Early Panorama Children’s Book Hiawatha Illustrated by Willy Pogany London 1914

Published by George G. Harrap & Company.

This book is part of a children’s series by Willy Pogány of folding panoramas illustrations and text, inspired by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1855 epic, The Song of Hiawatha. Lines from Longfellow run underneath Pogány’s illustrations, which follow the Ojibwe child Hiawatha from his early kinship with the wild animals, through his struggles with Nahma, King of Fishes, and his own estranged father, Mudjekeewis, up to his courtship of Laughing Water (Minnehaha). The prose text by Edith Elias, printed on the verso of the panorama, carries Hiawatha’s story farther, through the death of Minnehaha and the coming of “the Pale-Face Chief.” Pogány’s dynamic frames, with their striking use of negative space, show the influence not only of Golden Age illustrators like Walter Crane, but also the new generation of cartoonists like Winsor McCay, creator of Little Nemo. We believe this to be a first addition.

How We Would Style It:
We would love to see this antique book go to a true collector. One who appreciates classical books and the preservation of the stories inside. We think this book would be great displayed in any of the following ways:

1.) Placed intentionally and styled on a side table in a children’s room.

2.) As an installation opened to it’s full length and placed between two sheets of acrylic with standoffs. Then affixed above a bed or crib. A striking way to not only preserve this piece of history, but also to create a focal point for little ones and to carry on the tradition of reading this epic tale. Plus, every room should always have one thing which is antique.

3.) Framed in a traditional frame, perhaps with a fun mat such as a Fortuny fabric. As there are other pieces to this collection, placing two or three (or all!) framed in a grouping would look fantastic.

Dimensions:
Folded: 5.19″ Wide
.25″ Deep
79″ Wide unfolded.