From inside a stained and well-worn cover, treasures from
the Golden Age of fine book illustration
by Larry Cottrill, Director, Cottrill Cyclodyne Corporation
Boyhood wonder ...
One of the joys of my childhood was the personal library of my father's parents,
Clarence and Sophie Cottrill. On the wages of a career postal worker, my grandfather
put together an eclectic set of books from the 1920s through the 1950s. While I now
realize that this collection was quite small, it always seemed wonderful to me --
but the most wonderful of all was this big, old Rand-McNally edition of Twenty
Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
The first time I took this book off the shelf, I had just seen the beautiful
[but somewhat inaccurate] 1954 Disney film interpretation, so I dug eagerly into
the book. At that time, I had probably never heard the cliche expression, "The
book was better," but even as a seven-year-old boy, I immediately realized that reading the
book was a higher order of experience in many respects. Through the Schuyler
translation, Verne spun in my young imagination a wondrous tale of impossible
yet shockingly believable adventure, pulling me into the strange submarine
world of the vengeance-driven genius calling himself Captain Nemo. I was captivated
by the author's erudite style and brilliant sense of detail.
Even in these days of
safe, affordable sport diving and Man In The Sea projects [and in spite of a few
technical errors in terms of physics and marine biology - remember, Verne was writing
in the 1880s!], the book is still a thing of wondrous literary magic, and justly retains
its place as one of the great early classics in the science fiction genre.
The illustrations ...
Not the least of the delights in this edition are the brilliant color
renderings of the much-lauded illustrator, Milo Winter. In these masterful
illustrations, the artist brings out wonderful visual conceptions of key moments
in the story line, perfectly complementing the printed text. There is wonderful
'life and breath' in these paintings, and I remember eagerly studying them time and
time again in visits to my grandparents' home, even years after I had finished my
first read of the book.
Without falling into the camps of being either stylishly avant-garde or slavishly
realistic, these paintings turn out to be a brilliant example of fine book
illustration in what could arguably be called the Golden Age of that art genre.
I have always particularly thought that Winter had a wonderful sense of composition,
especially in capturing the visual drama of a scene. Just scroll down through the eight thumbnail representations below
to see what I mean!
Now, an opportunity for you to own this beautiful and
unusual artwork to display proudly in your own home or office
Three factors aligned themselves to make this offer possible: [1] My possession of
my late grandfather's copy of this edition; [2] my skills as a former professional photographer;
and [3] the fact that printed works published before 1923 can be freely copied. This means that
these wonderful examples of the craft of Milo Winter can now be made available to the public,
not to just the few collectors of old books who happen across a good copy of this edition!
Recently taking a critical look at my copy, I found the printed pages and the brilliant color
plates to be in as good condition as I remembered them! The quality of this edition must have
been very good for its day - not only are the colors in the plates still well-saturated
and vibrant, but even the text pages are only slightly darkened to a fairly uniform light ivory
tone. [The only detractions from the beauty of the interior of the book are the general
weakening of the binding, and occasional pencil notations here or there in the text.]
As a former professional photographer, it occurred to me that the juxtaposition
of each rendering with the text of the facing page could make a beautiful and unusual
photographic work of art for display in a home or office setting. Why not, then, produce
top-quality reproductions in this 'open book' style and offer them to the public?
Here's what you get:
Posters are printed on heavy weight, bright white, acid-free paper, 11 x 17 inches
[about 28 x 43 cm] outside dimensions. Sorry, larger sizes are not available due to very high
printing costs of larger sizes in these Limited Edition quantities. 'Graphic' posters are
'portrait' format [vertical] while the specially-designed 'Diptych' style posters are
'landscape' format [horizontal]. They are shipped carefully rolled in an ample, rugged
mailing tube. I will only accept up to five posters in a single order, and will only ship
a maximum of five posters in a single tube! If you want more, you'll need a second order.
All US shipments are Priority Mail with Confirmation [i.e. a tracking number].
