VERY RARE Japanese EDITION OF CHARLOTTE'S WEB. text in Japanese, reads from back to front.
copyright date of 1952, First Japanese Edition.
THIS BOOK WAS OWNED BY FREDERIC MELCHER
signed /inscribed on page in front of title page. " For Mr and Mrs Melcher, Tetsu Suzuki"
I am not sure who Tetsu Suzuki is, maybe the Japanese translator ?? Mr Melcher ( Frederic Melcher) creator of the Newbery Medal , award for Children's literature. .
rare old Japanese edition. pages are in very good condition with tanning/age toning. hardcover has some yellowing, wrinkling on spine. dust jacket has some wear, edge wear, a few small edge tears, yellowing.small piece of scotch tape stuck on front inside flap of dj right by Charlotte (this is actually the back since the book reads from back to front)
please look at photos to help determine condition
Frederic Gershom Melcher (April 12, 1879 – March 9, 1963) was an American publisher, bookseller, and editor and a major contributor to the library science field and book industry. He is particularly known for his contributions to the children's book genre, including the Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal.[1] Melcher was named as one of the most important 100 leaders in the library science field in the 20th century in an American Libraries article and has been described as "the greatest all-round bookman in the English-speaking world".[1]
Melcher was born in 1879 in Malden, Massachusetts, a suburb on the north side of Boston.[2] In 1883, the family moved to Newton Center, another Boston suburb.[2] A 1945 essay describes his childhood growing up near a lake, fishing, ice skating and swimming.[2] He was also an avid reader from a young age, making many visits to the library, as well as enjoying books passed on or gifted from friends and family.
When Frederic was 16, his grandfather helped him to secure a job at Estes and Lauriat publishing company and bookstore in Boston.[2] Melcher began his career in the book industry there, a career which would span 68 years. He began working in the mailroom and over the next 18 years worked his way into sales and acquisitions.[3]
It was during his time at Estes and Lauriat that he first developed his interest in children's books.[4] He worked to develop the children's collection of the books store with help of Caroline Hewins, a New England librarian who also had interests in developing and promoting children's books.[4] He later established The Caroline M. Hewins Lectureship on New England children’s books in 1947.[4] In 1910, he married Marguerite Fellows, an author of children’s books.[4] In 1912, Melcher became president of the Boston Booksellers League.[3] He was very active in the Boston book trade and was described as "an energetic and agreeable bookseller who knew books thoroughly."[3] His reputation as an enthusiastic and knowledgeable salesman resulted in his recommendation for a position running the W.K. Stewart Bookstore in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1913.[5]
During his five years in Indiana, Melcher managed the W.K. Stewart Bookstore, which survived a flood but not a later fire which resulted in a total loss of the store and a new location.[5] He was also active in the Indiana public Libraries Association and promoted material relating regional history.[5]
He remained[when?] with R.R. Bowker for 45 years, becoming president in 1934.[4] While at Publishers Weekly, Melcher began creating space in the publication and a number of issues dedicated solely to books for children.[6] In 1919, he teamed with Franklin K. Mathiews, librarian for the Boy Scouts of America, and Anne Carroll Moore, a librarian at the New York Public Library, to create Children's Book Week.[4]
Melcher proposed the Newbery Medal in 1922, an annual award for "the most distinguished book for children".[4] Melcher suggested that the award be named after John Newbery, a British bookseller known for his contributions to the children’s book industry.[4] Melcher recruited Rene Paul Chambellan to design the award. Although the award had hearty support, Melcher also drew extensively upon his own funds for the creation of the medal.[7]
Melcher proposed the Caldecott Medal in 1937 to honor children’s picture books. Named for British illustrator Randolph Caldecott, the medal is presented annually for the "most distinguished picture book for children".[4]
In 1945, Melcher had worked in the book industry for 50 years. A celebration was held in his honor at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.[8] A collection of essays about his life was published to commemorate this event and he was awarded a medal from The American Institute of Graphic Arts:
In recognition of his many-sided contributions to the Graphic Arts through 50 years, his patient and judicial sponsorship of worthy causes, international as well as national; his continuing kindly encouragement of young men and women first entering the world of books; and his tireless, accomplished, and successful efforts to make known and to maintain high standards of bookmaking.[8]
Melcher resigned as president of R.R. Bowker in 1958 to become chairman of the board.[9] In 1962 he received the Regina Medal from the Catholic Library Association "in recognition of a lifetime contribution to children's literature.Melcher was an active member in the Unitarian Universalist church.[10] His contributions to the church and to the publishing industry, as well as his work in fighting against censorship led to the church establishing the Frederic G. Melcher Book Award in 1964.[11] The award is given annually to the work "judged to have made the most significant contribution to religious liberalism.Melcher is also known for his friendship with American poet Robert Frost. The University of Virginia Library is home to the Frederic G. Melcher–Robert Frost Collection, which covers various photos and writings from the two men from 1865-1963.[12] In 2006, a University of Virginia graduate student who was completing a thesis on the poetry of Frost discovered a previously unpublished poem, inscribed by Frost on the inside cover of a book Frost had given to Melcher in 1918
Elwyn Brooks "E. B." White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985),[1] was an American writer. He was a contributor to The New Yorker magazine and a co-author of the English language style guide, The Elements of Style, which is commonly known as "Strunk & White". He also wrote books for children, including Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan. Charlotte's Web was voted the top children's novel in a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, not for the first time
Charlotte's Web is a children's novel by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published in 1952 by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. When Wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, Charlotte writes messages praising Wilbur (such as "Some Pig") in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let him live.
