The Google Book ~ A Dark Forgotten Fairytale [Illustrated]

* Illustrated

“FAR! FAR away, the Google lives, in a land which only children can go to. It is a wonderful land of funny flowers, and birds, and hills of pure white heather.”
So begins this fascinating, rare and forgotten book, a naturalist’s guide for a fabulous world which never was. This is a deluxe illustrated edition of THE GOOGLE BOOK, a strangely truncated children’s story about a far-off land and the hungry monster that dwells there.

THE GOOGLE BOOK (a name, it seems, far predating the Internet conglomerate) was written in 1913 by an eccentric gentleman, Vincent Cartwright Vickers, while he was serving as Governor of the Bank of England. He illustrated this outlandish book himself, with beautiful surrealist works which seem to predate Edward Gorey’s AMPHIGOREY as well as Maurice Sendak’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. The book is clearly inspired by the darker imaginings of Lewis Carroll, particularly JABBERWOCKY and THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK. There is a strange dose of medieval bestiaries, topped of Edward Lear-like nonsense, to be found here as well.

An early example of the creepy tale for children, THE GOOGLE BOOK hearkens back to an age when books of the imagination were meant to be full of wonder, haunting illustrations, and witty wordplay. This e-book edition includes the original illustrations, as well as close-up details of some of the more intriguing creatures of Google Land.

THE GOOGLE BOOK is a nonesuch work, a remarkable curiosity for the reader who holds an appreciation for the secret, the oblique and the absurd.