Vertigo: A Novel in Woodcuts

(1937)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 1)

blank page(s) / 3 pages (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 2)

foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 1 page (report information)

Letters

Typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Vertigo

Indexer Notes

Half-title page

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 3)

blank page(s) / 1 page (report information)

"Vertigo" (Table of Contents: 4)

foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 3 pages (report information)

Pencils

Lynd Ward ?

Inks

Lynd Ward ?

Letters

Typeset

Indexer Notes

Title page, front matter, brand image

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 5)

blank page(s) / 1 page (report information)

[Vertigo] The Girl (Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 65 pages (report information)

Script

Lynd Ward (credited)

Pencils

Lynd Ward (woodcut) (credited)

Inks

Lynd Ward (woodcut) (credited)

Genre

drama

Characters

The girl; father; young man

Synopsis

The girl and the young man are graduated from high school in highest expectations. He hopes for a good job, she for a career as a violinist. As the Depression deepens he leaves town to find work, but she does not hear from him again. When the father loses his job he attempts suicide so that the girl will receive the benefits of his life insurance, but only succeeds in blinding himself. The girl pawns her violin, and they are evicted from their apartment. At the end they wait in line, with many others, for relief.

Reprints

• in Storyteller Without Words: The Wood Engravings of Lynd Ward (Harry N. Abrams, 1974 series) (1974)
• in Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative (Poorhouse Press, 1996 series) (1996) [First 20 plates printed 4 to a page.]
• in Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative (W. W. Norton, 2008 series) (2008) [[First 20 plates printed 4 to a page.]]
• in Vertigo: A Novel in Woodcuts (Dover Publications, 2009 series) (2009)
• in Les Clés de la bande dessinée (Delcourt, 2009 series) #2 (août 2010)

Keywords

Engraving; Great Depression; homeless; pantomime; welfare; woodcut; wordless

[Vertigo] An Elderly Gentleman (Table of Contents: 7)

comic story / 93 pages (report information)

Script

Lynd Ward (credited)

Pencils

Lynd Ward (woodcut) (credited)

Inks

Lynd Ward (woodcut) (credited)

Genre

drama

Characters

Elderly gentleman; butler; corporation officers; workers; strikebreakers; soldiers; doctors

Synopsis

An elderly gentlemen pursues refined and artistic pleasures. When his corporation profits decline he orders pay cuts, layoffs, and longer hours. As the workers strike he hires strikebreakers, then gets government officials to send in troops. He collapses and is bedridden, but profits once again are up.

Reprints

• in Storyteller Without Words: The Wood Engravings of Lynd Ward (Harry N. Abrams, 1974 series) (1974)
• in Vertigo: A Novel in Woodcuts (Dover Publications, 2009 series) (2009)

Keywords

Engraving; Great Depression; pantomime; strikebreaker; union; woodcut; wordless

Indexer Notes

The corporation in this story is the one from which the father is laid off in the previous story. The story is told as if through the course of a year, from January through December.

[Vertigo] The Boy (Table of Contents: 8)

comic story / 84 pages (report information)

Script

Lynd Ward (credited)

Pencils

Lynd Ward (woodcut) (credited)

Inks

Lynd Ward (woodcut) (credited)

Genre

drama

Characters

The boy; the girl; elderly gentleman; drunk driver; Bugg

Synopsis

After bidding the girl farewell the boy wanders in search of work until he is sole witness of a fatal car crash. Stealing the victim's good clothes he returns to the city, watching the girl from afar, but the only work he can find is as a strikebreaker, which he refuses to be. Desperately he attempts crime but is scared off by a passing policeman. At length he sells his blood to the bedridden elderly gentleman, who needs a transfusion. With those few dollars in his pocket he makes a glum reunion with the girl, on a downward roller coaster.

Reprints

• in Storyteller Without Words: The Wood Engravings of Lynd Ward (Harry N. Abrams, 1974 series) (1974)
• in Vertigo: A Novel in Woodcuts (Dover Publications, 2009 series) (2009)

Keywords

Drunk driver; engraving; Great Depression; pantomime; strikebreaker; unemployment; woodcut; wordless

Indexer Notes

The story is told as though in the space of a week, Monday through Sunday.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 9)

blank page(s) / 247 pages (report information)

Indexer Notes

The verso side of each illustration, plus five more.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 10)

illustration / 1 page (report information)

Pencils

Lynd Ward ?

Inks

Lynd Ward ?

Colors

Lynd Ward ?

Keywords

Back cover. Mirror image of front cover design.