Other notable collections in 1991:
Authors Choice Monthly #22: Hedgework and Guessery by Charles de Lint (magical stories and poems, from Pulphouse); The Book of the Damned by Tamth Lee (three wonderful novellas, from The Overlook Press; The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez (a cycle of stories about a black lesbian vampire collected from various gay publications, from Firebrand Books); Vampires edited by Jane Yolen and Martin H. Greenberg (original YA fiction by a range of up-and-coming writers, from HarperCollins); Horse Fantastic and Catfantastic 11 edited by Martin H. Greenberg (enjoyable theme anthologies with original fiction, from Daw); The Walker Book of Ghost Stories edited by Susan Hill and illustrated by Angela Barrett (seventeen YA ghost stories, including some originals, from Walker UK); Great Tales of Jewish Occult and Fantasy: The Dybbuk and 30 Other Classic Stories, edited by Joachim Neugroshel (a reprint, from Wings); and Monkey Brain Sushi: New Tastes in Japanese Fiction edited by Alfred Birnbaum (contains Haruki Murakami, Eri Makino and more, from Kodansha).
A selection of recommended works of nonfiction published in 1991:
All My Roads Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis 1922-1927 edited by Walter Hooper (HBJ).
Wandering Ghost: The Odyssey ofLafcadio Hearn by Jonathan Cott (a biography of the man who brought Japanese literature and legendry to the western world, by Jonathan Cott—whose books are always a treat. Knopf).
Gilbert: The Man Who Was G. K. Chesterton by Michael Coren (Paragon House).
The Design of William Morris The Earthly Paradise by Florence Saunders Boos (a detailed examination of Morris’s epic poem, from The Edwin Mellen Press).
The Magical World of the Inklings by Gareth Knight (a biography of four members of the Inklings: Tolkien, Lewis, Williams and Owen Barfield, from Element, U.K.).
The Land of Narnia by Brian Sibley (a guide to the Narnia series for YA readers, from Harper and Row).
Chicago Days/Hoboken Nights by Daniel M. Pinkwater (a delightful memoir, from Addison-Wesley).
Don’t Tell the Grownups by Alison Lurie (a reprint edition of Lurie’s collected essays on children’s fiction, fantasy and fairy tales, from Avon).
Recommended new works on myth, legend and fairy tales.
The Old Wives Fairy Tale Book selected and retold by Angela Carter (the last collection put together before Carter s sudden death earlier this year, highly recommended; published by Pantheon. Carter was both a splendid writer and a folklore enthusiast—the fantasy field will sorely miss her).
Spells of Enchantment edited by Jack Zipes (a beautiful, fat collection of fairy tales—complete with a Warwick Goble cover—by one of the major scholars in the field; highly recommended. The volume is published by Viking, and is an excellent source book).
Arabian Nights: The Marvels and Wonders of the Thousand and One Nights, adaptation by Jack Zipes (from the classic Sir Richard Burton translation, published by Penguin).
The Book ofDede Korkut (an edition of the 10th Century Turkish magical epic, from the University of Texas, Austin).
Folktales from India edited by A. K. Ramanujan (the latest edition in the wonderful Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library, Pantheon/Random House).
Primal Myths: Creation Myths from Around the World by Barbara C. Sproul (from HarperCollins).
Myths of the Dog-Man by David Gordon White (from the University of Chicago Press).
Here All Dwell Free: Stories of the Wounded Feminine by Gertrude Mueller Nelson (a psychological investigation of fairy tale themes in a beautifully designed edition, from Doubleday).
Robin Hood by J. C. Holt (the history of the legend in a revised and expanded edition from Thames and Hudson).
Arthur the King by Graeme Fife (a nicely designed edition tracing the development of Arthurian literature, from Sterling Publishers, NY).
The Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends by Ronan Coghlan (available from Element, Rockport, MA).
Books by John Matthews, available this year from Aquarian Press/HarperCollins:
An Arthurian Reader (with a lovely Burne-Jones cover).
A Celtic Reader: Selections from Celtic Legends, Scholarship and Story (with a lovely John Duncan cover).
The Song of Taliesin: Stories and Poems from the Books ofBroceliande (paperback edition).
Children’s picture books are a source of magical fantasy tales as well as of the very best enchanted artwork created today. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in particular had a plethora of beautiful books this year. Particularly recommended in 1991:
Wings, the story of Icarus retold by Jane Yolen, with gorgeous paintings by Dennis Nolan (HBJ).
The All Jahdu Storybook, fifteen Trickster tales by Newbery winner Virginia Hamilton, with masterful illustrations by Barry Moser (HBJ).
Pish, Posh, Said Hieronymus Bosch by Nancy Willard with exquisitely detailed paintings by Leo and Diane Dillon in the spirit of Bosch himself (HBJ).
Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde. Even if you already own Wilde’s fairy tales, take a look at this one for the splendid illustrations by P. J. Lynch (Macmillan).
The Happy Prince and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde. This is a facsimile of the 1913 edition—with the Charles Robinson illustrations—of Wilde’s wonderful literary fairy tales. The volume is part of Peter Classman’s beautiful Books of Wonder Series (Morrow).
The Three Princesses: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Cooper Edens has interspersed the text with illustrations from over fifty classic editions (by artists like Rackham, Dulac, Dore, Crane and Goble). This doesn’t make for a satisfying read or a satisfying book for children, but it is a lovely collection for adult art lovers. (Published by Bantam, it is a compilation of Eden’s former Green Tiger Press editions, beautifully designed.)
Jim Hensons The Story-teller is a fine collection of nine fairy tales based on the late Henson’s Emmy-winning television series. The stories are retold by Anthony Minghella and beautifully illustrated by Darcy May. It is a lovely tribute to a creative man greatly missed in our field (Knopf).
Another source for interesting artwork is the area of adult comics and graphic novels. The following are several collections I’d recommend for fantasy readers and fine-art lovers new to the adult comics field:
Hawk and Wolverine, text by Walter Simonson and Louise Simonson, art by Kent Williams and the stunning painter Jon J. Muth (Epic).
Black Orchid, text by World Fantasy Award-winner Neil Gaiman and art by World Fantasy Award-winner Dave McKean (DC).
The Sandman Collections, text by Neil Gaiman, art by Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, Kelly Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, Malcolm Jones III (DC).
V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd (DC).
The Love and Rockets Collections, Los Bros. Hernandez (Fantagraphics).
Other art works of interest published in 1991:
The Lord of the Rings, illustrated by Alan Lee. This is a lavish anniversary edition with fifty new paintings by one of the finest watercolorists living today. The publisher’s production job washes out some of the beauty of the stunning original paintings, but this is still an edition to be treasured for a lifetime (Unwin Hyman, U.K./Houghton Mifflin, U.S.).