To Every Thing There Is a Season. Verses from Ecclesiastes
New York: The Blue Sky Press / Scholastic, (1998). Single volume, measuring 10 x 10 inches: [42]. Original glossy color pictorial boards, original unclipped color pictorial dust jacket, color pictorial endpapers. Color illustrations on every page. Inscribed “For Daniel” and signed by both Dillons, dated “1998/9/27” on title page.
First trade edition of Leo and Diane Dillon’s illustrated tribute to the Book of Ecclesiastes, inscribed by both illustrators. Among the most quoted of all Bible verses, these Old Testament lines resonate across cultures, reminding readers of the experiences that all people share: “To every thing there is a season, / And a time to every purpose under the heaven: / A time to be born, / and a time to die.” To honor the universality of the verses, the Dillons virtuosically illustrate each line of the King James version in the style of a different civilization: Egyptian tomb murals, Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, Indian manuscript illuminations, medieval European woodcuts, aboriginal Australian bark paintings, and more. The Dillons won numerous awards over the course of their long career, including back-to-back Caldecott Medals in 1976 and 1977, for Ashanti to Zulu and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, the only consecutive medals given to date. To Every Thing There Is a Season was their fortieth picture book. A fine copy, inscribed by the celebrated husband-and-wife illustration team.
Price: $75.00