They Go to Mass; Introibo ad altare Dei
London and New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1938. First edition. 12 mo. (7 1/4 inches tall), original pictorial paper boards, front panel decorated in color, original glassine wrapper. Book fine, glassine wrapper chipped and torn but intact. A beautiful copy. Item #1865
"THE CHILD GOES FORWARD TO RECEIVE FROM OUR LORD'S HAND THE BREAD OF ANGELS"
Scarce first edition of They Go to Mass—illustrated in color throughout with a sense of divine wonder by the liturgical artist Frances W. Delehanty—and "Dedicated to the Memory of His Holiness Pius X." This is a publisher's Review Copy, with an original printed slip (with the dollar price stamped in red ink) laid-in and "Editorial Copy" stamped in ink on the rear flyleaf. An exceptional copy of a beautiful book, complete as published with the original glassine wrapper.
A letterpress edition with calligraphic text in Latin and English, They Go to Mass was published by Longmans during the revival of the house under Tom Burns, who had come from Sheed and Ward in 1936 to revive "the great centenarian house of Longman, Green & Co. It had a long (but now lost) tradition of Catholic as well as Anglican publishing" (Tom Burns). Guided by an Angel, a small Child (accompanied throughout by "his Lamb—the image of innocence—and his Dove—the image of prayer—which rises to heaven") learns about the Mass. They Go to Mass was the successor to Delehanty's earlier Canticle of the Three Children in the Fiery Furnace (1936). With her illustrated Dedication to Pope Pius X, who encouraged the liturgy for children, and with her special thank you ("Solesmes / July 1937") to the "late Reverend Father Dom Paul Chauvin O.S.B." The French Benedictine had provided a touching introduction to her Canticle of the Three Children. Tom Burns. The Use of Memory: Publishing and Other Pursuits.
Price: $200.00