A Singapore resident requesting books from Messrs. John and Edward Bumpus London booksellers expressing disappoint with abridged versions of "Wide Wide World" and "Queechy"
1931ref. 24327Singapore 1931. ALS from Norah Purcell from her address at 6 Ridley Park Singapore Straits Settlements dated 19.IX.31. She sends a deposit of 5 pounds for books to chosen by her or her husband Victor but expresses that she "was greatly displeased to receive 'abridged' editions of the two children's books ordered "The Wide Wide World" and "Queechy." When I asked for cheap copies to be sent I naturally expected they would be complete and from Ward Lock or Collins or Blackie - not the totally illiterate Herbert Strang who has been responsible for the present volumes which are almost unrecognisable." She goes on in this vein for two pages later complaining about "publishers who print fairy tales in mutilated form under the name of Hans Anderson and who take it upon themselves to put pink and white rubbish in place of Tenniel's illustrations - or even "Re-tell" Lewis Carrol! sic. Victor Purcell 1896-1965 was a British colonial public servant historian poet and Sinologist in Malaya now Malaysia. Susan Warner writing under the name of "Elizabeth Wetherell" wrote 30 novels. The Wide Wide World her first was the most popular. It was translated into several languages including French German & Dutch. Other than Uncle Tom's Cabin it was perhaps the most widely circulated story of American authorship. Wikipedia. She and her sister moved with their father to Constitution Island in the Hudson River after the financial Panic of 1837 teaching religion to West Point cadets. Her sister Anna was the author of song "Jesus Loves Me". 7x9" 2pp with date stamps and the bookseller's notations for the deposit account receipt number and various other notes. unknown
Antipodean Books, Maps & Prints · Estados Unidos125,00 US$≈ 111,46 €
