The two travel books – plot, Mac of the Marines – first editions of THE BIG LITTLE BOOK series.
Mac of the Marines in Africa by Mark Smith. WHITMAN PUBLISHED, with dozens of illustrations, WISCONSIN 1936 – First Edition. 424 [4] p.
Mac of the Marines in China by Mark Smith with dozens of illustrations by Frank J. Hoban. WHITMAN PUBLISHED, WISCONSIN 1938 – First Edition. 424 [4] p. 12 cm.
Two books documenting the travels of ‘Mac’ from the Marines in Africa and China. One of the first children’s books that were intended to convey to young the revelations of continents and of life that they did not knew, in a humorous way. Both are thick pocket editions with illustrated hardcovers and dozens of illustrations in each. On every second page of each book there is an illustration of a theme from the plot on the page to the right of the text – In total about 200 illustrations in each of them.
The series “The Big Little Books” began to be published in 1932 and soon became a great success in America and abroad. The stories included comics, children’s books, novels, and books based on movies and they were sold for $10. WHITMAN Publishing was the first to publish books in this format. Not all the books in the series appeared in the same format of text on the left and an impressive graphic illustration on the right, therefore the early illustrated books such as the ones before us are considered more sought after. In the later books published in the series the illustrations appeared in color after the company changed its name to “Better Little Books”.
Both books are in good – very good condition.
