The Seven Lady Godivas

Infobox Book |
name = The Seven Lady Godivas: The True Facts Concerning History's Barest Family
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =The cover of the 1987 reprinting.
author = Dr. Seuss
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre =
publisher = Random House
pub_date = 1939
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages =80
isbn =
oclc = 214392880
preceded_by =The King's Stilts
followed_by = Horton Hatches the Egg

"The Seven Lady Godivas: The True Facts Concerning History's Barest Family" is a picture book of the tale of Lady Godiva, written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. One of Seuss's few books written for adults, its original 1939 publication by Random House was a failure and was eventually remaindered. However, it later gained popularity as Seuss himself grew in fame, and was republished in 1987.

Plot overview

The book recounts the tale of not one, but "seven" Godiva sisters, all understandably nude. It opens with the sisters' father, Lord Godiva, deciding to leave for the Battle of Hastings on horseback. This upsets the sisters, as horses are wild and untamed animals. Sure enough, before Lord Godiva manages to even leave the castle walls, he is flung from his horse and killed. As a tribute to their father's fate, the Godiva sisters agree to never marry, despite the fact that each is courting one of seven brothers named Peeping, until they can warn their countrymen of the dangers of horses. The book then follows the sisters as they set out on individual quests for "horse truths", which turn out to be well-known sayings involving horses.

Publication history

Seuss reportedly had misgivings about "The Seven Lady Godivas" before its publication; the drawing on the endpaper contains a small bucket of sap labeled "Bennett Cerf," the name of Seuss's publisher at Random House. Seuss, by calling Cerf a "", was apparently implying that Cerf was being too nice in allowing the book to be published.cite journal | author = E. J. Kahn | date = 1960-12-17 | title = Children's Friend | journal = The New Yorker | pages = 47 | publisher =Advance Publications |issn=0028-792X | quote = "…Geisel [Seuss] clearly had some misgivings about it beforehand; nailed to the Godiva family tree, which he drew for the end papers, was a small bucket of sap labeled "Bennett Cerf." ] The initial 1939 publishing had a print run of 10,000 copies, but only around 2,500 sold. Seuss himself called it his "greatest failure" and "a book that nobody bought".cite news |author=Cynthia Gorney |title=Dr. Seuss at 75: Grinch, Cat in Hat, Wocket and Generations of Kids in His Pocket |work=The Washington Post |publisher=Katharine Weymouth |location=Washington, D.C. |date=1979-05-21 |accessdate=2008-04-30 |language= |quote="My greatest failure," he says, pulling a rare copy off the bookshelf. "This is a book that nobody bought." |archiveurl= |archivedate= ] The remaining copies were remaindered in the chain of Schulte's Cigar Stores for twenty-five cents, though original editions now have been reported as selling at prices as high as $300.cite book |author=Jonathan Cott |title=Pipers at the Gates of Dawn: The Wisdom of Children's Literature |accessdate=2008-04-30 |year=1983 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=9780394504643 |oclc= 8728388 |chapter=The Good Dr. Seuss |quote="…nobody bought any copies at all—they were remaindered at Schulte's cigar store at a quarter a piece; today they go for about three hundred dollars." ] cite journal | author = Carolyn See | year = 1974 | month = June | title = Dr. Seuss and the Naked Ladies: Blowing the Lid Off the Private Life of America's Most Beloved Author | journal = Esquire | publisher = Hearst Communications | quote = "In 1939 America was feeling too blue to be cheered up by pictures of silly ladies with no nipples and funny knees. The book had an ignominious end; it was remaindered in the then famous chain of Schulte's Cigar Stores across New York City."]

The book's initial failure has been attributed to several factors: at two dollars, it was priced relatively high for the Great Depression era. Also, the book's depiction of nudity, though it was intended for adults, led to cold reception.

In 1974, Carolyn See wrote in "Esquire" that "America was feeling too blue to be cheered up by pictures of silly ladies". Seuss said he tried to draw "the sexiest-looking women" he could, but they "came out just ridiculous".cite journal | author = Warren T. Greenleaf | year = 1982 | month = May | title = How the Grinch Stole Reading: The Serious Nonsense of Dr. Seuss | journal = [http://www.naesp.org/ContentLoad.do?contentId=288 Principal] | publisher = National Association of Elementary School Principals | quote = The Seven Lady Godivas "is the one and only book Geisel has ever written for adults, and adults don't interest him." ]

The failure of "The Seven Lady Godivas", Seuss's fourth book, may well have led to his subsequent immersion into the world of children's literature. He stated that he would "rather write for kids", who were more appreciative, and was no longer interested in writing for adults.cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DC133AF935A1575AC0A967958260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |title= Dr. Seuss, Modern Mother Goose, Dies at 87 |accessdate=2008-05-01 |author=Eric Pace |date=1991-09-26 |work=The New York Times |publisher=Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. |quote="But when he got around to doing a grown-up book […] the grown-ups did not seem to want to buy his humor, and he went back to writing for children, becoming famous and wealthy. "I'd rather write for kids," he later explained. "They're more appreciative; adults are obsolete children, and the hell with them."] Indeed, his general contempt for adults is evident in his oft-repeated quote: "Adults are obsolete children, and the hell with them."

References