This is the second copy of “Tales from the Igloo,” I've snatched up--it is really a wonderful book! I If I had the means I'd become a great collector of Inuit art, but as I don't, the Alice Nanogak drawings in the book are the next best thing. This hardcover first edition, published in 1972, features 22 stories edited & translated by Maurice Metayer interspersed with 31 fantastic full page, full-color illustrations by Nanogak that communicate the same legends visually—and which I think I could look at every day and never tire of!
The stories themselves, specific to the Kitlinermiut or “Copper” Inuit population of the Canadian Arctic and passed across generations orally, were collected through audio recordings and translated to create this book. With titles such as “The Deceitful Raven”, “The Lazy Son-in-law,” “The Blind Boy and the Loon,” the stories are at turns inspiring, brutal, and provocative—definitely as much a book for adults as children. I would keep this on the coffee table or nightstand to look at very frequently!
6 1/4" x 8 5/8" x 3/4". 127 pages. The dustcover is well worn and torn but the book itself is in good to very good condition, with a l little foxing to the first couple of pages.