Christmas bonus - Auctions

"Breakfast on the road" from The Caravan Family
- Original art

Two auction houses have Raymond Sheppard artwork for sale. I thought I'd quickly add them here for reference and our enjoyment. It also reminded me that I haven't uploaded anything about M. D. Hillyard's "The Caravan Family" series. So look forward to that in the New Year.

These three original artworks have come up before from the same auctioneers - Hannams. Interestingly they have omitted any mention of where they were published - which I let them know last time - and watercolour is now listed as gouache. Raymond Sheppard used both but I would not like to state certainly which medium he used here.

Title: Raymond Sheppard (1913-1958) Gouache on board "Snowy walk"43 x 30 cm.
Auction:  Estimate: £80-£120 [SOLD:  £60]
Seller: Hannam's Auctioneers
Date of auction: 3 to 6 Jan 2022 (Lot 3359)
Size: 43 x 30cm

"Through the big woods" from The Caravan Family
- Original art

Title: RAYMOND SHEPPARD (1913-1958) GOUACHE ON BOARD "FOREST HOLIDAY"43 X 30 CM.
Auction:  Estimate: £80-£120 [SOLD:  £240]
Seller: Hannam's Auctioneers
Date of auction: 3 to 6 Jan 2022 (Lot 3361)
Size: 43 x 30cm

"Full Speed Around!" from The Caravan Family
- Original art

Title: RAYMOND SHEPPARD (1913-1958) GOUACHE ON BOARD " FAIRGROUND RIDE"43 X 30 CM.
Auction:  Estimate: £80-£120 [SOLD:  £100]
Seller: Hannam's Auctioneers
Date of auction: 3 to 6 Jan 2022 (Lot 3360)
Size: 43 x 30cm

The other auction I mentioned is of amphibians of various sorts from Burston & Hewett - the caroline Gee Collection.

Amphibians

Title: Raymond Sheppard, 2 sheets of pencil sketches, newts and frogs, 24cm x 34cm, Exhibition labels.
Auction:  Estimate: £50-£100 [SOLD £50]
Seller: Burstow & Hewett
Date of auction: 25 Jan 2022 (Lot 124)
Size: 24 x 34cm

The description:

Raymond Sheppard, 2 sheets of pencil sketches, newts and frogs, 24cm x 34cm, Exhibition labels verso, framed (2)
 

Whilst on the subject of auctions, there's a lovely watercolour on eBay that I've been tracking for a while. 

The Mill Pond, Dorchester-on-Thames

The current reduction in price makes this very attractive to me, but I think I have enough artwork already.  It's being sold by Claire 007 Antiques of Harleston, Norfolk. She describes it thus:

DESCRIPTION-
I have up for sale a fabulous water colour by renowned artist Raymond Sheppard. The painting is titled "The Mill Pool" Dorchester-on-Thames.
Painted while he was serving in the RAF in WW2.
The scene is quite off the beaten track near a hamlet called Overy and the mill pool is round the corner from Overy Farmhouse.

It's currently £297.50 "Buy It Now" and was £595.00, as I said, a real bargain in my opinion.

And finally there's another that has remained at the same price (starting bid £985) for quite a while

"Courting leopards

Titled Raymond Sheppard 1913-1958 - “Courting Leopards “Pastel 1950 -21 x 32cm this gorgeous painting is being sold by stuart9044 who is based in Hitchin. 

 

Raymond Sheppard and a few snow scenes!

Boy's Own Paper December 1957, p.22

I've shown some Christmas, and snow scenes previously, and was wondering what to show you next. This time I started by looking for snow scenes and tripped over a couple in Boy's Own Paper. That led to this group of published images.

In Boy's Own Paper (December 1957 we have a story called "Valley of the Bear" by John Bancroft. Page 22 has the caption "Rearing on its haunches it struck out violently, all the power of nearly half a ton of bone, muscle and flesh behind the blow". Raymond Sheppard shows his command of animal drawing here, with the bear drawing back its lips in a snarl while rearing over the two men in snow, its feet planted firmly apart. It's interesting how the Art Editor has added the border to the text and run it through the artwork.

John Bancroft wrote quite a few stories and articles for Boy's Own Paper, and was even quoted as "John Bancroft of the "Boy's Own Paper" on the covers of at least two of his books. It appears he was born in 1912 and died in 1996. A blurb found online states:

John Bancroft lives in Devon. He is a regular writer for Boy's Own Paper, is an experienced reviewer of books for young people, and has written many radio scripts for the B.B.C. He specialises in adventure stories for teenagers, particularly boys, and has further books in preparation.

