The books in this section are usually hardcover and in decent condition, though we'll sometimes offer hard-to-find books in lesser condition at a reduced price. Though we often put images of the book with their original dust jackets, the copies here won't always (or even often) have them. If that is important to you, please call ahead or say so in the order comments!
An American biography so happy and valuable in subject, so colorful in the background of his career, that one wonders how Charles Sherwood Stratton has so long been overlooked by American biographers. But one is glad that the "man in miniature" beloved by the entire world as General Tom Thumb, has waited for the consummate skill displayed by Mabel Leigh Hunt in telling his story.
With enthusiastic research, understanding, and deep affection, she has recreated the life and career of Tom Thumb from the moment when the master showman, P. T. Barnum, discovered him in his Bridgeport home at five years old. Tom Thumb was a midget, but not a dwarf; a personality lovable as well as unique; a distinguished artist of the theatre; a miniature man among men. His career from 1842 to 1883 is a success story that has never been matched, but it has also a fairy tale quality and a consistently bubbling humor and joy arising out of the pleasure that Tom Thumb gave his audiences, always, in every country of the globe.
American boys and girls—and grownups too—will find this truly American biography both charming and absorbing.
Fritz Eichenberg adds to an important book with captivating drawings.
The frontispiece is based on a contemporary lithograph of Tom Thumb made at the time of his first London visit in 1843.
—from the dust jacket, which has this period advertisement from the author on the back....
This is a different war. It is different not only because we are fighting for the dignity and liberty of the individual, but because we and our allies are determined upon achieving a different kind of peace than the world has ever known. A peace so strongly built and enduring that it shall crown all valor and justify all sacrifice. A peace so forgetful of past enmities, so wise and just and restorative, yet so sternly executed and guarded, that every man shall treasure it as his own inheritance, and no nation dare attempt to dethrone it. A peace that shall establish a common democracy, a common brotherhood. A peace that shall guarantee to childhood its inalienable rights—laughter and hope and shining security. A peace restoring to us the precious ordinariness of daily living, of daily happiness. Is not such a peace worth everything we have to give? True, we cannot all give greatly or valorously. But almost all of us can buy War Stamps and Bonds. For the sake of those in the front lines who do give directly; for the sake of a glorious world-peace, and a better tomorrow, let us buy! —Mabel Leigh Hunt
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