Six color illustrations and eight black and white drawings grace this beautiful edition of The Little Mermaid, illustrated by Dorothy Lathrop and published by The Macmillan Company in 1939. (More biography here.)
Each illustration was scanned from an original, rare copy. The pages are unnumbered and the illustrations are not indexed or captioned, so I have added them, based on a reading of the text and some adaptation.
There is both delicacy and richness, and strong composition to the color work and the drawings. As I read this story, it is my wish that the little mermaid had never left the sea. I think, perhaps, Dorothy Lathrop felt the same, for her color illustrations include only fins.
Click each illustration to view them in great detail. (The first is a sample preview of the larger image below.)
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All the stars of heaven were falling in showers round about her. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 Cover Gold Leaf Decoration |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 Title Page |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 Page One |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 The strangest trees and flowers grow there, with leaves and stems so flexible that at the least motion of the water they move just as if they were alive. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 In her garden she would have nothing but the rosy flowers like the sun up above, except a statue of a beautiful boy, hewn out of the purest white marble. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 She had never seen such magic fires. Great suns whirled round, gorgeous fire-fish hung in the blue air, and all was reflected in the calm and glassy sea. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 In the middle of the room was a broad stream of running water, and on this stream the mermaids and mermen danced to their own beautiful singing. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 The bleached bones of those who had perished peeped forth from their arms. At the mere sight of the bright liquid which sparkled in her hands like a shining star, they drew back in terror. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 One night her sisters came. They sang so sorrowfully as they swam on the water that she beckoned to them and they told her how she had grieved them all. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 There were six beautiful children, but the youngest was the prettiest of all. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 Nothing gave her more pleasure than to hear about the world of human beings up above. Her old grandmother told her all that she knew. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 The third sister wanted to play with them, but they were frightened. She could never forget the lovely children who could swim in the water, though they had no fishes' tails. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 His limbs were numbed, his beautiful eyes were closing, and he must have died if the little mermaid had not come to his rescue. She held his head above the water and let the waves drive them whithersoever they would. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 There sat the witch. She called the hideous water snakes her little chickens and allowed them to crawl about on her unsightly bosom. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 One night she saw, a long way out, her old grandmother, and the Merman King with his crown on his head. They stretched out their hands toward her. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 He loved her as one loves a good sweet child, but it never entered his head to make her his queen. |
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Dorothy Lathrop ~ The Little Mermaid ~ 1939 Never had she danced so divinely. She went on laughing and dancing with the thought of death all the time in her heart. |
I love sharing images, and I'd love to know what you think about the art, and the artists. Please add your comments to start the New Year.
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Text © 2012 Art of Narrative