I searched the BBC Radio Times listings but couldn't find a "J. Bancroft" or "John Bancroft" listed and then became suspicious. That led me to searching every way I know and then I found the answer. I really should start all searches on my friend Steve Holland's BearAlley blog. John Bancroft was none other than Alan C. Jenkins who wrote an awful lot for BOP.

Here is a partial bibliography of his works under that pseudonym, John Bancroft. 
 

• Guardian of Honour, (Illustrated by Grace Huxtable), London: Macmillan & Co, 1961.
• The Ring of Truth (Illustrated by Grace Huxtable), London: Macmillan & Co, 1962.
• The Borodin Affair, London:Epworth Press, 1966
   
• "The Nelson Touch" The Boy’s Own Paper May 1955
• "The Ring o’ Bells", The Boy’s Own Paper December 1955
• "Kaarpa the Ermine",The Boy’s Own Paper March 1956
• "The Easter Egg" (Competition Story), The Boy’s Own Paper April 1956
• "Spring Comes to Dartmoor", The Boy’s Own Paper May 1956
• "The Easter Egg" (Competition Results), The Boy’s Own Paper July 1956
• "The Orang-utan Run", Parts 1, 2 and 3 The Boy’s Own Paper September - November 1956
  
• "Lets Watch Seals", The Boy’s Own Paper May 1957
• "Arrears of Rent", The Boy’s Own Paper September 1957
• "Plot the course of Roaring Stags", The Boy’s Own Paper October 1957
• [Unknown] , The Boy’s Own Paper August 1958
  
• [Unknown] , The Boy’s Own Paper February & November 1959
  "Guardian of Honour, The Boy’s Own Paper December 1959
• [Unknown] , The Boy’s Own Paper February 1960
• [Unknown] , The Boy’s Own Paper Jan & Aug 1961
• "The Borodin Affair, The Boy’s Own Paper February 1965
  

As we are talking about John Bancroft, here's another story by him illustrated by Sheppard (no snow this time!)

Boy's Own Paper September 1957, p.42-43

 "Arrears of Rent", appeared in Boy’s Own Paper September 1957 issue and shows "The vixen swept in snarling towards the badger's formidable jaws". The badger is defending a dead rabbit against the fox. Again we see here a naturalist's eye and Sheppard too has that perfect knowledge of animals and their individual characteristics.

Let's move onto another author

Boy's Own Paper February 1958 pp.18-19

Boy's Own Paper of February 1958 has a story illustrated by Raymond Sheppard "The Moon of the Crusted Snow" by Eric Acland. Captioned "The voice of his rifle brought an avalanche of whiteness" it shows am Obijwe hunter in a beaver-skin hat shooting at four foxes who are after a fallen deer in the snow.

One of Acland's early books lists him as a "writer and lecturer on military history". He has  the rank of Captain when writing the 1937 "Princess Elizabeth". St. Andrews College (of Aurora, Ontario) in-house journal in 1944 says:

"Lieut. -Col.  Eric  Acland,  E.D.  ('l9-'20 [sic?])  has  been  appointed  a  Deputy Director  of  Military  Intelligence  in  charge  of  a  special  wing  at  National  Defence Headquarters,  Ottawa.  He  has  served  overseas  on  special  duty  and  prior  to  the war  was  on  the  editorial  staff  of  The  [Toronto] Evening  Telegram"

In 1946 they also mention, in the old boy's section: "Lt.-Col.  Eric  Acland  ('19-'24),  since 1944 Deputy Director of Military Intelligence at National Defence Headquarters, has now  retired  from  the  army". But it didn't last long as in the same journal in 1953: "Lt.-Col.  Eric  Acland  ('19-'24)  has  been  elected  Vice-President  of  the Canadian  Military  Intelligence  Association". A 1933 publication published a poem and cited it was taken from "Regimental Journal of the South Wales Borderers, and is reproduced from ‘‘Bugle Notes" by Eric Acland".

I also learned that 

"in 1940 under Lieutenant Eric Acland, [M13 was set up] its main concern was counter-espionage and security with respect to Army personnel and classified information. It maintained close liaison with U.S. Military Intelligence (G-2), British Security Coordination, and Britain’s MI 5. Its primary job was to keep aggressive watch on Canadian soldiers of suspected subversive backgrounds or intentions"

There is also an Eric Acland in the Aylmer, Quebec area, as Wikipedia lists him as a "pre-amalgamation Mayor" from 1965–1967. Eric Acland married in August 1968 to Lois Jennings Edwards at  Aylmer, Quebec. I wondered cautiously if I was looking at two men but I'm sure the later short stories certainly reflect the same sensibilities as the Boy's Own story from 1958.

