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In 1929 Coward-McCann published a new edition of Uncle Tom's
Cabin with "over 60 illustrations" as part of their ADVENTURE BOOKS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS series. Although the dust
jacket copy proclaims that Stowe's "famous masterpiece" has been "specially
edited for children and is admirably suited for use both at home and in
school," the edition reprints Stowe's original text without changes. The
illustrations by James Daugherty, however, are definitely a re-vision of the
book 19th century readers knew. As The New York Times put it when
noting the book's publication on 17 November 1929, Daugherty's illustrations
"are all very much in the modern manner, with the exaggerated touches that
suggest caricature." They also suggest The Twenties: in many of the
drawings the slaves look like they're putting on a show at the Cotton
Club. On the first page of the front matter the pictures are described as a
"beautiful and graphic vision of the old South before the war."
Frankly it's not easy to see why Coward-McCann thought the
illustrations made the book one to "recommend . . . to boys and girls who are
studying their country's history in grade or high school" -- unless, like
various other "Tommers" before them, they felt they could attract more
customers by marketing their product to and for children. As part of the
ADVENTURE BOOKS series it was kept in print at least
until the 1940s.
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