In the Beginning

HAMILTON, Virginia. In the Beginning. Creation Stories from Around the World. Illustrated by Barry Moser. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich [1988]. 4to, xii 163pp. Red quarter cloth stamped in gold with turquoise boards stamped in gold. Light brown endpapers; 40 full-page, full-color illustrations. A fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (no medal affixed). Inscribed by the artist, Barry Moser, to his three-time collaborator Newbery Medalist Nancy Willard, and with a bookplate signed by both the author, Newbery Medalist Virginia Hamilton, and illustrator Barry Moser, laid in.

First edition. 1989 Newbery Honor Book! AN ASSOCIATION COPY being inscribed by the artist to Newbery Medalist Nancy Willard, who collaborated with Moser on three projects. A collection of twenty-five creation myth stories that will engage and fascinate readers while introducing them to cultures around the world. Researched extensively by both author and illustrator, each story includes one or more illustrations — all stunning complements to the text. Each story is followed by author comments explaining its origin. The stories in this book reflect the wonderful range of the human imagination. In an Eskimo myth, for example, the first man pushes his way out of a pea pod. In a story from the Kono people of Guinea, death starts the world. A dramatic myth from China tells that the universe was originally in the shape of a hen’s egg – and from this burst the first being. Intriguing, often humorous, and always fascinating.