in unifying text and images. Every page is elaborately decorated in Pogany’s distinctive style, which attempts to create a printed version of a medieval illuminated manuscript. He was responsible for the beautiful calligraphic text, green and mauve page decorations and borders, and the many black and white drawings and tipped-in plates in full color.
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
Belief in spirits, both good and evil, is as old as the human race. "Spiritism," the modern development of the age-old desire to establish contact with the dead, is a nineteenth-century product and might well be labelled "Made in America." It is with Spiritism and its exponents in this country and England that Mr. Mulholland's book is concerned. Frankly and fairly the author describes the amazing lives and spiritistic experiences of such famous mediums as the Fox Sisters, founders of Spiritism, the Davenport Brothers -- Slade, Eusapia Palladino, Home, "Margery" and many others. Where there was evidence of trickery in their seances he tells what it was and how it was revealed.
Mr. Mulholland's chapter on mind-reading will be of special interest to those who have followed the recent sensational experiments in extra-sensory perception. Mr. Mulholland and skilled assistants also experimented in this field -- with amazing results. Other fascinating chapters deal with the "mechanics" of Spiritism -- an astounding chronicle of the clever devices that crooked mediums may purchase to deceive their audiences, a description of the experiences that mediums have had with the law and the various investigating committees of scientific bodies, and some unusual "personal experiences" of well-known men and women that tend to leave the whole matter unsolved. "Beware Familiar Spirits" has something on every page for every reader who has ever experimented with table tipping, ouija boards, mind reading -- or has ever thought he saw or heard ghostly manifestations.
John Mulholland for many years has been a close student of Spiritism. Internationally famous as a magician, and author of several books on that subject, his career has brought him in touch with many noted believers in spirits and practitioners of Spiritism as well as with such doughty disbelievers as the late Harry Houdini. His book is the product of long study and careful investigation. It does not pretend to say the last word on a matter which will never be decided, but it does tell in informative, detailed and immensely entertaining fashion the story of some of our best American spirits and how they were "raised."
From the back:
It was obvious she had nothing on beneath the old cotton dress and that she didn't care a damn.
Lee was just looking at her. She could see what he wanted. I could feel the collar of my shirt choking me.
"She ought to be against the law," Lee said slowly and shakily.
"She is," I said. "And her father would kill you."
"In Darkest Africa (1890) is Henry M. Stanley’s own account of his last adventure on the African continent. At the turn of that century, the interior of the African continent was largely unknown to the American and European public. With the accounts of great explorers like Stanley, readers became thrilled by stories of African expeditions and longed to follow in the footsteps of these explorers. In 1888, Stanley led an expedition to come to the aid of Mehmed Emin Pasha. The two volumes that compose 'In Darkest Africa; or, The Quest, Rescue, and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria' are his account of what happened." [www.biblio.com/in-darkest-africa-by-stanley-henry-m/work/...]
End papers of "The Sheep of Lal Bagh," a 1960s children's book. The star of the story is Ramesh, the sheep who mows in circles and stars to the delight of citizens everywhere. But when the mayor decides Ramesh doesn't mow fast enough, his funky, foliage designs are replaced by a push mower...
The Sheep of Lal Bagh by David Mark. Illustrated by Lionel Kalish.
Published by Parents' Magazine Press; First edition (1967)
Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is set during the Spanish civil war and tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain. The setting of the story is less important than Hemingway's treatment of the themes of love, death, honor and commitment.
A marvelous oversized 1940s children's book about animal babies. The content covers well-known animals such as elephants and deer, but also little oddballs like the platypus.
From the back cover:
"You're a detective, I gather." She looked at his card and read it: "Gerard Secret Service. John Church, manager, San Francisco office."
"I'm looking for Mira Whitney," Church said.
"What's the poor soul done now?" Mrs. Taliaferro whispered.
"Well," Church said, "in the first place she seems to have disappeared. In the second place she disappeared with a diamond and emerald ring and a Jaguar belonging to my client."
