I spotted this in a Goodwill book-bin and snatched it. What a little treasure to come across! In 1931, the young commercial artist Theodore Seuss Geisel, who had already assumed the non-de-plume of “Dr. Seuss”, was commissioned to illustrate three collections of amusing quotes from school essays. His biography states that it was this that convinced him that he should try making a book for children. Dr. Seuss’ inimitable style is already evident in these illustrations. The schoolboy bloopers selected are still very funny. Some examples: “Gravity was discovered by Isaac Walton. It is chiefly noticeable in the autumn, when apples are falling off trees”, “The Zodiac is the Zoo of the Sky, where lions, goats, virgins and other animals go after they are dead”, “A cow is very like a bull, but a bull hurts more”, “To stop a nosebleed, stand on your head till your heart stops beating.”, “The artichoke was an ancient instrument of torture”, “Heredity means that if your grandfather didn’t have any children, then your father probably wouldn’t have had any, and neither would you, probably.”, “Thomas Paine was a rare individual, obsessed by common sense.”, “Canadians raise bowl weevils for their wool.”, and who could forget “Socrates was addicted to hemlock, which eventually corrupted his morals.”? Dr. Seuss’s drawings do full justice to these gems of error. I don’t doubt that this book is collectible, but it would take a gang of furious Scotsmen armed with claymores to pry it away from me. [apparently it isn’t worth anything much — a friend checked up on it]
contents:
14638. (Dr. Seuss & Alexander Abingdon) Boners, Being a Collection of Schoolboy Wisdom, or
. . . . . Knowledge as it is Sometimes Written, Compiled from Classrooms and Examination
. . . . . Papers by Alexander Abingdon & Illustrated by Dr. Seuss
14639. (Dr. Seuss & Alexander Abingdon) More Boners
14640. (Dr. Seuss & Alexander Abingdon) Still More Boners
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