[Drawings]. Anonymous (1st half 20th cent.) "A Merry Xmas a...

[Drawings]. Anonymous (1st half 20th cent.) "A Merry Xmas a Happy New Year 1937"./ "A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year 1938"./ "A Happy Xmas and a Prosperous New Year 1939"./ "Christmas 1940". Four typescript books with num. drawn illustrations in pen and ink and watercolour and gold, occas. heightened w. white, each ±80 unpaginated lvs. of thin/ semi-transparent paper, recto only, text mainly in English but also German and some Dutch, in custom-made clothbacked boards, each w. diff. dec. paper covers and endpapers, and large mounted ms./ drawn pictorial title-plate on frontcover, large 4to.

- Contents fine. Bindings sl. rubbed/ frayed/ worn along extremities.

= Interesting and charming "Christmas Journals", full of tales and poems and not devoid of some merry humor, sarcasm and irony. The origins and authors are untraced (only reference: "Printed [sic] at the Dab Works, Holland"), the editor(s)/ writer(s)/ illustrator(s) identifying themselves as The Monkey, The Tweet, The Dab, The Mouse and The Mole (also the main characters of the stories). In the introductory texts, the German (and Dutch) parts are said to be made "by Special Request"/ "auf vielseitiges Verlangen". Nice and often excellent drawings, probably by one and the same artist (contrary to what is made to believe), the illustrations and typescript text nicely integrated with one another and sometimes in comic-strip lay-out. Every book contains at least one contest, e.g. asking the readers to guess how many illustrations or pages or stories the journal contains, and some puzzles. Some stories/ poems in the 1939 Journal refer to the war and economically troublesome times ("For Man and Beast" ("The terrible thing had happened - war was declared - and everyone was collecting provisions (...)"), "Distributie Bons [sic]. Poème d'Octobre van A.AP" and "Luftschutz"). The "Dedication" (introduction) on the first page of the 1937 journal: "With a sorrowful heart we put this poor attempt of badly written matter, accompanied, be it said with sadness, by some very crude and ill-chosen drawings (...). With great trepidation we let those Illustrious Characters - The Dab, The Tweet, The Mouse and The Mole appear once more to our shocking drivel, hoping that our Paragons of Readers may not turn away (...). With three Kow-Tows and Wishing Our Honourable Readers a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous and Plenteous New Year, we retire (...) to the Coal Hole where in deep repentance we will try to atone for this paltry Xmas Journal." The other two introductions are much more positive. Some tales: "Titterwit or Autumn Nuts" (by The Tweet), "Was He Cheated? The Tale of a Dragon's Fate!" (written and illustrated by The Tweet), some stories featuring "The Skeleton Nun", "The beautiful Homes of England" (a comic by The Tweet, showing a car driving by high hedges and walls and seeing no manors whatsoever), "Die Frite Pan. Eine weinerliche Geschichte von Liesemaus, gedichtet von Dab und Tweet, mit prächtigen farbigen Bildern von "Affchen"", "Grapes and The Monkey" (short comic strip), "Ard The Armoured Ram-Dragon" and "Der Platzvervänger" ("Santa Claus war krank (...). Der Schwarze Piet war in Verzweiflung! Was sollte er tun?").