"I don't think it will do any good to look for her," Mrs. Taliaferro shook her lovely head from side to side. "She has disappeared before and people have looked for her in vain. She's ill, Mr. Church. She belongs in a sanatorium. Each time I hear of her she has done something worse and more unforgivable.
"Just about all," Mrs. Taliaferro said slowly, "that is left for Mira is MURDER . . ."
“The beggar dealt his foe a back-thrust so neatly, so heartily, and so swiftly that Nat was swept off the stage into the crowd as a fly off a table.”
Illustration by N. C. Wyeth for the 1917 David McKay edition of “Robin Hood” by Paul Creswick.
In this story by Ezra Keats, Peter is trying hard to learn how to whistle. But sometimes necessity is the best teacher, and Peter learns this when little Willie goes missing. Ezra Keats' charming collages make this a most wonderful mid century story book.
Set in London of 632 A.F. (“After Ford”), the novel portrays a futuristic society in which the individual is sacrificed for the state, science is used to control and subjugate, and all forms of art and history are outlawed. The novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, classical conditioning and psychological manipulation that combine profoundly to change society. Modern Library ranked “Brave New World” fifth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. [Source: Wikipedia]
From the dust jacket:
"The Bowl of Baal" is a period piece; a nostalgic, half-forgotten survival of the year 1916 when it appeared as a long serial in "All Around" magazine.
Larry O'Brien ventures into the unknown Arabian desert during the days of World War I. His discoveries are epic; an ancient hidden race, troubled by a conflict between two beautiful priestesses; a barbaric tribe of cave dwellers; and a monstrous saurian survival that represents a threat to all.
Robert Ames Bennett's first novel, "Thyra," a thrilling tale of a Viking lost race, was published in 1901. For many years Mr. Bennet was one of the southwest's most prolific authors, turning out historical, adventure, and western fiction.
This book is paperback sized (4-3/8" x 6-1/2") but with an inflexible board cover. As stated in the back cover blurb:
"Permabooks combine the virtues of handiness for the pocket and durability for the library shelf. They are selected with care to provide reliable books for education and recreation. Each has been printed from new plates and bound in boards with a special wear-resistant finish to add to its appearance and to prolong its life."
This hard cover format only lasted three years, with the publisher (Doubleday) switching to the standard paperback appearance in 1951.
Walter Gibson was an accomplished magician as well as an author. Under the Street & Smith house name of Maxwell Grant, he created and wrote 282 of the 325 novels about the most famous crimefighter to battle evil-doers in the pages of pulp magazines -- "The Shadow."
This is the true first edition of the book, preceding the American edition by some 3 months. The novelist Ernest Hemingway once remarked that “all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn,” and other writers such as poet T. S. Eliot and African American novelist Ralph Ellison have added their acclaim. Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Clemens, worked for eight years on the story of an outcast white boy, Huck, and his adult friend Jim, a runaway slave, who together flee Missouri on a raft down the Mississippi River in the 1840s. The book has been controversial since the day it was published, opinions ranging from “the book is a masterpiece” to the book is “trash and suitable only for the slums.” The free-spirited and not always truthful Huck narrates the colorful stories in the book in his own coarse and ungrammatical voice. He shows a lack of respect for religion and adult authority and repeatedly uses the “n” word. Some readers view the book as satire and consider it a powerful attack on racism. Others believe it contributes to a “racially hostile environment” and are offended by the language and the portrayal of the slave Jim. In spite of it all, Huck Finn remains the Great American Novel to the many people who have read it and loved it.
Here is a link to the first American edition:
www.flickr.com/photos/57440551@N03/16692439527/in/album-7...
The image is from the 14th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1892-93, by J. W. Powell, Director, Part 2. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896. The description which follows summarizes the detailed information in the report.
