Raymond Sheppard and Gibson Cowan

Original art for Lilliput April-May, 1952, p.61

I wanted to mention the stories and articles of Gibson Cowan, whose work I've shown previously (see the links in the list below). I mentioned he had a relationship with Elizabeth David the famous post WWII cookery writer and it's quite a story in itself.

Interestingly the General Fiction Magazine Index lists all Cowan's works as being in Lilliput alone, which in itself is unusual. I've looked through each of the copies I have and there are no further clues except that of internal evidence within the stories and articles. 

In the April-May 1952 edition of Lilliput (pages 61-63) we read about the author and his wife Judith (Fellows, according to Dixon Evening Telegraph (24 November 1951)) in a seventeen-foot canoe on the Mississippi. The trip looks to have taken place the previous year. The image above, from "What it Feels Like to Shoot a Rapid" shows the two people in the canoe just when a muskrat swims across their bow. A second illustration by Sheppard showed the pair actually shooting the rapids!

 

Lilliput April-May1952, p.62

Cowan appears to have been quite an adventurer - reflected in his writings. The second piece, an article on attempts to 'conquer' Niagara Falls. The November-December 1952 Lilliput sees the tale "Going over Niagara" with three accompanying illustrations by Sheppard. 

 

Lilliput Nov-Dec 1952, p.79

Lilliput Nov-Dec 1952, p.80

Lilliput Nov-Dec 1952, p.81

The next story illustrated by Sheppard, written by Gibson Cowan is "The Fire" in September 1955 with a nice single page illustration. I always love these images where text is set in an area left by the artist. Note that Lilliput is still using that single 'lozenge' text descriptor to tell us this is about "Adventure".

Lilliput Sept 1955 "The Fire", p.34

 

Original Art from Lilliput Sept 1955

"Jumping a crocodile" by Gibson Cowan appeared in Lilliput October 1955 and tells the tale of catching West Indian Cayman on the edge of mangroves in the dark!

Lilliput October 1955 "Jumping a crocodile", p.29

Lilliput October 1955 Original art, p.30

The last story by Gibson Cowan illustrated by Raymond Sheppard was  "Lost in a volcano" which appeared in April 1956. I suspect the author (or his fictitious creation?) had too much time on his hand, as he explores the idea of ice forming in a volcano. An editor's note after the article explains:

EDITOR'S NOTE:
A phenomenon similar to that described by the author occurs at Sunset Crater in the Arizona Desert, U.S.A., where at the height of summer, dews condensing on porous rock in a shallow cave are cooled to freezing point by rapid evaporation.
 

Lilliput April 1956, p.37

Lilliput April 1956 Original Art

 

Lilliput April 1956 Original Art, p.38

Leonard Gibson Cowan  preferred to be known as Charles Gibson Cowan and is described in  Elizabeth David: a biography by Lisa Chaney, (1998) as " actor, producer, journalist, tramp, con-man, beggar, reprobate - a man was to play a crucial part in Elizabeth's life" (p.72)

His actual working class life is quite a tale in itself and if you're interested his autobiography "Loud Report" is of interest but a shorter version can be read in Chaney's biography of Elizabeth David. Quite fascinating! This is the dustjacket version of David's life, including her "pacifist lover":

Born in 1913, Elizabeth David was one of four daughters of Rupert Gwynne, a Conservative MP. Although her childhood was conventional enough, the inferior quality of Elizabeth's childhood fare acted as a gauge against which she was to set her heart, her intellect and her pen.

At twenty-six, failure on the stage encouraged Elizabeth to abandon England in a yacht [the Evelyn Hope] with her pacifist lover on a voyage which would prove to be the defining event of her life. Stranded in the south of France when war broke out, she met the writer Norman Douglas, whose friendship helped clarify her style and objectives for much of the rest of her life.

Her escape from France led to capture, imprisonment and eventually life on a Greek island, until evacuation just in advance of the invading German army. In Egypt for the last four years of the war, as librarian for the Ministry of Information, work and socializing were hectic and Elizabeth became part of an artistic and literary set which included Lawrence Durrell, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Olivia Manning. On return to England via Delhi and a marriage destined to fail, the writing Elizabeth had thought about for so long finally crystallized as a reaction to her ration-blighted homeland in an outpouring of longing for the sun-drenched Mediterranean lands she had lost.

GIBSON COWAN  BOOKS

• The Last Plays of Maxim Gorki (adapted by Gibson-Cowan), London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1937
  
• Loud Report, London: M. Joseph Ltd, [1938]
• The Voyage of the Evelyn Hope, London: Cresset Press, 1946
• The Odyssey of Mister Man, New York:Norton, 1951
• The Log of the Pelican, London: Cresset Press, 1952 

GIBSON COWAN  MAGAZINES

• The Traveller’s Tale, Lilliput December 1951/January 1952 (illustrated by David Langdon)
  
• What It Feels Like to Shoot a Rapid, Lilliput April/May 1952 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
• Coral, Lilliput September/October 1952 (illustrated by Reg Gray)
  
• Going Over Niagara (with Jean Lussier), Lilliput November/December 1952 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
• Avalanche, Lilliput April/May 1953 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
• Initiation, Lilliput January/February 1954 (unseen)
• On Your Own, Lilliput July 1954 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
  
• The Fire, Lilliput September 1955 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
• Jumping a Crocodile, Lilliput October 1955 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
• Lost in a Volcano, Lilliput April 1956 (illustrated by Raymond Sheppard)
• Outlaws of Cyprus, Lilliput May 1957 (illustrated by Koolman)
• Why I Always Take It Neat, Lilliput July 1957 (illustrated by Thelwell)
  

Various newspaper articles were found too