New Releases by Lynd Ward

"If you care about graphic novels, you need this book." -- New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman Graphic Witness features rare wordless novels by five great twentieth century woodcut artists from Europe and North America. The stories they tell reflect the political and social issues of their times as well as the broader issues that are still relevant today. Frans Masereel (1899-1972) was born in Belgium and is considered the father of the wordless graphic novel. Graphic Witness includes the first reprint of his classic work The Passion of a Man since its 1918 publication in Munich. American Lynd Ward (1905-85), author of the provocative Wild Pilgrimage, is considered among the most important of wordless novelists. Giacomo Patri (1898-1978) was born in Italy and lived in the United States. His White Collar featured an introduction by Rockwell Kent and was used a promotional piece by the labor movement. Erich Glas''s (1897-1973) haunting wordless novel Leilot, created in 1942, foreshadows the Holocaust, which was not widely known about at the time. Southern Cross by Canadian Laurence Hyde (1914-87) was controversial for its criticism of U.S. H-bomb testing in the South Pacific. Author George A. Walker draws on his expertise as a woodcut artist to provide insight into the tools and techniques used to create these works of art. As well, he examines the importance of the role of artists as witnesses and critics of their times, and the influence of the genre on the emergence of comics and the modern graphic novel. This newly expanded edition of Graphic Witness, which features an afterword by cartoonist Seth, will appeal to readers interested in social issues, printmaking, art history and contemporary culture.

Spice and the Devil''s Cave, Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, and other fifteenth-century adventurers spring to life in this thrilling tale of the competition between Portugal and the Venetian Republic to discover an all-sea trade route leading to the spices of India. In the Lisbon workshop of banker and navigation enthusiast Abel Zakuto, a group of intrepid explorers gather to discuss the possibility of finding a way around the stormy tip of Africa — the Devil''s Cave. Author Agnes Danforth Hewes won the first of her three Newbery Honor awards with this book, which was praised by The New York Times as "one of those engrossing works of historical fiction whose appeal is nearly universal . . . a colorful history of a far-reaching commercial struggle and a vivid drama of individual hopes and aspirations." Enchanting woodcuts by Lynd Ward illustrate this gripping adventure, which is suitable for grades 7 and up and will delight readers of all ages.

The second volume of collected woodcut graphic novels from a “brilliant and iconoclastic” author who has been compared to Frank Capra and John Steinbeck (Jonathan Lethem, New York Times–bestselling author of The Fortress of Solitude) In this, the second of two volumes collecting all his woodcut novels, The Library of America brings together Lynd Ward’s three later books, two of them brief, the visual equivalent of chamber music, the other his longest, a symphony in three movements. Prelude to a Million Years (1933) is a dark meditation on art, inspiration, and the disparity between the ideal and the real. Song Without Words (1936), a protest against the rise of European fascism, asks if ours is a world still fit for the human soul. Vertigo (1937), Ward’s undisputed masterpiece, is an epic novel on the theme of the individual caught in the downward spiral of a sinking American economy. Its characters include a young violinist, her luckless fiancé, and an elderly business magnate who—movingly, and without ever becoming a political caricature—embodies the social forces determining their fate. The images reproduced in this volume are taken from prints pulled from the original woodblocks or first-generation electrotypes. Ward’s novels are presented, for the first time since the 1930s, in the format that the artist intended, one image per right-hand page, and are followed by four essays in which he discusses the technical challenges of his craft. Art Spiegelman contributes an introductory essay, “Reading Pictures,” that defines Ward’s towering achievement in that most demanding of graphic-story forms, the wordless novel in woodcuts.

Edited by Art Spiegelman, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus A wordless novel in woodcuts from Lynd Ward, a pioneering artist/novelist who was “an unmistakable soul-companion to . . . Frank Capra and John Steinbeck, but also Fritz Lang and Franz Kafka” (Jonathan Lethem) From the Great Depression to WII, America’s first great graphic novelist bore witness to the roiling, dizzying national scene as both a master printmaker and a socially committed storyteller. In this, the first of two volumes collecting all his woodcut novels, The Library of America brings together Lynd Ward’s earliest books, published when the artist was still in his twenties. Gods’ Man (1929), the audaciously ambitious work that made Ward’s reputation, is a modern morality play, an allegory of the deadly bargain a striving young artist often makes with life. Madman’s Drum (1930), a multigenerational saga worthy of Faulkner, traces the legacy of violence haunting a family whose stock in trade is human souls. Wild Pilgrimage (1932), perhaps the most accomplished of these early books, is a study in the brutalization of an American factory worker whose heart can still respond to beauty but whose mind is twisted in rage against the system and its shackles. The images reproduced in this volume are taken from prints pulled from the original woodblocks or first-generation electrotypes. Ward’s novels are presented, for the first time since the 1930s, in the format that the artist intended, one image per right-hand page, and are followed by five essays in which he discusses the technical challenges of his craft. Art Spiegelman contributes an introductory essay, “Reading Pictures,” that defines Ward’s towering achievement in that most demanding of graphic-story forms.

This is a new release of the original 1939 edition.

This is a new release of the original 1935 edition.

This is a new release of the original 1930 edition.

After injuring his hand, a silversmith''s apprentice in Boston becomes a messenger for the Sons of Liberty in the days before the American Revolution.

One of the twentieth century''s finest engravers, Lynd Ward created remarkable woodcuts that resonate in both the heart and the imagination. His dramatic images present complete, self-contained narratives in both of these wordless tales. Prelude to a Million Years unfolds against the backdrop of the Great Depression, portraying in thirty illustrations a sculptor''s struggles in an industrial society. Song Without Words explores one woman''s emotional journey through pregnancy and childbirth in a series of twenty-one images described by the author as "a kind of prose poem." Ward''s memorable works have been honored with such prestigious awards as the Library of Congress Award, the National Academy of Design Print Award, the New York Times Best Illustrated Award, the Caldecott Medal, and the Regina Award. An introduction by woodcut historian David A. Beronä places these stories within the context of Ward''s career and the graphic arts world of the 1930s.

Presents the story of a monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies who develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator.

The powerful imagery and psychological intensity of Ward''s wordless novels have elicited comparisons to the writings of Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe, and they continue to influence modern graphic novelists such as Frank Miller. This 1930 work tells a gripping tale through imagery alone, consisting solely of hauntingly rendered woodcuts. 128 illustrations.

The major American artist invented the concept of a wordless novel with this evocative, text-free "woodcut" narrative. Autobiographical in nature, the novel recounts Ward''s struggles with his craft and with life in the 1920s. The intricate woodcuts transcend all barriers of language, and fresh details reward the eye with every review. 139 black-and-white illustrations.

"For this unique volume of Ward''s work, the artist himself has supervised the design of the book and has contributed the text, describing his methods of working, the history of woodcuts, and the goals of his art. The ... large-scale plates reproduce the six narratives in their entirety, and also include bookplates, greeting cards, and a large selection of individual prints, many published for the first time; the work represented spans more than forty years ... "--From book jacket.

Recounts without words the adventures of a boy and his winged horse.

Animal stories.

Winner of the 1953 Caldecott Medal Johnny Orchard brings home a playful bear cub that soon becomes huge and a nuisance to the neighbors.

A fictionlized biography of the eighteenth century English cleryman, John Wesley, who helped found the Methodist Church.

A little lighthouse on the Hudson River regains its pride when it finds out that it is still useful and has an important job to do.