Ok, it doesn't really look like much, but wait....
by Albert B. Gardner, illustrated by photographs of OUTSTANDING SPECIMENS (that's what it says!), drawings by the author and cartoons by Walter Lanz.
Did I mention the DANES are GREAT DANES?
This is another of those books that I've had around for several years, but don't really mind.
It's a cool book.
(strangely I use that term often for material that's kooky and a bit different, don't I?)
The book is filled with very detailed information about the history of the breed, the conformation of the dogs (or what they SHOULD look like) breeding, training, working dogs stuff (don't quite know if there's a technical term for this, showing Danes, the Great Dane Club of American (yes, there really is one), and much more.
From the research I've done, it looks as if Albert B. Gardner was an architect in Southern California in the 1930's. He designed some buildings including (very possibly) the Buck Jones House in Sherman Oaks -- Buck Jones was an early cowboy movie star. The house was later turned into a dormitory (or something like) for the Mar-Ken School which was a prestigious school for the children of movie stars.
The illustrator, also, turns out to be some one interesting. While his name is misspelled in this volume, the illustrator is actually Walter Lantz, the creator of Woody Woodpecker.
So not only is this book a very detailed, unusual title for dog lovers (especially Great Dane people) but also has interest for those who collect books published in California (this is self published in North Hollywood), but for architects, AND for illustrators (or for people who collect material on Walter Lantz.
Quite a lot of punch packed into one innocuously plain binding, I'd say.
So I'll repeat. It's a cool book.
Now I just have to find the right collector.
1 comment:
I love discovering cross-collectibles like this, great find. I would think it would draw interest from several types and hope it does!
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