The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
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Cover
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| Author | Chris Van Allsburg |
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| Illustrator | Chris Van Allsburg |
| Country | United States |
| Genre | Children's literature |
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Publication date
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1984 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Preceded by | The Wreck of the Zephyr |
| Followed by | The Polar Express |
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a 1984 picture book by the American author, Chris Van Allsburg consisting of a series of images, which were from Harris Burdick, a man who mysteriously disappeared. Each image is accompanied by a title and a single line of text, which compel readers to create their own stories. Many famous writers have tried to put their own twists on the pictures.
The book is available in a Portfolio Edition which includes another image/caption pair from the story "Missing in Venice".
In 2011 a book titled The Chronicles of Harris Burdick was published, featuring stories by high profile writers including Stephen King and Louis Sachar, inspired by the illustrations in the original The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
An encounter between a children's book editor named Peter Wenders and an author and illustrator named Harris Burdick, who says he has 14 stories that he has written; he has brought one picture from each story with a caption. He leaves with a promise to deliver the complete manuscripts if the editor chooses to buy the books. The next day, Burdick didn't show up. Burdick never returned to Wenders' office. Over the years, Wenders tried to find out who Harris Burdick was, but he never found out. Burdick was never seen again, and the samples are all that remain of his supposed books. Readers are challenged to imagine their own stories based on the images for the books.
In 1984, Chris Van Allsburg visited Wenders' office, and Wenders showed him Burdick's drawings. Van Allsburg decided that maybe if he published the drawings, they may find out who Harris Burdick was.
Both Wenders and Van Allsburg were sure that someone would come with information about Burdick. Then, in 1993, a dealer in antique books, told them that he had purchased an entire library that had previously belonged to a recently deceased woman, including an antique mirror with portraits of characters from Through the Looking-Glass. The mirror fell from the wall and cracked open. Neatly concealed between the wooden frame and the mirror was an image identical to Burdick's other works; its caption identified it being from the Burdick story "Missing in Venice".
As stated on the Burdick website, Peter Wenders died in 2000 at the age of 91.
The short story "The House On Maple Street" which appears in Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes is inspired by the last image/caption in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.
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Wikipedia