Madman's drum : a novel in woodcuts

Format:

Book

Title:

Madman's drum : a novel in woodcuts

Other title(s):

Mad man's drum

Author:

Ward, Lynd, 1905-1985 author illustrator

ISBN:

9780486445007

Edition:

Dover edition.

Publication:

Mineola, New York : Dover Publications, Inc., [2005]

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : chiefly illustrations ; 24 cm

General Note:

Introduction by David A. Beronä.

Originally published: New York : Jonathan Cape, Harrison Smith, 1930.

Summary:

This wordless novel tells the story of a slave trader who steals a demon-faced drum from a captured African man, and the consequences of its curse for him and his family.

Personal Subject:

Ward, Lynd, 1905-1985.

Ward, Lynd, 1905-1985 (OCoLC)fst01443796

Subject(s):

Slave traders -- Pictorial works.

Families -- Pictorial works.

Retribution -- Pictorial works.

Mental illness -- Pictorial works.

Wood-engraving, American.

Genre:

stories without words.

Graphic novels.

Pictorial works.

Wordless picture books.

Added Author:

Beronä, David A.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... McMinnville Public Library	Ward, L.	Searching... Unknown

"Ward is ranked among the finest American wood engravers of the 20th century." -- artoftheprint.com
One of the finest American wood engravers of the twentieth century and an outstanding artist of any era, Lynd Ward (1905-85) created a series of fantastic visual novels. The powerful imagery and psychological intensity of his wordless works have elicited comparisons to the writings of Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe, and they have exercised an enormous influence over latter-day graphic novelists.
Ward's tutelage included studying under the direction of German woodcut and engraving master Hans Alexander Mueller. He published his first book, Gods' Man: A Novel in Woodcuts, in 1929. Like its successors, including Mad Man's Drum, Gods' Man consists solely of Ward's woodcuts, telling its story through imagery alone.
Ward's hauntingly rendered works have been honored with such prestigious awards as the Library of Congress Award, the National Academy of Design Print Award, the New York Times Best Illustrated Award, the Caldecott Medal, and the Regina Award.

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

The wordless pictorial novels of Ward and his predecessor Frans Masreel (Passionate Journey) are important precursors to the modern graphic novel. This is the first-ever reissue of Ward's remarkable second woodcut novel, from 1930 (following 1929's Gods' Man). Here, Ward's masterful black-and-white woodcut panels, one to a page, tell a family saga spanning three generations with power and economy. A slaver kills an African man and steals the man's drum, and then returns home to his wife and son. When he finds his son playing the drum, the slaver scolds the boy and gives him a book instead. The son becomes exceedingly studious, rejecting temptation in the form of a pied piper; but when he grows up and sires his own family, he discovers that studiousness is no guarantee of happiness or success. Ward's incisive, highly detailed artwork uses expressionistic backgrounds and lighting effects to portray great depth of feeling. Without words, following the story requires more work than usual for the reader, but the effort is definitely rewarded. With mature themes (and a bit of nudity), this is recommended for most adult collections and for fans of wordless graphic novels such as Eric Drooker's Blood Song.-S.R. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review