Author Description

A deluxe bilingual hardcover edition of Max und Moritz, Wilhelm Busch's classic children's book of 1865. The original illustrations and German verses are shown side by side with new, closer, English translations. These concentrate on copying Busch's use of simple straightforward language whose natural prose rhythm follows the 2/4 meter of his lines so well. The translations try to follow the originals as closely as possible, word by word, line by line, picture by picture, until at the very end of the last "streich", where the putting of two small children to death in such a gruesome manner, for such minor mischief, is taken as a punishment more appropriate for the two monsters who would do such a thing. New water coloring has been added to the pictures. A page at the end describes the making of "Suncatchers" - stained glass window hangings - in the shape of figures from the book. The front cover, instead of the usual portrait of Max and Moritz, shows the picture of the two dancing in delight as the bridge collapses under the tailor; and the back cover shows the same scene in stained glass.