ERIC ACLAND BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Long Live the King; George V--King and Emperor; Prince and Sovereign--Edward VIII by Eric Acland and Ernest Henry Bartlett. Toronto: John C. Winston. 1936
• The House of Windsor, George V to George VI. by Eric Acland and Ernest H. Bartlett. Toronto: John C. Winston Company, [1937]
• The Princess Elizabeth.by Eric Acland. Toronto: John C. Winston Company [1937]
  
• The House of Windsor : George V to George Vi Royal tour ed. by Eric Acland and Ernest Henry Bartlett. Toronto: Dominion Book and Bible House., 1939
• "The Girl With the Teal Blue Eyes" in Maclean's 15 October 1949
  
• A Tour of Historic Aylmer Quebec = Un Voyage Au Passé Historique D'aylmer.  by Eric Acland and Aylmer and District Arts Association. 1966. 
• Adventure Westward (illustrations by Merle Smith). Camden N.J: T. Nelson. 1967
• Drums of Niagara; an Adventure Story of Early Canada Toronto: T. Nelson (Canada). 1967
• Christ-Church Aylmer-Quebec 1843-1968 by Eric Acland and Don Ritchie.1967
• "Man-Gods Visit Little Mountain" in Boy's Life August 1969
  
• "Twenty Feathers" in Boy's Life May 1971
• "Christmas Bells" in Boy's Life December 1971
• "Windigo of Greed" in Boy's Life February 1972
• "Wings of Spring" in Boy's Life  June 1973
• "Maheengun, My Brother" in Boy's Life August 1974 
• "The Poacher Hunt" in Boy's Life March 1976

The mystery is sort of solved in the 23 August 1982 issue of Maclean's magazine. Julie Van Dusen's tragic report tells us that the unfortunate Acland, on a regular visit to the Old General Store in Aylmer, the town of which he was voted mayor twice, met a belligerent policeman who pushed him, leading to his hospitalisation at the age of 76 and his subsequent death after 45 days. So we now know he was born c.1906 and died 1982. A tragic story considering how Boy's Life presented one of his stories in 1971 (May):

To read a story by Eric Acland ("Twenty Feathers," page 28) is to know that he knows whereof he writes, so it's hardly surprising to learn that his varied and distinguished career in the service of our neighbor to the northly surprising to learn that his varied and distinguished career in the service of out neighbor to the north includes more Iban a decade as senior administrative officer of Canada's Department of Indian Affairs. During World War II Colonel Acland was his country's deputy director of military intelligence, in charge of counter-intelligence operations. He resigned his government post in 1963 to devote his time to writing—which had been his profession prior to World War 11—and is the author of two books. Drum of Niagara and Adventure Westward, both historical fiction for young people. "Man-Gods Visit Little Mountain" (August 1969) first introduced BL readers to the woods wisdom of Walks-Upright, the Ojibwa guide.

Raymond Sheppard and Enid Blyton's 6th Holiday Book

I previously mentioned Enid Blyton's Holiday Books (4th and 5th) and being logical here is the next one: Enid Blyton's Sixth Holiday Book. Like all things Enid Blyton we have to remember views from the 1950s may not be reflected in our 21st century world.  

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book was published by Sampson, Low & Marston in 1951. The two stories Raymond Sheppard illustrated was called "The Cuckoo in the Clock" (pages 123-128) and "The Wrong Bus" (pages 154-160).

 

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p123
The goblins are shocked by Cuckoo

The story is about two naughty thieving goblins, Snap and Grab! The toys are all asleep and from the Golliwog, they steal a brooch; the fairy doll, a silver crown; Pam's thimble and scissors. Although Cuckoo's appearance at three in the morning shocked the thieves, and he'd seen the thieves in the night, all he could say in the morning was "Cuckoo". But the next night Cuckoo decides to carry on cuckoo-ing and that alerts the toys when Snap and Grab are at their naughty work.  They send one goblin to fetch all their hoard and when Grab returns they are suddenly interrupted by Pam who has awoken due to the cuckoo. The toys rush with the goblins into the doll's house and the door is locked. Pam discovers the key on the floor and wonders what's happening.

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p124
The teddy bear was leaning against the golliwog dreaming of buns

Interestingly the caption and story don't match Sheppard's illustration here. Teddy is actually near dolly!

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p125
"Look at her silver crown", whispered Snap, "I'll take that".

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p126
They took the toy cat's blue ribbon

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p126
"Cuckoo. Did you seen anyone here last night?"

