THE JUGGLER OF OUR LADY

This magical 1952 retelling of a medieval legend, featuring winsome watercolor images by famed illustrator R.O. Blechman, constitutes a predecessor to the modern graphic novel.

Cantalbert is a simple juggler but the world takes no interest in his only real gift, and he feels inadequate compared to people with meaningful jobs. Seeking a more spiritual approach to life, he enters a monastery. Cantalbert's menial chores among the monks fail to instill the self-doubting juggler with any sense of worth ? until he experiences a soul-stirring encounter with a statue of Mary, the Mother of Christ. This magical 1952 retelling of a medieval legend, featuring winsome watercolor images by famed illustrator R. O. Blechman, constitutes a predecessor to the modern graphic novel. A Foreword by Jules Feiffer and an Introduction by Maurice Sendak offer insights into the fable's enduring influence. R.O. Blechman is an American animator, illustrator, children’s-book author, graphic novelist, and editorial cartoonist whose work has been the subject of retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art and other institutions. He was induced into the Art Directors Hall of Fame in 1999. Aside from The Juggler of Our Lady, Blechman is best known for television commercials for Alka-Sel??er and other products, and numerous covers for The New Yorker magazine.