Elsa Beskow

Elsa Beskow's "Resan till landet Längsen" (Journey to a land of long Ago) is a children's book and picture book from 1923. It is both written and illustrated by Elsa Beskow. The book is a classic fairy tale adventure with a fantasy feel. The story is about siblings Kaj and Kajsa who live near a fallen tree trunk, which they often play on. When they playfully steer it with wings from a broken umbrella, a little gnome plays a trick on them. The tree trunk is enchanted and becomes a flying and talking dragon. The friendly dragon takes Kaj and Kajsa on a long adventure to the medieval fairy-tale land of Längesen. Here, the reader follows the children's journey over sea and land, encountering the troll, the evil dragon guarding the distressed princess and the captive knight. The fearless children manage to trick the troll out of a key and suddenly the knight is free and together they rescue the princess. The adventure is lined with Elsa Beskow's recurring themes; the contrasts between the power of imagination and the safety of everyday life, nature and unnatural, freedom and constraint, and our longing for the unknown and the known.

The tale begins with "Once upon a time there was an old fallen tree trunk, so old, so old, you cannot imagine how old it was." The first letter "D" is designed as an ornate initial in black and white. Inscribed in the letter, we see the children Kaj and Kajsa with the umbrella that sets the story in motion. The use of ornamental initials in a text dates back to the Middle Ages. Later in the book, the initial appears only once – in the scene from the monastery school. Otherwise, Elsa Beskow is sparing with embellishment of text and image. Common to the images in "Resan till Landet Längesen" is that nature and surroundings are central.

In Elsa Beskow's world of images, close-ups of people, animals, or fairy-tale figures are rare. Her skill as an illustrator conveys emotions, moods, and interpersonal relationships with just a few pen strokes. The figures blend with the surrounding environment, and in the book, there is only one image that does not depict nature with forests, meadows, beaches, and seas.

The saga ends happily. The knight gets the princess. The evil dragon dies. Kaj and Kajsa are adopted by the royal couple and are showered with beautiful clothes and toys. But happiness is not found in worldly things. "Kaj and Kajsa walked there in the beautiful palace garden, but they could not enjoy all their beautiful things, for they longed for home so much it was as if their hearts would burst." In the end, it is the small displaced troll children who help the children to bring their dragon to life, and they fly home to reunite with their father and mother and their own safe world. It is by going away that we can long for home.

"Resan till landet Längesen" was first published in 1923 and came out 100 years later in a long-awaited new edition. Bukowskis is pleased to present five of the original watercolours in this auction.