Why is the lion roaring?

He’s announcing to the world that his good friend Puss in Boots is the subject of a fabulous new Cotsen gallery publication.

The front cover incorporating an illustration by the famous Victorian animal painter, Harrison Weir.

It features twelve black-and-white illustrations of the most famous cat in children’s literature from Cotsen’s nineteenth-century books.  The pictures are accompanied by the complete Perrault fairy tale in Andrew Lang’s translation.   As it’s a rags-to-riches story, gold bands run along the upper and lower edges of every page.  The elegant design is by Mark Argetsinger and the beautiful printing by Puritan-Capital.   Stop by the Cotsen gallery for a free copy, especially if you like cats, shoes, and happy endings.

The rear cover featuring Puss as a courtier in Louis XIV’s court by Edmond Morin.

Another word about the head of the lion at the head of the post…  It’s a detail from a wonderfully dynamic drawing by American artist James Daugherty, which the Friends of James Daugherty Foundation just presented to Cotsen.   The notation in the bottom right hand corner indicates that it was intended as the illustration for page in 39 in Andy and the Lion (1938), Daugherty’s retelling of Androcles and the Lion that was named the Caldecott Honor Book for 1939.  At some point in the book’s production,it was cut.  It’s hard to see why, but presumably there were good artistic reasons at the time.

Cotsen is thrilled to have this wildly happy lion join the marvelous preparatory drawing for the book’s endpapers in the Daugherty archive.  We’re very grateful to the Foundation for its continued generosity!