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Cynthia Harnett (1893–1981)

Teoksen The Wool-Pack tekijä

16+ teosta 946 jäsentä 5 arvostelua 4 Favorited

Tietoja tekijästä

Sisältää nimet: Harnett Cynthia, Cynthia Harnett

Tekijän teokset

The Wool-Pack (1951) 334 kappaletta
The Load of Unicorn (1959) 187 kappaletta
Ring Out Bow Bells! (1953) 121 kappaletta
The Writing on the Hearth (1971) 105 kappaletta
The Great House (1949) 102 kappaletta
Stars of Fortune (1956) 78 kappaletta
Monasteries & Monks (1963) 4 kappaletta
BOB-TAIL PUP (1947) 4 kappaletta
Ducks and Drakes, (1949) 2 kappaletta
Two and a Bit (1948) 2 kappaletta
Mudlarks 2 kappaletta
Merchant's Mark 1 kappale
Junk, the Puppy 1 kappale
Sand Hoppers 1 kappale

Associated Works

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Yleistieto

Syntymäaika
1893-06-22
Kuolinaika
1981-10-25
Sukupuoli
female
Kansalaisuus
UK
Syntymäpaikka
London, England, UK
Koulutus
Chelsea School of Art
Ammatit
children's book author
historical novelist
illustrator
Suhteet
Stokes, Vernon (cousin)
Lyhyt elämäkerta
Cynthia Harnett was born in London and educated privately. She studied at the Chelsea School of Art, and later collaborated with her cousin G(eorge) Vernon Stokes, also an artist, on several picture books for children such as Junk, the Puppy (1937). Cynthia Harnett then turned to writing historical novels for children, based on meticulous background research and filled with exceptionally detailed and vivid language and images, which she also illustrated herself. Her first was The Great House (1949), the story of a late 17th-century architect. The Wool-Pack (1951), which concerned the life of a 16-century wool merchant in the Cotswolds, won Cynthia Harnett the Carnegie Medal and was so popular it was reprinted 11 times in hardcover over the next 25 years. Her next work, Ring Out, Bow Bells! (1953), presented the story of the historical Dick Whittington, who grew up to be Lord Mayor of London. Later works included Stars of Fortune (1956) and The Load of Unicorn (1959). Some of the books changed title when they were published in the USA: for example, Ring Out Bow Bells! became At the Sign of the Green Falcon, and The Load of Unicorn was re-named The Cargo of the Maddalena. In contrast to other authors of the 1950s, whose characters were often to be found in the thick of war and politics, Cynthia Harnett set her stories in the everyday life of (mostly) rural families, using the great world beyond as backdrop.

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Mustygusher | Dec 19, 2022 |
Cynthia Harnett, who wrote historical stories for children set in the Middle Ages, often incorporated real-life characters such as Dick Whittington (in Ring out Bow Bells) and William Caxton in this book, The Load of Unicorn.

It is so many years since I read it last (maybe 40!) that I'd forgotten the meaning of the unusual title of this book. Unicorn in this context is not the mythical beast but a 'brand' of paper with a unicorn watermark (the cover illustration shows people unloading some Unicorn paper from a ship). The book is set in the late 15th century at the time that Caxton is just establishing his printing press in London, and part of the plot concerns the conflict this causes, as the scriveners (scribes) fear being put out of business by this new-fangled technology, and some use disreputable means to sabotage Caxton's business. A young boy, Bendy (Benedict), is at the heart of this conflict: his father and stepbrothers are scriveners, but he is taken on as an apprentice by William Caxton.

The plot also incorporates another historical figure, Sir Thomas Malory, suggesting how Caxton might have come by the manuscript of his Arthurian tales. There are deeper and darker themes too than commercial rivalry and the history of printing - glory and chivalry, dishonour, treachery and danger are all encountered by young Bendy who learns that the world is a more complex place than his daydreams about chivalrous knights.
… (lisätietoja)
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gennyt | May 10, 2014 |
A Historical mystery. Suspenseful, dramatic and well researched.
 
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Eurekas | Sep 22, 2012 |
Excellent historical fiction for children. The objects which feature in the vignettes can mostly be seen in the Museum of London.
I was partly inspired to become a museum curator by this book ... so it was rather a shock to come face to face with the objects in my first job!
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Rivendell | Feb 22, 2007 |

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16
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3
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946
Suosituimmuussija
#27,177
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4.1
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5
ISBN:t
33
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3
Kuinka monen suosikki
4

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