Friday 28 September 2018

Reading Smoky the Cowhorse in 1947


In the photo above and below, a teenager is captured—in dramatic lighting—sprawled in an armchair reading Will James's Smoky the Cowhorse (1926), winner of the 1927 Newbery Medal.

The cover art on the book matches the New York, Grosset and Dunlap editions of 1926–1940s. Since the vendor is based in New York, it is likely that this photo was taken on the East Coast of America, if not in New York itself. The verso is dated “2–8–47” (i.e., February 8, 1947), not long after the end of WW2. Beyond that, I know nothing (except that this is an evocative image, which had to be worth the trifling sum I paid for it).