Pictures from an Old Book

A book published by the manufacturers of the legendary "matchbox" toy cars - very nostalgic for those who grew up in the sixties and seventies as they were very popular and probably very collectible nowadays. Miroslav Šašek (1916-1980) was a born in Prague and studied architecture while taking lessons on drawing and painting with Czech artist Otakar Blažíček. He contributed drawings for newspapers and worked for book publishers until after WW2 when he moved to Paris to study art further. In 1948 when Communists took control over Czechoslovakia he decided to stay in France. His illustrations for the "This Is ..." series of travel books for children made him famous around the world and his style is instantly recognisable. "This Is Paris" was published in 1959, "This Is London"(1959), "This Is Rome"(1960), "This Is San Francisco"(1962) and many others. Here is another site dedicated on his life and work: http://www.sasekfoundation.eu/en

Rudyard Kipling (British, born in Bombay, India 1865-1936) became a very successful and respected writer from a young age and his books are still being published today. He gained world fame by the time he was 30 with "The Jungle Book"(1894), "The Naulahka: A Story Of West And East"(1892) and "The Second Jungle Book"(1895). The "Just So Stories" came out in memory of his eldest daughter, Josephine, who had died at the age of six with pneumonia in 1899. It's a collection of bed time stories he used to tell her. Amazingly, he created these lovely illustrations himself! Here is a good biography on the great author, poet and journalist: http://www.biography.com/people/rudyard-kipling-9365581 There is also the wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling

http://www.chrisriddell.co.uk/

Top quality illustrations by British illustrator Chris Riddell (b. 1962). Impeccable draughtsmanship and humour - it's a delight flicking through this book as there are so many pictures in almost every page. The characters, the fine details and the styling is reminiscent of books by Arthur Rackham (1867-1938) and Walter Crane (1845-1915) about a hundred years ago, when book illustration was at its best. The artist's website with many more pictures and a list of his other books is: http://www.chrisriddell.co.uk/

The beautiful work of Bill Sanderson from 1987. The artist is still working as a freelance illustrator today and his style unmistakable. You can see many examples from editorial, publishing and advertising work on his website: http://www.billsandersonart.com/

It's very interesting going through the pages of these magazines. Full of reviews on cultural events, books, films as well as many great black & white illustrations. The Listener Magazine first started its publication in the UK in 1929 and was finally ceased in 1991 after losing readership. For more on its history and articles you visit this website: http://gale.cengage.co.uk/product-highlights/history/the-listener-historical-archive.aspx

Janet Woolley is a many-time award winning illustrator (since the seventies) for editorial, publishing and advertising work both in this country and the USA. She has also had a long teaching career in illustration - she taught me in the early nineties at Central St Martins School of Art and is currently running the MA Illustration course in Camberwell College, London. Her work was much more impressive in real life as it was quite large with rich colours and amazing details.

http://www.andersenpress.co.uk/authors/view/229

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McKee

You can spend hours looking at the dozens of characters in this book and laugh at their follies and actions whether you are a kid or not! If you ever get a chance to watch a Mr Benn animation you'll be even more amazed with the range of faces, shapes, colours and costumes. David McKee (b.1935) has limitless imagination, inventiveness and humour. I treasure any book with his illustrations but Mr Benn has to be my favourite.

Edward Ardizzone(1900-1979)
http://www.edwardardizzone.org.uk/biography/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Ardizzone

Robin Jacques (b. London, UK, 1920-1995)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Jacques
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-robin-jacques-1612378.html

Two more from Robin Jacques (1920-1995)

Received my copy of Mattias Adolfsson's "All In Line" (a set of three books in one volume) a few days ago and I'm thrilled - the perfect Christmas present! Having been an admirer of his work for years I was, of course, familiar with a lot of his work but I wasn't prepared for the sheer volume of pictures in these books. There are hundreds of pages with high quality reproductions from his sketchbook work. Brilliant combination of surrealism, fantasy and humour. Mattias employs every object imaginable, machines, vehicles, plants, animals, architecture etc in weird and very entertaining narratives. http://www.mattiasadolfsson.com/

"Mike And The Modelmakers" By Miraslav Sasek (published by Lesney Products & Co. Ltd, UK 1970) Part 1

"Mike And The Modelmakers" By Miraslav Sasek (published by Lesney Products & Co. Ltd, UK 1970) Part 2

"Mike And The Modelmakers" By Miraslav Sasek (published by Lesney Products & Co. Ltd, UK 1970) Part 3

"Readers Digest, Ads" - November 1962 Issue (published by the Reader's Digest Association Ltd, London 1962)

"Readers Digest, Ads" - November 1962 Issue (published by the Reader's Digest Association Ltd, London 1962) Part 2

"Just So Stories" By Rudyard Kipling, Illustrations By The Author (published by Macmillan And Co., Limited, London 1921 - first published in 1902)

"Just So Stories" By Rudyard Kipling, Illustrations By The Author (published by Macmillan And Co., Limited, London 1921 - first published in 1902) Part 2

"The Swan's Stories" By Hans Christian Andersen, Illustrated By Chris Riddell (published by Walker Books Ltd, London 1997) Part 1

"The Swan's Stories" By Hans Christian Andersen, Illustrated By Chris Riddell (published by Walker Books Ltd, London 1997) Part 2

"The Swan's Stories" By Hans Christian Andersen, Illustrated By Chris Riddell (published by Walker Books Ltd, London 1997) Part 3

"The Listener Magazine" - 21 May 1987, Vol.117, No. 3012, Illustration By Bill Sanderson (published by BBC Enterprises Ltd, 1987)

"The Listener Magazine" - 3 December 1987, VOL.118, NO 3040 - Cover Illustration By Janet Woolley (published by BBC Enterprises Ltd, 1987)

"MR BENN - GLADIATOR" By David McKee (published by Andersen Press Ltd, London 2001) Part 1

"MR BENN - GLADIATOR" By David McKee (published by Andersen Press Ltd, London 2001) Part 2

"MR BENN - GLADIATOR" By David McKee (published by Andersen Press Ltd, London 2001) Part 3

"Open The Door - Stories Collected and Arranged by Margery Fisher", Cover Illustration by Edward Ardizzone (First published in Great Britain in 1965 by Brockhampton Press Ltd - later Hodder & Stoughton Children's Books. This is a 1979 edition)

"Open The Door - Stories Collected and Arranged by Margery Fisher", Cover Illustration by Edward Ardizzone (First published in Great Britain in 1965 by Brockhampton Press Ltd - later Hodder & Stoughton Children's Books. This is a 1979 edition) - Part 2

"Open The Door - Stories Collected and Arranged by Margery Fisher", Cover Illustration by Edward Ardizzone (First published in Great Britain in 1965 by Brockhampton Press Ltd - later Hodder & Stoughton Children's Books. This is a 1979 edition) - Part 3

"Open The Door - Stories Collected and Arranged by Margery Fisher", Cover Illustration by Edward Ardizzone (First published in Great Britain in 1965 by Brockhampton Press Ltd - later Hodder & Stoughton Children's Books. This is a 1979 edition) - Part 4

"First In Line" - From The Sketchbooks O Mattias Adolfsson" (published by Sanatorium Publishing in 2011 - New edition 2015)