anthony perkins and audrey hepburn on set of green mansions
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Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins for Green Mansions (1959)
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Staff Pick of the Week
We recently transferred an early 1930s edition of Argentine-British writer William Henry Hudson's novel Green Mansions, published in New York by Three Sirens Press with illustrations by Keith Henderson, from the library's general collections to Special Collections. The story is convoluted and fantastical, about a wealthy Venezuelan revolutionary who flees into the Guyanese jungle (the Green Mansions of the title?), tenuously befriends a village of indigenous people, explores a sector of the forest that the villagers fear, and encounters a waif-like, "shy and mysterious girl with the melodious bird-like voice" who the villagers are convinced is the evil spirit-protector "Daughter of the Didi." Nevertheless, he continues to seek out the girl, whom he befriends and falls in love with, and eventually learns that she is the last member of her tribe. This ultimately leads, in a roundabout way, to a falling-out with the villagers and tragic consequences.
Originally published in 1904 to some acclaim, this exotic romance bears a palpable strain of ethnic superiority. The indigenous people are backwards, superstitious, and violent; the protagonist is European, thoughtful, and reasoned (and wealthy to boot); and Rima, the ethereal jungle girl, and her people were apparently based by Hudson on persistent rumors of a lost tribe of white people who lived in the mountains. Probably not a novel I will be reading any time soon, but I am quite taken by the drama in the black and white illustrations of Scottish artist and illustrator Keith Henderson (1883-1982).
Henderson created the novel's 35 illustrations for the trade and limited editions originally published by Duckworth & Co. in 1926. While there is no publishing date in this edition by Three Sirens Press, a publisher that specialized in high-quality reprints of classic texts illustrated by noted artists, there is some evidence that it was produced in 1932. I hope you enjoy these illustrations as much as I do.
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-- MAX, Head of Special Collections
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i’m the fawn btw and they’re my parents
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Audrey Hepburn photographed by Bob Willoughby on the set of Green Mansions (1959)
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Whenever I muster the strength to fortify my heart, he unexpectedly softens the moment with sweetness. Without fail, I succumb to the allure, and the cycle repeats, leaving me puzzled by my own vulnerability. I can't help but wonder, why must you tease me in these ways?
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