Madman's Drum: A Novel in Woodcuts (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

"God's Man" (1929) was Ward's first wordless, illustrated novel. It was a hard act to follow: masterfully illustrated, articulate, and thought provoking. "Mad Man's Drum" (1930) tops that remarkable achievement. In it, Ward shows even finer skills in his demanding medium, more evocative imagery, and more baffling turns of narration. The result isn't just a pointless puzzle, but a starting point for an exploration in thought, the kind that rewards the reader no matter where it leads.The format is stark: one black and white image per page, for over 140 pages. The nature of woodcut, in the style used here, is that there are no greys. The black-and-white blacks are truly black, and whites blank white. Ward overcomes that with mastery of fine line, and with "gray" carefully modulated in their alternation. One scene, an optical effect of light streaming though a cathedral window, is simply mind-boggling.Dover has printed these images beautifully in dense darks on heavy, opaque paper. Part of the reason that this book has been so long out of print may be that the technology for doing justice to Ward's images has only just matured enough to make books like this affordable. Don't assume that low price means inferior reproduction - Dover has created (or recreated) a book truly worth having.//wiredweird

The illustrations tell the story in this book with no written content. Not a children's book. A great creation of a little known artist. If you love graphic art, this book is a great gift for an artist in your life or a great gift an artist can give to themselves for inspiration!

Neet picture book. Fun to flip through and narrate. Way ahead of its time during its original era. Wasn't sure about the drum part.

This series of woodcuts are supposed to tell a story, but I could not make sense of it.

My very favorite book, and it doesn't have a word in it...

I've only recently come across the work of Lynd Ward.Originally published in 1930, Mad Man's drum is a true graphic novel, telling a story only through wordless woodcuts. [Rather than a collection of masquerading comic books bound between hard covers.]Every page of this graphic novel is a lesson in woodcut technique.I've always liked Dover books as publishers. Their books are well made and inexpensive. For 10 bucks or so, this one is a bargain tutorial for any wood-be woodcut artist.

This is a novel in wood cuts. It is a history of a family in the slave trade. You will be captivated by this story (remember,there are no printed words) each time you carefully go thru it again and again, page by page.

the progression of the story was excellent, and it is great to see the origins of the popular graphic novel today!

Amazing artistry -wood prints. No text, which encourages appreciation of the narrative in purely visual terms Outstanding.

A real bargain if you are after an interesting set of woodcut examples, the techniques on show here are first rate. These are a nice set of figurative illustrations and the story reveals itself image by image.

Fabulous illustrations - very other worldly but weirdly modern. A novel in woodcuts - no idea what it's about! Art rather than literature - enjoy!

C'è qualcosa di primordiale in questo ennesimo racconto in bianco e nero per sole immagini. Il "lettore" deve dare del suo nel comprendere appieno ogni significato e suggestione delle immagini. Quasi una sorta di rapporto interattivo intellettuale senza soluzione di continuità. Potenza e immaginazione.