The Johny Book
Of all the books I don’t own, I think I mourn The Johny Book the most. The verse is nothing surprising to someone steeped in Little Willie lore, but the illustrations are exceptional.
The Johny Book was written and illustrated by two Cornell University architecture students, Willard Dickerman Straight (writer) and J. André Smith (illustrator). The cartoons were first published in the Cornell Widow (Cornell University’s student paper) and then as a book.
Which I don’t own. *sigh*
Thank goodness for “The Bookman”, a monthly magazine published in London from 1891 until 1934 by Hodder & Stoughton. It was a catalogue of their current publications that also contained reviews, advertising and illustrations.
And Volume XVII (March, 1903 – Augst, 1903) contained the only illustrations from The Johny Book that I have found.
God bless “The Bookman”.
- Johny hung his little sister
- Johny with his little axe
- Johny with a bowie knife
- John has gone from bad to worse
- Johny saw a buzz-saw buzz
