-1937 Zebrology

H. A. Rey’s wordless narrative, Zebrology, is deceptive. It is sophisticated adult reading in the guise of a children’s fable. It’s a satirical jab at the Nazi Race Laws of the 1930s. For a discussion of this see H. A. Rey – Satirist or Subversive?

This 8 panel wordless novel purports to explain how Zebras were the result of a romance between a white horse and a black horse – Warning – this may not be scientifically accurate.

The full 8 panels can be seen at the bottom of this page but in black and white from the later German publication, not in their original colour.

It was published by at least the following publishers:

• Chatto & Windus did at least 4 printings starting in 1937; with colour images
• The Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd – Chatto & Windus archives (Reading, UK) received press clippings from Macmillan in 1938 showing reviews in Canadian newspapers of Zebrology stating the book was published by Macmillan and selling for 35 cents. When contacted, Macmillan archives (at McMaster University) did not have any records of print runs or of the reviews.
  • Any information about the Macmillan publication would be appreciated with a credit line to the contributor.
• The Courier Magazine printed the story in 1938 and then reprinted it in 1948 as part of a 10th Anniversary edition.
• Das Blatt der Hausfrau printed the story in 1940 but used black and white images and a German title.

Chatto & Windus

• Title: Zebrology
• Author: H. A. Rey
• Illustrator: Hans Augusto Reyersbach aka H. A. Rey
• Date of publication: 1937
• ISBN: not applicable except for 1979 anomaly as below
• Publisher: Chatto & Windus
• Place of publication: London
• Printer: W. S. Cowell, Ltd: Ipswich
• Copyright: Chatto & Windus
• Dust jacket: No
• slipcase: none
• Binding: red cord; three hole punched
• Boards: thin card
• Language: English titles, etc
• Paginated: unpaginated
• Printed: verso and recto
• Edition: Trade only
• Printed: Rey’s watercolours were reproduced in colour using a half-tone process
• Description: published in 8 panels
• Image sizes: All images, regardless of the size of the booklet, used Cowell’s plates and they were all the same size.

1937 – 1st printing

• October 1937; 3200 copies were ordered and delivered
• booklet size: 5 1/2 x 7 3/8”

1937 – 2nd Impression

• December 1937, 2000 copies ordered and delivered
• presumably also 5 1/2 x 7 3/8”
• image needed. If you have a copy of the 2nd impression, please send me an image of the back cover and I will give you a photo credit.

1938 – 3rd impression

• New Enlarged Edition (C&W wording); all the images are the same size as above but the booklet was enlarged to 7 x 9″;
• May 1938; 5,250 copies were ordered and were delivered in September and October 1938.

1953 – 4th Impression

• Edition reduced in size: the size of the booklets was reduced to 4 x 9″,
• June 1953: 10,000 copies of the Fourth Impression were ordered and were printed in September 1953,
• 7,141 bound copies were delivered in 1953, 600 copies were delivered in 1964/65, and 1,542 copies were delivered in 1979,
• Note: C&W library records indicate that a copy of Zebrology (4^th impression) was published in 1979 with ISBN13: 9780701110758. A search on Amazon for this ISBN number will bring up a listing with a publication date of Dec 31, 1979 (no copies available). Since all copies were printed in 1953, the 1979 date would not seem that relevant and may have more to do with legal or bureaucratic matters.

Courier Magazine Ltd.

Based on the advertisements, Courier appears to have catered to an upper middle-class and upper class demographic. It attempts to strike a “smart” tone with a number of satirical articles along with coverage of the arts, fashion, and current events. The issues (at least in the late 1930s) have an emphasis on the actions of Germany.

Courier 1938 Autumn edition

• Publisher: The Courier Magazine Ltd.
• Place of publication: London
• Printer: this issue appears to have used 4 printers for different portions of the publication but Zebrology was printed by W. S. Cowell Ltd (Cowell had the negatives used for the Chatto & Windus publications)
• Dimensions: 9 3/4 x 7 1/2″ (not including the comb binding)
• Binding: plastic comb
• Unpaginated for the Zebrology portion printed by Cowell but it occupies pp 155 – 158
• Printed: verso and recto on four pages
• Edition: Trade only,
• Images are the same size as those in the Chatto & Windus publications

Courier January 1948 – Tenth Anniversary edition

• Publisher: Norman Kark (Kark was the Managing Director at the time The Courier published the 1938 issue)
• Place of publication: London
• Printer: Merritt and Hatcher Ltd. (not W. S. Cowell Ltd Courier used earlier)
• Dimensions: 7 x 7 1/2″
• Images are smaller than those in the earlier publications. Also they are only done in black line with blue shading and not the full colour used in the earlier publications.
• Binding: perfect binding
• Unpaginated for the Zebrology portion but it occupies pp 94 – 96
• Printed: verso and recto on three pages
• Only six of the eight original images were used to tell the story for the 1948 edition.

Das Blatt der Hausfrau 1940 (The Housewife’s Paper)

This was a German twice monthly magazine with entertainment, stories, and household management advice. At least in the late 1930s it only occasionally had cartoons. H. A. Rey is the only artist who appeared in multiple (3) editions during this time.

Title: Geburt des Zebras (Birth of the Zebra)
Author: H. A. Rey
Illustrator: H. A. Rey
Date of publication: 1940 no. 22: p. 656; July
Publisher: Deutscher Verlag
Place of publication: Berlin
Copyright: Chatto & Windus
Language: German titles, etc
Paper: Nazis were expanding (but not at war yet) and supplies may have been scarce. This publication was on newsprint and the images were reproduced in black and white half-tone.

Description: below is a detail from p. 656 showing all 8 panels of the story.

A comment was made suggesting this was also reprinted in another German magazine. Any information in this regard would be appreciated. wn@wordlessnovels.com

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