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p127
Caught hold of them by the scruff of their necks

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p128
She saw the tiny key of the doll's house

The second story is quite interesting, having an other-wordly quality. "The Wrong Bus" tells the tale of two children, Colin and Sue who having visited Aunt Phyllis. the latter reminds them to wait for the bus at the old oak tree, but something strange happens after the children turn down the wrong lane and approach a different oak tree. We find that the children barge their way onto the bus which is very busy. Someone suggests strongly that Colin give up his seat for an elderly woman, but he insists he paid for it and will stay there. Sue is no better. When a baby drops its rattle, Colin is not going to help. When an old man's purse falls from his pocket though, Colin grabs it only to be given away by a parrot. The passengers all turn on Colin and Sue accusing them of needing new parents who can teach them manners. The children defend their parents but are taken to the "Wise Woman". Colin begins to realise these are peculiar people and they might have got on the wrong bus. The Wise Woman looking in a mirror sees that indeed Colin and Sue's parents are good and kind but "too gentle and too trustful", trusting their children. She allows them another chance and the children run back to the bus stop, getting on the next one. When a woman gets on later, Colin has changed and gives up his seat!.

 

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p154
The Wrong Bus

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p155
The children set off to catch the bus

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p156
Colin took no notice. He wasn't going to pick up a baby's rattle

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p157
He bent down to pick up the purse

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p158
"I see badness and unkindness in them!" she said

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p159
The children fled away at once

Enid Blyton (6th) Sixth Holiday Book p160
Colin stood up and offered her his seat

UPDATE 5 December 2022

Christine Sheppard has kindly written, and I think I should have spotted this too:

"Recognise myself, my brother as the children & my grandmother, Annie Gale, with the shopping bag!"

Sheppard drew illustrations for one more of the Holiday books which I'll cover in a later post.

Raymond Sheppard and pigs and racoons

Everybody's magazine (17 March 1956)

I am always looking to my collection to share Raymond Sheppard artwork, but Christine Sheppard has a lot of cuttings and pieces of printed materials which have her Father's artwork on them. How to identify where they appeared? Luck, research, determination and luck is the answer!

For example, let's look at pigs today!

This image of a pig standing upright in a crude wooden pen, with a blank notice attached is unusual. The pig is fully completed but the rest is in outline. I suspect this is an advertising piece, due to the blank notice board on which a product/service name could be printed. Perhaps it appeared in adverts in farming magazines - I haven't found it anywhere else yet.

A pig on hind legs

But interestingly, this looked familiar (see Argosy January 1958) and after consulting my spreadsheet with all sorts of keywords in it, found that I was sort of right.

Everybody's magazine (17 March 1956)

The article which appeared in Everybody's magazine (17 March 1956) was called "If animals went to school" written by R. Quentin Goochley. Such an unusual name you would think was easy to research, but unfortunately, I have found nothing on him! But I did find an almost identical article by a Professor R. W. Goochley in Sydney Morning Herald, (Saturday 31 May 1952, page 6) c/o Trove. Here is the published list of the 10 most intelligent animals:

1. Chimpanzee.
2. Capuchin monkey,
3. Gorilla.
4. Other monkeys and apes
5. Dog
6. Cat.
7. Elephant
8. Raccoon
9. Pig
10. Horse

An almost identical article was published earlier in the Singapore Straits Times (11 May 1952, page 15). None of the above tells me who this Professor was or why 4 years after this, the article appeared in Everybody's in 1956, this time with Sheppard illustrations.

Here are the other 3 images from the Everybody's article drawn by Raymond Sheppard (the fourth being at the head of this article).

Everybody's magazine (17 March 1956)
The cat and the dog

Everybody's magazine (17 March 1956)
Capuchin monkeys

Everybody's magazine (17 March 1956)
Raccoon

Interestingly, the original art for the raccoon came up for sale in 2016 so I captured the images:

Original coloured artwork

Look and Learn version

The one immediately above has a very visible LOOK AND LEARN stamp. I've consulted Steve Holland who indexed a lot of the artwork on the Look and Learn site but he didn't remember seeing this. As he said  "It's only 1 1/4 inches tall, so it'll be tucked away in a corner somewhere, I guess. Rather smaller than it's original appearance". I suspect that was for the original Everybody's reproduction above. 

