“Sir Gibbie is the charming story of a simple good boy who grew to be a simple good man. It is charming in two ways—by its power to give delight and arouse admiration and also because it does so in a magical way. Such is MacDonald’s power as a novelist. This unabridged, illustrated edition is further enhanced by the occasional Scots Doric dialect appearing side-by-side with an English translation. Readers of all ages will enjoy this classic story of a long time ago in Scotland.”
—-Robert Trexler, Winged Lion Press
The twelve novels that George MacDonald set in his homeland make frequent use of Scots dialogue, which has posed a problem for many would-be readers. This new edition of SIR GIBBIE, book three in the translation series, provides the complete original text, but places English side-by-side with the Scots. Also featured are eleven beautiful illustrations by artist Carrie Stout and an extensive introduction by renowned MacDonald authority and best-selling author Michael Phillips.
“George MacDonald is one of the greatest and perhaps most forgotten writers of our modern world. This may in part be because of his frequent usage of Doric, the language of the North-Eastern Scots which is barely comprehensible to the rest of us. Sir Gibbie is an astonishingly beautiful book, filled with joy, love, devotion, adventure, and, at the same time, hardship. David Jack has now made it available to all with his two-columned technique, the English in the one column and the Doric in the other. I have already read and enjoyed his earlier two works, Robert Falconer and Castle Warlock, and have no reservations at all in recommending Sir Gibbie.”
Douglas Gresham, Stepson of C. S. Lewis, Series Producer, The Chronicles of Narnia
“Finally! For decades people have been asking me where to turn if they want to read MacDonald’s original Scottish novels, yet struggle with the sections written in dialect. Thanks to this labour-of-evident-love by David Jack, MacDonald ‘in the original’ is now accessible to all. Jack’s parallel text functions as both translation of and introduction to the ‘mither tongue’; not one of MacDonald’s carefully chosen words is lost, even whilst deeper understanding is gained. Any reader may now delight in the wisdom and charisma of one of MacDonald’s best-loved and most influential novels.”
—Dr Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson, MacDonald scholar and co-editor of Informing the Inklings
“It is my hope that this new edition of Sir Gibbie will find an enthusiastic audience, both among those who love the Doric as well as those who find its translation illuminating and helpful. Through David Jack’s work, we are thus getting the best of all worlds!”
—Michael Phillips, best-selling novelist and author of Scotland’s Beloved Storyteller
“Our hearts long for stories that provide a compelling vision of goodness. It can be found in Tolkien’s Middle-earth or the Narnia tales by C. S. Lewis; some modern fantasy and children’s stories offer a glimpse of it, too. This rare ability to express pure goodness (without sounding cheap, cheesy, tinny, sappy, or contrived) is one of the things George MacDonald does best. And as far as that incomparable gift is concerned, Sir Gibbie is, pure and simple, his masterpiece.”
Diana Pavlac Glyer, Professor in the Honors College at Azusa Pacific University; Author of The Company They Keep and Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J R R Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings
“George MacDonald's writing has livened my faith, deepened my wonder, and warmed my heart since I was a teenager awed by the wild beauty of At the Back of the North Wind. But it was his Scottish novels that made MacDonald's way of faith tangible to me in a transformative way. I think everyone should read these books, so it is a great delight to see the lovely story of Sir Gibbie presented in this beautiful new edition, one that makes MacDonald's sometimes difficult Scots text accessible to a modern reader while retaining the wit and wonder of the original story. I am so grateful for the care David Jack has taken in preserving the lyrical spell MacDonald weaves with his careful translation. I love that the original Scots is presented next to the translation so that you can still taste the shape and tone of the old Scots words yourself. And I love the beauty of this book. The illustrations truly illumine the depth and strength of this lovely story. I can't wait to put this book in the hands of my dearest friends. A gift to treasure.”
—Sarah Clarkson. author of Book Girl: A Journey through the Treasures and Transforming Power of a Reading Life
“George MacDonald was a novelist, a poet, a father, a Scotsman, and most important of all, a person whose life was marked by an attention to the love of God. Often overshadowed by the fame of authors who loved him (Lewis, Tolkien, et al.), MacDonald is not as well known as he should be. This is why I’m so excited about this new edition of Sir Gibbie! This edition, with Carrie Stout’s beautiful new illustrations, and David Jack’s excellent translations of the portions of the text in Scots, will make Sir Gibbie come alive to a new generation of readers. I highly and happily recommend this book. Read, enjoy, and be changed!”
—Joy Clarkson. PhD candidate at St Andrews University and narrator of the podcast Speaking With Joy
