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"Wordless books" were stories from the early part of the twentieth century told in black and white woodcuts, imaginatively authored without any text. Although woodcut novels have their roots spreading back through the history of graphic arts, including block books and playing cards, it was not until the early part of the twentieth century that they were conceived and published. Despite its short-lived popularity, the woodcut novel had an important impact on the development of comic art, particularly contemporary graphic novels with a focus on adult themes. Scholar David A. Beronä examines the history of these books and the art and influence of pioneers like Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Otto Nückel, William Gropper, Milt Gross, and Laurence Hyde (among others). The images are powerful and iconic, and as relevant to the world today as they were when they were first produced. Beronä places these artists in the context of their time, and in the context of ours, creating a scholarly work of important significance in the burgeoning field of comics and comics history.

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.

"This original collection gathers the finest woodcuts of one of the most creative and prolific English artists of the early 20th century. Ranging from the religious to the erotic, featured designs include images inspired by The Song of Songs, The Canterbury Tales, and The Four Gospels. A feast for the eyes and an important and accessible reference. "--

Graphic design.

Although there are many volumes that explore the life of Christ, this one is unique, relying exclusively on stunning woodcut prints in place of text. Eloquent in its simplicity, it offers 71 black-and-white illustrations — from the Annunciation of Mary to Christ's ascension into heaven — in a moving retelling of the greatest story ever told.

In this moving graphic novel without words, one of the finest artists of the 20th century uses 230 intricately detailed woodcuts to tell a dramatic tale of the Great Depression. A young girl who longs to be an accomplished violinist and a boy who hopes to become a builder find their dreams shattered by desperate economic times.

Robert Crumb (b. 1943) read widely and deeply a long roster of authors including Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, J. D. Salinger, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg, as well as religious classics including biblical, Buddhist, Hindu, and Gnostic texts. Crumb’s genius, according to author David Stephen Calonne, lies in his ability to absorb a variety of literary, artistic, and spiritual traditions and incorporate them within an original, American mode of discourse that seeks to reveal his personal search for the meaning of life. R. Crumb: Literature, Autobiography, and the Quest for Self contains six chapters that chart Crumb’s intellectual trajectory and explore the recurring philosophical themes that permeate his depictions of literary and biographical works and the ways he responds to them through innovative, dazzling compositional techniques. Calonne explores the ways Crumb develops concepts of solitude, despair, desire, and conflict as aspects of the quest for self in his engagement with the book of Genesis and works by Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, the Beats, Charles Bukowski, and Philip K. Dick, as well as Crumb’s illustrations of biographies of musicians Jelly Roll Morton and Charley Patton. Calonne demonstrates how Crumb’s love for literature led him to attempt an extremely faithful rendering of the texts he admired while at the same time highlighting for his readers the particular hidden philosophical meanings he found most significant in his own autobiographical quest for identity and his authentic self.

The life of graphic novel artist Lynd Ward (1905-1985) is told by author and scholar David A. Beronä in a series of vignettes that are accompanied by woodcut prints illustrating the story. Seven contemporary artists provide the original woodcut prints. The illustrators include Olivier Deprez, Jules Remedios Faye, Drew Grasso, Art Hazelwood, Frances Jetter, Billy Simms, Kurt Brian Webb. The vignettes include the childhood of the artist, his marriage, his graphic woodcut novels, and his later illustrated children's books. Graphic novel artist Eric Drooker provides an introduction to both Lynd Ward as well as the author.