[UPDATE: 26 Oct 2022: David Slinn identified the very issue and supplied this scan}

Look & Learn No.25 (7 July 1962)

Look & Learn No.25 (7 July 1962) pp.18-19

How did the art turn up stamped "Look and Learn"? With all the takeovers in 1959-1961 in magazines and comics, it is hard to keep track. We do know that Everybody's was published at this time by Amalgamated Press (and it was merged into John Bull in 1959). But Amalgamated Press was taken over in January 1959 by the Mirror Group (acquiring "42  weeklies, 23 monthlies and 20 annuals") who were based in Fleetway House, Farringdon, leading to a name change to Fleetway Publications in April 1959. In March 1961 when the Mirror group took over Odhams Press they had all 4 major publishing companies: Odhams, Newnes, Hulton and Amalgamated Press. From this body, in January 1962, came Look and Learn with the first issue containing some reprinted Sheppard artwork. Perhaps the stamp is on the artwork because it's an ownership stamp? As an aside Look and Learn have a tremendous picture library - listed on their main page and you'll see they own all the following magazines and comics now: Look and Learn, Treasure, The Bible Story, Ranger, various educational annuals, various nursery comics and annuals plus The Children’s Newspaper.

Anyway I promised a focus on pigs, so here are some shots of original studies and artwork by Raymond Sheppard. Looking at these it's obvious Sheppard could have produced the title for Studio Publications on farm animals, but in 1947, C. F. Tunnicliffe produced the book How to Draw Farm Animals. 

Essex Saddlebacks (24 March 1951)

 

Pig stretching

Piglet sketches

Pig head study

Pig study

Back of pig's head study

Outline front view of pig

Pig lying down & head (signed)

Sow and piglets suckling

Studies of pig' trotters

If you read this far, well done! I thought I'd add another mystery item, I own. This 3 piece wooden jigsaw is not signed but appears to me to be by Raymond Sheppard. I'm happy to be proved wrong.

Jigsaw by Sheppard?

Raymond Sheppard and Woman's Day

Woman's Day 7 June 1958 pp28-29

Firstly I apologise for the quality of the scans provided here. This is a rare item, so photos from bound volumes will have to do till I buy a copy of the magazine!

Christine Sheppard has a cutting pulled from a magazine with no name except the title of the very famous story: "The Snow Goose" by Paul Gallico. I noticed that there was a "motif" stating "A Woman's Day Cameo Book" on the page and set to searching. I then found a cover on eBay which showed that "Woman's Day" was, as suspected the title of the magazine and the cover here shows the idea of the "Cameo Book"

Woman's Day 10 May 1958 showing "Cameo Book"

Yesterday I searched in the British Library through the first volumes and found exactly where the following images were published!  

Woman's Day started publication on 22 March 1958 (and according to the British Library ran till 2 September 1961 = 173 issues). It's size was comparable to other glossies at the time - think Picture Post or Everybodys),  and has some beautiful illustrations by artists like Koolman, Uptton, Edwin Phillips, John Batchelor, Jack M. Faulks, Jack Matthew, and Leslie Caswell. But in a market that was flooded with women's magazines, the horizon was dark, not only with print strikes but amalgamations and takeovers so it's not surprising it merged with Woman's Own. 

But let's look at Raymond Sheppard's illustrations in the magazine - some of his last.

Woman's Day 30 May 1958

The previous week's magazine to the appearance of "The Snow Goose" trailed the coming event along with the usual content- knitting, fashion, cooking etc.  The idea of the "Cameo Book" was quite flexible, covering film adaptations ("The Song of Bernadette" with stills from the film) but some might have stills plus an illustration commissioned for the event. Others covered were "South Pacific" - yes, the musical, and "An Episode of Sparrows" which is the story adapted as "Innocent Sinners" starring Flora Robson and David Kossoff

Curiously Sheppard's signature appears on the first page of the story (and he is credited) but there are none on the others, including the unusually coloured double page shown at the start of this article.

Woman's Day 7 June 1958 p.25

Woman's Day 7 June 1958 p.27

Woman's Day 7 June 1958 p.30

On the novella's Wikipedia page, we are told: 

The Snow Goose: A Story of Dunkirk is a novella by the American author Paul Gallico. It was first published in 1940 as a short story in The Saturday Evening Post, after which he expanded it to create a short novella which was published on 7 April 1941. 

The Internet Archive has an illustrated (not by Sheppard) copy, if you want to read the book and Sir Laurence Olivier tells the story on YouTube - where other versions can be found to listen to. If you want to know more about the book Martin Benson's page on "The Snow Goose" is interesting

I have mentioned another Gallico story that Sheppard illustrated in one of my first blog articles on Sheppard

As an aside, yesterday after spending the day at the British Library I met some friends. At 7pm the pub rang a very loud ship's bell and announced the very sad news that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died. One minute of silence followed in the middle of a usually very noisy pub on Euston Road- very strange but very moving. A day that will be remembered for a long time.