Raymond Sheppard and the Blackie Stanhope Library

 

Redskin and Cowboy - frontispiece and title page 
"Up went the horse in the most violent buck of all"

 I've previously written about two "Stanhope Library" titles when covering the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and also The Adventures of Tom Sawyer which were illustrated by Raymond Sheppard. Interestingly the 'brand' was printed on the front cover and title page of the books

Redskin and Cowboy - Cover

I own the above book with the cover shown here. I wonder if this series was deliberately made cheaper for schools and prize-giving as they retailed at 3/6d. Perhaps they did not have dust-jackets to reduce the costs. The cover shown below of Redskin and Cowboy, has a smaller image on half the front cover and another image on the spine - with the label "Blackie's Famous Books". Many versions of the titles discussed here have a similar design. 

Redskin and Cowboy - Blackie's Famous Books - cover

 

spine

 In July 1951 they advertised their series "Library of Famous Books" - in a deluxe edition costing 7s. 6d - see Huck Finn for an example. The first three were "Treasure Island", "Little Women" and "What Katy Did" Other titles in the series were illustrated by Gilbert Dunlop, William Littlewood and Jack Matthew and of course Raymond Sheppard. But note the Huck Finn cover and spine are not like the above 'gingham' style cover. A recent eBay listing offered these title which all show spines with this series title

"Blackie's Famous Books" series

Spines - Notice the numbering!

Going back to the Stanhope Library series title I wondered why "Stanhope Library". Blackie and Son Limited were based at 17, Stanhope Street, Glasgow, so that seems a reasonable deduction. The journal "The Woman Teacher" (February 1955) had a review:

Little Women, Treasure Island, Black Beauty and Redskin and the Cowboy in "The Stanhope Library" series. Blackie & Sons. (All at 3/6d. each). They are attractively cloth-bound, the print is clear on good quality paper and illustrations by Raymond Sheppard are excellent. 

As he only drew the latter two titles, I suspect  Sheppard made an impression on the reviewer, but he did draw six in the series. So what titles were published under "The Stanhope Library" series title?

1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1951 
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1951 
3. Little Shop on the Corner by Monica Backway, illustrated by Gilbert Dunlop, 1951
4. The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's, by Talbot Baines Reed, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1951
5. Redskin and Cowboy by G. A. Henty, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1954
6. The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, illustrated by Jack Matthew, 195?
7. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jack Matthew, 1954
8. Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott, illustrated by William Littlewood, 1954
9. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1954
10. Heidi by Johanna Spyri, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1955
11. The Burnished Sword, by Jessie Hagart Maclehose, 1956
12. What Katy did by Susan Coolidge, illustrated by William Littlewood, 1956 

I've put them in the order listed in my later reprint of "Huckleberry Finn"  - which goes up to "Hedi" so I presume was reprinted from the 1951 edition in 1955. 

Meanwhile back to showing you Sheppard's four B&W illustrations from Redskin and Cowboy 

Redskin and Cowboy  p.43
"“You rotten coward!” Hugh shouted and flung himself forward in a headlong attack"

Redskin and Cowboy  p.186
"Like a prow of a ship cutting the seas, the cowboy charge crashed home"

Redskin and Cowboy p.243
"Beaten down by the storm of lead, the bandit collapsed, his guns falling from his nerveless hands"

Redskin and Cowboy  was written by G. A. Hentyr in 1891  - a historical adventure novel for which he was famous and prolific. As Project Gutenberg tells us - and you can read the whole text here - "The story introduces us to William Tunstall, also known as English Bill, a former miner who navigates personal revelations about his family and past while confronting the dangers inherent to his life among outlaws and Indians. The opening of the novel sets the scene in Cedar Gulch, a mining camp bustling with activity in 1851, detailing the hard work of the miners and the camaraderie between Tunstall and his two partners, Sim Howlett and Limping Frank. As they discuss their next moves after working their claim, Tunstall discovers an advertisement regarding his inheritance back in England, which prompts reflections on his estranged family. This moment of potential change is juxtaposed against the backdrop of danger in the camp, highlighted by hints of conflict and the violent lives that surround them. The stage is set for Tunstall's journey of self-discovery against the wild, unpredictable backdrop of the Western frontier."

Douglas V. Duff shortened the story for the 1950s reader in Blackie's version. 

FIFTH FORM AT ST. DOMINIC'S by Talbot Baines Reed 

 

Fifth Form at St. Dominic's Frontispiece
"Emptied  half the inkpot on the top of the young gentleman's head"

Fifth Form at St. Dominic's has its own Wikipedia page. Talbot Baines Reed (3 April 1852 – 28 November 1893) is generally "regarded as the writer who gave the boys' school story genre its shape, standards and popularity by which it is remembered today." (Robert J. Fitzpatrick's The Encyclopaedia of Boys' School Stories, 2000) - which is ironic as he never went to a boarding school! This particular book is seen as the progenitor of many later copies but definitely was an innovation when serialised in Boy's Own Paper beginning in October 1881. 

Raymond Sheppard illustrated the story for the 1951 Blackie edition in the same manner as all the other books in the Stanhope Library series - 4 B&W illustrations

Fifth Form at St. Dominic's p.54 
"There was such a hustling and crowding in front of it"

 

Fifth Form at St. Dominic's p.177 
  "The luckless Stephen in the clutches of three or four disreputable fellows"

Fifth Form at St. Dominic's p.305 
  ""This paper is the missing paper"

I own a copy of the Fifth Form at St. Dominic's which has an embossed stamp of ownership, which led me to think that the "Stanhope Library" might be a cheaper version of other series, used for prizes. This looks to have once been the property of St. Thomas Moore Catholic School in Wood Green, looking at the crest.

