EARTH EAGLES. by Bayliss, Marguerite. Drawings by Norman Reeves

Henry Holt, New York, 1947. 53 pp, large 8vo (9 1/2" H), hard cover in dust jacket. Green & white illustrations. "This is a moonlit story that belongs to time-to-be. It has a horseman named Esme O'Hara, two spirited fillies named Rainbow and Golden Ripple, and it has fair K entucky for its setting. Here in a soft summer night 'the fastest horses that ever ran on earth ran the race of races'. Only a great lover of horses, blessed with understanding of that noble breed, blessed with skill in words and touched w i t h m y s t icism could portray the wonder of that race. No man had ever seen before or would see again such a contest; the contenders are Rainbow, crippled, unable to race and dead of a broken heart - and Golden Ripple, Rainbow's twin, in th e z en it h o f he r tr aining, primed for winning and alive as an electric spark. They raced in the summer moonlight, swift, rhythmic, and beautifully they raced - not horses, but earth eagles. They raced as they had when they were glossy foals, a s c ham pio ns , fo r p le asu re, until they found rest and peace together. If you love horses, read this; if you love Irishmen, read this; if you have a feeling for imaginative words, read 'Earth Eagles'." Two tiny ring dints on free rear end pap er, two tiny sp ec ks on r ear pas tedown, light edge wear to boards. Dust jacket has light edge wear, several very small chips, light rubbing soiling - mainly on rear panel, darkening to flap-folds and edges, two tears at top of front panel - ta ped on i nside . V G/G.