Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #190154 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

From the Author
The woodblock, whether cut with a knife or engraved, develops its image by bringing details out of darkness into the light. This seems to give it an advantage over ways of working that start with an empty white area. In a sense, what is happening is already there in the darkness, and cutting the block involves letting only enough light into the field of vision to reveal what is going on. .... The measuring stick, if anyone is making a list of what is or is not a pictorial narrative, is whether the communication of what is and what is happening is accomplished entirely or predominantly in visual terms. .... It has always been a matter of some surprise to me that this process can go on for a considerable period and all take place silently. I hear no sound; there is never a word spoken.

- excerpt from Storyteller Without Words - the Wood Engravings of Lynd Ward 1974, Harry N. Abrams Publisher

Customer Reviews

Essential "Reading"
I discovered this book when I was 16. It is a tale told only in woodcuts, sublimely, by Lynd Ward. There is no wanting for the written word here. Each page is meticulously cafted to take you, step-by-step, through the story of an artist who makes a pact with "Evil" to gain fame and fortune, only to come to realize that those goals are not worthy of desire in the first place.

I have given copies of this book away to people that I thought could use some amazement in their lives. Each time I did so, I scrambled to find another copy for myself.

I cannot recommend this work higher. It will appeal to any age; preschooler to octogenarian (older, if you're so lucky!). The tale is universal and the art is masterful.