All the songs are adapted to the simple measure of the dance step. As the song rises and swells the people come singly and in groups from the several tipis, and one after another joins the circle until any number from fifty to five hundred men, women, and children are in the dance. Each song is started in the same manner, first in an undertone while the singers stand still in their places, and then with full voice as they begin to circle around. At intervals between the songs, more especially after the trances have begun, the dancers unclasp hands and sit down to smoke or talk for a few minutes. At such times the leaders sometimes deliver short addresses or sermons, or relate the recent trance experience of the dancer.
The dancers themselves are careful not to disturb the trance subjects while their souls are in the spirit world. Full Indian dress is worn, with buckskin, paint and feathers. No drum, rattle, or other musical instrument is used in the dance, except sometimes by an individual dancer in imitation of a trance vision. In this respect particularly the Ghost Dance differs from every other Indian dance. With most tribes the dance was performed around a tree or pole planted in the center and variously decorated. On breaking the circle at the end of the dance the performers shake their blankets or shawls in the air, with the idea of driving away all evil influences. All then go down to bathe in the stream, the men in one place and the women in another, before going to their tipis.
Doughty’s short-lived magazine “The Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports” is an important imprint in the history of American printing. It contained the first colored sporting prints made in America. Issued in monthly parts and published from the end of 1830 until the spring of 1834, “The Cabinet” featured articles on hunting, detailed descriptions of newly discovered flora and fauna, and some of the finest examples of early American hand-colored lithography. It was originally the work of the Doughty brothers, Thomas and John, with virtually all of the plates being the work of Thomas, who also founded the Hudson River School. But, by the spring of 1832, the partnership had broken up and Thomas had moved to Boston. An abbreviated third volume (not included here) lacked Thomas’ touch.
A fun illustration of cave men (and women) by Roy Gerrard.
From the book - Mik's Mammoth.
Written and illustrated by Roy Gerrard
Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux; First American Edition (November 1, 1990)
This is plate 30 in Gaspey’s “Book of the World,” which contains 35 full-page, hand-colored engravings. Colored engravings of that period were virtually always colored by hand with water colors.
One of forty-nine photographs in “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1970).
Little Big Man was a fearless and respected warrior who fought against efforts by the United States to take control of the ancestral Sioux lands in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory. He also fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. [Source: Wikipedia]
Quoting Dee Brown (p. 283):
“. . . About three hundred Oglalas who had come in from the Powder River country trotted their ponies down a slope, occasionally firing off rifles. Some were chanting a song in Sioux:
The Black Hills is my land and I love it
And whoever interferes
Will hear this gun.
“An Indian mounted on a gray horse forced his way through the ranks of warriors gathered around the canvas shelter. He was Crazy Horse’s envoy, Little Big Man, stripped for battle and wearing two revolvers belted to his waist. ‘I will kill the first chief who speaks for selling the Black Hills!’ he shouted. He danced his horse across the open space between the commissioners and the chiefs.
“Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses and a group of unofficial Sioux policemen immediately swarmed around Little Big Man and moved him away. The chiefs and the commissioners, however, must have guessed that Little Big Man voiced the feelings of most of the warriors present. General Terry suggested to his fellow commissioners that they board the Army ambulances and return to the safety of Fort Robinson.”
“Tom Sawyer Abroad” features Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in a parody of adventure stories like those of Jules Verne. In the story, Tom, Huck, and Jim set sail to Africa in a futuristic hot air balloon, where they survive encounters with lions, robbers, and fleas to see some of the world’s greatest wonders, including the Pyramids and the Sphinx. The story is told using the first-person narrative voice of Huck Finn and is a sequel, set in the time following the title story of the Tom Sawyer series, “Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” [Source: Wikipedia]
This retro happy-go-lucky cover for the cult Canucksploiter fave "Screwballs" (1983) features the film under the title of (roughly) "Comedy Joy". The "Porky's"-style romp hit the Korean shelves via the very rare DaeYoung label only once. There was never a reissue.
