“OSCAR’S ONLY OSTRICH OILED AN ORANGE OWL TODAY”: DR. SEUSS’S ABC, FIRST EDITION
SEUSS, Dr. Dr. Seuss's ABC. New York: Random House, (1963). Octavo, original pictorial paper boards, original dust jacket.
Scarce first edition of Seuss’ colorful and whimsical abecedarian fun.
Seuss' classic alphabet primer illustrates the inspiration he drew from historian, satirist and poet Hilaire Belloc, who "is reported to have said that children's books must have 'terseness, simplicity, improbability and finality as to theme, strongly emphasized lilt—something indelible for the memory… [Geisel adopted Belloc's] concept that a children's story should have an instructive role… He also took from Belloc the idea of a book structured on the alphabet. Belloc's A Moral Alphabet (1899) can easily be seen as a model for an early ABC book that Ted failed to published and for the successfully realized Dr. Seuss's ABC and The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary" (Cohen, 16-17, 21-22). Younger & Hirsch 19. Price sticker on dust jacket front flap.
Book fine, dust jacket with very slight soiling, a bit of wear to spine head. A near-fine copy.