Written in White's dry, low-key manner, Charlotte's Web is considered a classic of children's literature, enjoyable to adults as well as children. The description of the experience of swinging on a rope swing at the farm is an often cited example of rhythm in writing, as the pace of the sentences reflects the motion of the swing. Publishers Weekly listed the book as the best-selling children's paperback of all time as of 2000
After sparing the life of a baby piglet almost slaughtered due to his status as runt of the litter, a little girl named Fern Arable adopts it and nurtures it lovingly, naming it Wilbur. However, she is crushed when the piglet matures enough to be separated from his mother, and Wilbur is thus sent to reside on a farm owned by Fern's uncle, Homer Zuckerman. Her powerful attachment to Wilbur mutual, the pig is left yearning for companionship but is snubbed by other barn animals. However, he is welcomed by an unseen voice who promises to befriend him, vowing to reveal itself to him in the morning.
The voice is revealed to belong to a spider named Charlotte living on a web spun overlooking Wilbur's enclosure. Knowing of Wilbur's impending doom (as the Zuckermans plan on slaughtering him) she promises to hatch a plan guaranteed to spare his life. Sure enough, the following morning the Zuckermans are flabbergasted to catch sight of the words "SOME PIG" woven into the spiderweb, attracting great recognition and publicity. Understanding that Wilbur's chances of survival will be strengthened if similar miracles were to occur, Charlotte employs the assistance of Templeton the barnyard rat in gathering labels as inspiration for her spiderweb messages. As time passes, more and more engravings continue to appear on Charlotte's webs concerning Wilbur's value, attracting increasing notoriety and publicity. Soon Wilbur is entered in the county fair, accompanied by Charlotte and the gluttonous Templeton, aware of the discarded foods littered along the fair grounds, and, while there, Charlotte spins an egg sac containing her unborn offspring---which she refers to as her "magnum opus"---that is heavily guarded by Wilbur. However, the pig is crestfallen when the spider notifies him of her impending death and mentions that she is to pass away before long, staying behind at the fair and dying after Wilbur's departure. Heartbroken, Wilbur guards Charlotte's egg sac, and is saddened further when the new spiders hatch and depart shortly after their birth, leaving behind three spiderlings too young to leave just yet. Pleased at the thought of finding new friends after Charlotte's demise, Wilbur names the spiderlings Joy, Nellie, and Aranea, and the book concludes mentioning that more and more generations of spiders continued to arrive with time to keep Wilbur---who is now safe from death---company
White's editor Ursula Nordstrom said that one day, in 1952, E.B. White handed her a new manuscript out of the blue, the only version of Charlotte's Web then in existence, which she read soon after and was hugely impressed with.[3] Charlotte's Web was published three years after White began writing it.[4]
Since E. B. White published Death of a Pig in 1948,[5] an account of how he failed to save a sick pig (which had been bought in order to be fattened up and butchered), Charlotte’s Web can be seen as White attempting "to save his pig in retrospect."[6] However, White's overall motivation for the book has not been revealed and he has written, "I haven't told why I wrote the book, but I haven't told you why I sneeze, either. A book is a sneeze."[7]
When White met the spider who originally inspired Charlotte, he called her Charlotte Epeira (after Epeira sclopetaria, the Grey Cross spider, now known as Aranea sericata), later discovering that the more modern name for that genus was Aranea.[8] In the novel, Charlotte gives her full name as "Charlotte A. Cavatica", revealing her as a barn spider, an orb-weaver with the scientific name Araneus cavaticus.
The anatomical terms (such as those mentioned in the beginning of chapter nine) and other information that White used came mostly from American Spiders by Willis J. Gertsch and The Spider Book by John Henry Comstock, both of which combine a sense of poetry with scientific fact.[9] White incorporated details from Comstock's accounts of baby spiders, most notably the "flight" of the young spiders and also the way one of them climbs to the top of a fence before launching itself into the air.[9] White sent Gertsch’s book to illustrator Garth Williams.[10] Williams’ initial drawings depicted a spider with a woman’s face, and White suggested that he simply draw a realistic spider instead.[11]
White originally opened the novel with an introduction of Wilbur and the barnyard (which later became the third chapter), but then decided to begin the novel from a human perspective by introducing Fern and her family on the very first page.[10] White’s publishers were at one point concerned with the book’s ending and tried to get White to change it.[12]
Charlotte's Web has become White's most famous book. However, White treasured his privacy and the integrity of the farmyard and barn that helped inspire the novel, which have been kept off limits to the public according to his wishes
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