[Foreign shipments are by the most economical means available with proof of mailing, and
promptness of delivery cannot be guaranteed.] Shipment will be within five business days of placing your order.
All payments are through PayPal, and if you don't
have a PayPal membership, you can choose
from several common credit cards when you order.
Please note that these are strictly limited
editions - there will be ABSOLUTELY NO MORE THAN 1,000 PRINTED of each poster offered!
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Now, choose from eight full-color mini-poster
size photo print quality replica editions to
grace the decor of any home ...
Poster I (Frontispiece):
Ned Land under the bowsprit of the Abraham Lincoln
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Graphic poster (portrait): $ 20.00US
TTL-01: 11 x 17 inches [28 x 43 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Dyptic poster (landscape): $ 20.00US
TTL-D01: 17 x 11 inches [43 x 28 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Inscription:
The Canadian, his body thrown slightly backward, brandished his
harpoon in an experienced hand |
Poster II:
A museum in which an intelligent, if a spendthrift, hand ...
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Graphic poster (portrait): $ 20.00US
TTL-02: 11 x 17 inches [28 x 43 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Dyptic poster (landscape): $ 20.00US
TTL-D02: 17 x 11 inches [43 x 28 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Inscription:
A museum in which an intelligent, if a spendthrift, hand had
gathered an amazing medley of the best treaures of nature and art |
Poster III:
All these and many other wonders I saw ...
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Graphic poster (portrait): $ 20.00US
TTL-03: 11 x 17 inches [28 x 43 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Dyptic poster (landscape): $ 20.00US
TTL-D03: 17 x 11 inches [43 x 28 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Inscription:
All these and many other wonders I saw within the space of a
quarter of a mile |
Poster IV:
The canoes at a given signal approached the "Nautilus" ...
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Graphic poster (portrait): $ 20.00US
TTL-04: 11 x 17 inches [28 x 43 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Dyptic poster (landscape): $ 20.00US
TTL-D04: 17 x 11 inches [43 x 28 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Inscription:
The canoes at a given signal approached the "Nautilus" and a
shower of missiles alighted on her |
Poster V:
He threw himself aside with amazing quickness ...
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Graphic poster (portrait): $ 20.00US
TTL-05: 11 x 17 inches [28 x 43 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Dyptic poster (landscape): $ 20.00US
TTL-D05: 17 x 11 inches [43 x 28 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Inscription:
He threw himself aside with amazing quickness, avoiding the shock
of collision and at the same second driving his dagger into its side |
Poster VI:
There, indeed, right beneath my eyes, lay a town ...
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Graphic poster (portrait): $ 20.00US
TTL-06: 11 x 17 inches [28 x 43 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Dyptic poster (landscape): $ 20.00US
TTL-D06: 17 x 11 inches [43 x 28 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Inscription:
There, indeed, right beneath my eyes, lay a town that had been
destroyed |
Poster VII:
Captain Nemo unfurled a black banner which bore an "N" ...
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Graphic poster (portrait): $ 20.00US
TTL-07: 11 x 17 inches [28 x 43 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Dyptic poster (landscape): $ 20.00US
TTL-D07: 17 x 11 inches [43 x 28 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Inscription:
Captain Nemo unfurled a black banner which bore an "N" in gold
quartered on its bunting |
Poster VIII:
The unhappy sailor was brandished in the air ...
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Graphic poster (portrait): $ 20.00US
TTL-08: 11 x 17 inches [28 x 43 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Dyptic poster (landscape): $ 20.00US
TTL-D08: 17 x 11 inches [43 x 28 cm, approx.]
Shipping and handling, world-wide: FREE!
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Inscription:
The unhappy sailor was brandished in the air at the caprice of
this huge trunk |
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P.S.
These are available NOW for the first time anywhere.
Don't miss your chance to choose from these eight full-color photo print quality posters to
accent your home or office ...
Order Today!
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Larry Cottrill
Director of Product Development
Cottrill Cyclodyne Corporation
Soli Deo Gloria
Johann Sebastian Bach 1685 - 1750
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