William Andrew Pogány (1882-1955) was born in Hungary, studied art in Budapest, and worked in Paris briefly before moving to London in 1905 where he worked as a book illustrator for ten years. He moved to New York in 1915 and had success as a book illustrator and designer of stage sets and hotel interiors. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is one of Pogany’s best-known books. It is a bold artistic experiment in unifying text and images. Every page is elaborately decorated in Pogany’s distinctive style, which attempts to recreate a medieval illuminated manuscript. He was responsible for the beautiful calligraphic text, green and mauve page decorations and borders, and the many black and white drawings and tipped-in plates in full color.
Beneath her delicate beauty
Lurked the cruelty of a beast
This is the startling story of two beautiful women, different in most things, but bound by an unnatural obsession.
Persis, blonde spoiled daughter of wealth, and Carla, dark passionate penniless girl, had grown up together in the same household.
After a lapse of years, they came together again as grown women, socially mature but brutally primitive in their emotions – each seething with a hatred that knew no law when they fell in love with the same man.
“Men called them Overlords
They had come from outer space—
they had brought peace
and prosperity to Earth
But then the change began.
It appeared first in the children
—frightening, incomprehensible.
Now the Overlords made their announcement:
This was to be the first step
in the elimination of the human race
and the beginning of—What?”
—Original back cover quote, paperback edition
During the early 1950s, Ballantine Books was one of the leading publishers of paperback science fiction and fantasy. Beginning with “The Space Merchants” (#21) by Frederik Pohl and C.M Kornbluth, Ballantine published paperback originals by major science fiction authors including Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Theodore Sturgeon, John Wyndham and many others. Ian Ballantine who with his wife Betty Ballantine founded Ballantine Books in 1952, announced that he would offer trade publishers original titles in two simultaneous editions, a hardcover “regular” edition for bookstore sale, and a paper-cover, low-priced “news stand” edition for mass market sale. So, these Ballantine paperbacks were true first editions.
This edition of the novel contains six color illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith. The book was first published in the US in 1966 under the title “The Garden of Evil” by Paperback Library. In 1988, it was adapted into a film by Ken Russell.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4Q-PyZxZjw
“The Lair of the White Worm” was Bram Stoker’s twelfth and last novel, published a year before his death. The novel, along with “The Jewel of Seven Stars, is one of his most famous after “Dracula.” It is a horror story about a giant white worm that can transform itself into a woman. Partly based on the legend of the Lambton Worm from North East England, the White Worm in Stoker’s story is a large snake-like creature that dwells in a hole or pit and feeds on whatever is thrown to it. It is thought to reside in the house of Arabella March, a local lady and a suspect in numerous crimes that cannot be proven.
Die Baureihe soll mit Elise, Exige und Evora gleich drei Modelle ablösen. Als Konkurrenzmodelle werden unter anderem der Alpine A110 und der Porsche 718 Cayman genannt.
The series is intended to replace three models: Elise, Exige and Evora. The Alpine A110 and the Porsche 718 Cayman are mentioned as competing models.
From the back cover:
"Here is James Dean as he really was -- a restless, enigmatic artist in a passionate search for fulfillment, a reckless youth in a fatal race with destiny.
"William Bast knew James Dean better than anyone else ever has. When they first met -- during rehearsals for a student theater presentation of "Macbeth" at U.C.L.A. in 1950 -- they took an instant liking to each other and formed a friendship that was to endure until Dean's tragic death in 1955. The two shared lodgings for long periods in both Los Angeles and New York. Their early struggles -- Dean as actor, Bast as writer -- they experienced together: the ambitions, the study, the search for expression; the disappointments, setbacks, and sudden successes.
"William Bast comes from the middle West, as James Dean did. He was born in Milwaukee in 1931, attended the University of Wisconsin for a year, and then transferred to U.C.L.A. to major in Theater Arts. He now (i.e., 1956) lives in New York, and is engaged in the writing of television and motion picture plays, short stories and a novel. This penetrating biography is his first full-length book."
[ In 2006, the author William Bast wrote a second, more candid, book about his relationship with Dean entitled “Surviving James Dean." William Bast had a long, successful career writing for both film and TV and died on May 4, 2015]