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Babar King of the Elephants
See current stock of Jean De Brunhoff books
Babar, the peace-loving elephant was created by Jean De Brunhoff who was born in Paris on 9th December 1899. Jean studied Art at L'Academie de la Grande-Chaumiere in Paris and here he became close friends with fellow pupil Emile Sabourand. They had much in common. Besides their wealthy, middle-class backgrounds both families loved music and literature.
Jean became a frequent visitor to the Sabourand home and this is where he met his wife Cecile, who was Emile's younger sister. Jean and Cecile married in October 1924. Jean and Cecile's first son, Laurent, was born on 30th August 1925, their second, Mathieu, on the 28th July 1926 and their third, Thierry in 1934.
Jean was inspired when he heard Cecile telling their two boys a bedtime story about an elephant. Jean named the elephant 'Babar' and produced some pictures in bright and clear colours. It was Jean's brother, Michel, and brother-in-law who saw its potential and as they were magazine publishers they soon arranged for Jardin Des Modes to issue L'Histoire De Babar Le Petit Elephant as a large picture book just before Christmas 1931.
Jean owed his initial popularity with the British children to A.A. Milne. Milne had seen the French edition of the first book at a friend's house in 1932 and was both impressed and enchanted by the bright-coloured and detailed drawings, as well as the hand written text. Milne persuaded his publishers, Methuen, to bring out a British edition for which he provided an introduction. So in 1934, under the title 'The Story of Babar' was published with immediate success.
Jean had been working on "Babar at Home" and "Babar and Father Christmas" when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis ofthe bones. Jean managed to complete the line drawings but was too ill to complete the full colour volumes. Jean died in the autumn of 1937 at the age of 38.
After his death, his French publisher Hachette, under the supervision of Jean's brother Michel, had the drawings coloured. Michel asked Jean's eldest son, Laurent, who was thirteen, to colour two double-page spreads for Babar at Home and the cover for Babar and Father Christmas.
Laurent proved to be a talented artist, and his bold, abstract paintings were exhibited in Paris. However, since Laurent had been making sketches of elephants in a notepad since he was ten, he decided to produce a 'Babar' book of his own, and in his father's style. 'Babar and that Rascal Arthur' was published in Britain in 1948 in the familiar extra-large format and with a hand-written text.
Laurent married Marie-Claude in 1951 and had two children, Anne and Antoine before their separation in the mid-1980's.
Laurent went on to produce a long series of 'Babar' picture books. Babar's Castle (1962) shows Laurent at his best. But with this picture-book and with the later titles the familiar large format was abandoned and the hand-written text replaced by letter-press.
In 1985, Laurent left France for America. He lives today in Connecticut, with his second wife, Phyllis Rose, who is a writer and teacher.
Jean De Brunhoff had written seven titles in his short life, but even without Laurents fifty-or-so stories the kindly elephant would still be amongst the century's great childrens characters.
Contributed by Fiona Lane
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A selection of Jean de Brunhoff books in stock
De Brunhoff, Jean. Illustrated by De Brunhoff, Jean. Stock no. 386416
Methuen & Co. Ltd.. 1959. Very good condition with no wrapper. Smaller format - 10.5 x 7.5". Glazed pictorial boards. Colour pictures throughout. Slight wear to spine and corners, light rubbing to cover edges. "Nelson Street Infant School" ink stamp to front endpaper else contents bright and clean.
Price: £28.00
De Brunhoff, Jean. Illustrated by De Brunhoff, Jean. Stock no. 386417
Methuen & Co. Ltd.. 1st ed thus . 1953. Very good condition with no wrapper. Smaller format (10.75 x 7.75"). Pictorial boards. Colour illustrations. Slight wear to spine and corners. "Nelson Street Infant School" ink stamp to front endpaper else contents bright and clean.
Price: £34.00
Blyton, Enid & De Brunhoff, Jean. Illustrated by Openshaw, Olive F.. Stock no. 822045
Methuen & Co. Ltd.. 1st ed . 1941. Almost very good condition with no wrapper. Told by Enid Blyton with b/w illustrations redrawn from the original coloured volumes. Orange cloth, blue titles. Blue pictorial endpapers. 226 pages. 7.25 x 5". Spine browned and foxed but title to spine still clear. Uneven fading to rear board. Inscription in ink to verso of front endpaper. Page 127-130 were uncut by the printer and have been prised open resulting in a tear to page 127/8 at vertical margin (not affecting any text), also a tear to the facing page 129/130 (again, not affecting any text) with the paper loss attached to the facing page. Double page b/w spread to page 224-225 has been neatly coloured in. Overall a nice copy.
Price: £30.00
De Brunhoff, Jean. Illustrated by De Brunhoff, Jean. Stock no. 383846
Methuen & Co. Ltd.. 1st ed . 1935. Very good condition with no wrapper. Very large format. Red cloth spine. Blue pictorial boards. Colour illustrations. Spine slightly bumped. Corners worn. Light scuff marks to covers and edges slightly rubbed. Inscription in ink to top corner of title-page. A couple of hinges are just starting to crack. Contents are bright and clean. A nice copy of the first edition.
Price: £150.00
De Brunhoff, Jean. Illustrated by De Brunhoff, Jean. Stock no. 383847
Methuen & Co. Ltd.. 1st ed . 1936. Very good condition with no wrapper. Very large format. Black cloth spine. Yellow pictorial boards. Decorated endpapers. Colour illustrations. Spine slightly bumped. Corners worn. Some very slight scuffing to covers. A few grubby fingermarks to page edges otherwise contents clean. A couple of hinges are a little cracked. A nice copy of the first edition.
Price: £174.00
De Brunhoff, Jean. Illustrated by De Brunhoff, Jean. Stock no. 383848
Methuen & Co. Ltd.. 1st ed . 1938. Very good condition in a good dustwrapper. Very large format. Cloth spine, red pictorial boards. Decorated endpapers. Bold colour illustrations throughout. Spine bumped and a little grubby at top and tail. Corners slightly worn. Contents are beautifully bright and clean. Covers are clean too. Protected by original glassine wrapper which is creased and torn with large piece of loss to base of spine and lower front edge. A nice copy of the first edition.
Price: £180.00
