{"product_id":"horton-hatches-the-egg-by-dr-seuss-random-house-hardcover-c-1985-1989","title":"Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss, Random House Hardcover, c. 1985–1989","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA large-format hardcover in apple green, and the drawing does the whole job. Horton sits high in a tree that is far too small for him, all four feet gathered onto a bent branch, wings of grass scratched in below in heavy black. He is rendered entirely in white with hatched pen lines — no colour on the elephant at all — and his expression is the thing: patient, mildly embarrassed, entirely committed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title floats above him in three white speech-clouds, the words set in a warm orange that carries across to DR. SEUSS at the foot, laid over a band of black brush-drawn grass.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe boards are laminated with a good gloss on them. The spine is green with the title running across it in orange and RANDOM HOUSE at the tail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is early Seuss and it matters. \u003cem\u003eHorton Hatches the Egg\u003c\/em\u003e was first published in \u003cstrong\u003e1940\u003c\/strong\u003e — seventeen years before \u003cem\u003eThe Cat in the Hat\u003c\/em\u003e, before Beginner Books existed, before the vocabulary-controlled reader was even an idea. Geisel was still an advertising man who drew.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe origin is one of the better accidents in publishing: he has said a sketch of an elephant on tracing paper blew across his desk and landed on top of a drawing of a tree, and he spent the next while working out what an elephant would be doing up there.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat he arrived at is a book about keeping your word when it costs you everything — Horton sits the egg through weather, hunters, a sea voyage and a circus, and the refrain about an elephant's faithfulness is the moral hammered flat enough for a four-year-old to carry out of the room. It is the most straightforwardly ethical thing Seuss wrote, and Horton was durable enough that Geisel brought him back twenty-four years later for \u003cem\u003eHorton Hears a Who!\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStated plainly: \u003cstrong\u003ethis is a later printing, not a 1940 first edition.\u003c\/strong\u003e A true first is a scarce and expensive book. What this is, is the standard Random House hardcover in a large format that displays properly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eHardcover book\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eTitle\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eHorton Hatches the Egg\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAuthor\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ePublisher\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eRandom House, New York\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eLarge-format illustrated laminated hardcover, no dust jacket\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ec. 1985–1989. Later printing; first published 1940.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eVery good. The binding is tight and square with no loose or missing pages, and the text and illustrations are clean, bright and unmarked throughout. The laminated boards are glossy and the green is strong. There is light rubbing at the corners and spine ends, minor surface scuffing, and a small pale mark to the elephant on the front board. No tears, no inscriptions, no odour. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eApple green with orange lettering is a combination almost nothing else on a shelf will give you, and at this size the cover works as a picture rather than as a book. Face-out on a nursery shelf, on a picture ledge, or leaning at the end of a run, it holds its own against framed art at a fraction of the cost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is also the Seuss title people forget they love. Everyone owns the Cat; far fewer have this one, and anybody who had it as a child recognises that elephant in the tree instantly. That makes it a better gift than the obvious choice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd the story is worth the shelf space on its own terms. It is about staying when leaving would be easier, which is a thing worth reading to a child more than once.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA note on care: keep it out of direct sun — the green will go chalky and the orange lettering will fade first. Clean the boards with a dry or barely damp cloth only; cleaners cloud and lift lamination. Shelve upright rather than under a stack, since pressure on a large thin book warps the boards. If it goes to a child, expect new wear and accept it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48029597663337,"sku":null,"price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_37382.jpg?v=1788998736","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/horton-hatches-the-egg-by-dr-seuss-random-house-hardcover-c-1985-1989","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}