 

Embossed cover

 If you want to read the book, Project Gutenberg comes to your rescue

Raymond Sheppard and Black Beauty (Part Two)

 

Centre-spread for Girl 2 November 1951

GREAT NEWS FOR GIRLS!
Now you're to have your OWN colour weekly — Sister paper to Eagle . . . 

This was the announcement spread over a full page of Picture Post (20 October 1951) with accompanying illustrations showing one feature was the retelling of Black Beauty in comic strip form. 

Eagle 26 October 1951

Picture Post featured further adverts for the comic in 27 October and the 3 November issues - the latter a double page! All the adverts contained a panel of Raymond Sheppard's art. The adverts also appeared in Eagle itself, as can be seen here - an obvious place to promote the new comic. 

Eagle 2 November 1951

 There was a series called "Girl" which ran from 1981-1990 but I'm focussing on the older comic. Hulton Press had had a huge hit with Eagle which began on 14 April 1950 and only one year  and seven months later they started a comic exclusively for girls. This too was extremely popular - printed in photogravure like its predecessor and it ran from 2 November 1951 – 3 October 1964 with over 600 issues in total.

***UPDATE 1 September 2026*** 

 Thanks to Derek Wilson who has shown a flyer issued for the first issue of Girl we can see Sheppard's "Black Beauty" is mentioned. 

Flyer for the new comic - Thanks to Derek Wilson

"BLACK BEAUTY" in GIRL comic

In the very first issue of Girl (dated 2 November 1951), Raymond Sheppard produced the strip over a vertical quarter page - see the image at the top of this article. The story was spread over 18 episodes from 2 November 1951- 29 February 1952. In a previous look at "Black Beauty" I showed a few pieces, but today I want to show you the whole thing. I wish to acknowledge my thanks to the much missed David Slinn (1936-2025) and Phil Rushton - whose definitely still with us.

2 Nov 51

9 Nov 1951

16 Nov 1951

23 Nov 1951

30 Nov 1951

7 Dec 1951

14 Dec 1951

21 Dec 1951

28 Dec 1951

4 Jan 1952

11 Jan 1952

18 Jan 1952

25 Jan 1952

1 Feb 1952

8 Feb 1952

15 Feb 1952

22 Feb 1952

29 Feb 1952

I hope you enjoy those strips. Here's all the original art fragments I have on my computer so I get the whole lot in one place.

The first is a picture from eBay many moons ago of episode 7

14 Dec 1951 Original art

Then we have a lovely hi-resolution copy of episode 8

21 Dec 1951 Original art

8 Feb 1952 - only 2 panels!

And finally here's a mystery for you

Christine Sheppard owns ONE panel of the original art. Is it a rejected panel from the Black Beauty strip? Is it from another project altogether? We have no idea. In Episode 17 (22 Feb 1952) we see rain around, and Larry the cab driver, with a blanket on his knees but it's green not brown. However in the next epsiode we see Jerry, the kindly cab driver and owner of Beauty wrapped in a brown blanket against the cold snow - not falling snow or rain!       

I know that Black Beauty was adapted by different artists to comics in Princess during the latter half of 1960 and also again in the Princess Gift Book for Girls 1973.

Raymond Sheppard and Black Beauty (Part One)

 

Black Beauty by Raymond Sheppard

I have to confess to never having read the original book. The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English (Ed. Victor Watson, 2001) describes the book thus:

Black Beauty: the Autobiography of a Horse (1877) Novel by Anna Sewell (1820–78) cast in the form of fictional animal autobiography which first gained popularity in the eighteenth century. Black Beauty is one of the best-selling novels of all time. Originally written as a didactic story for adults, especially working men and boys responsible for horses and their welfare, it became popular with children almost immediately and has remained so ever since. The story recounts Black Beauty’s life as a working horse, from idyllic beginnings as a foal on a country estate, through gradual physical deterioration and worsening treatment under successive ownerships, to a consolatory happy ending. The story is episodic, told in simple prose and short chapters, each chapter embodying a moral and educational point. Written for adults with modest literacy and little leisure for reading, the book is linguistically undemanding but narratively powerful, its episodes unified by its sympathetic central figure, his moving life-story, and his naive but telling perspective on human behaviour. Anna Sewell was a Quaker, and the book articulates Quaker values not only concerning the human treatment of animals but in its loathing of warfare and its exposure of social ills such as drunkenness. It defends – and in itself impressively represents – the Quaker virtues of plain speaking and moral courage. 

 Raymond Sheppard illustrated it twice: once in book form and once in comic form - which will be my next article

Let's take the book first as I have little to say. I have been watching websites for a copy of the 1954 edition of Black Beauty by Blackie and Son for over 20 years. Due to the enormous amount of reprints - even by Blackie themselves-  I have never seen a copy come up for sale, let alone one with a dust-jacket for the 1954 edition...and I haven't even looked at American reprints from that year! Blackie previously issued one in their "Blackie's Library of Famous Books" which was printed on their covers and not on the book itself - see for example Dog Crusoe. 

Black Beauty by Raymond Sheppard

In 1954 four new reprints were published by Penguin, Blackie, Preview Publications and Ward Lock (illustrated by Lionel Edwards). The one we are concerned with was published in November 1954 at the price of 3/3d with 224 pages. So, as I say, I have no dust-jacket to show - or knowledge of whether Sheppard drew it. If anyone has one, please do share! The other later editions by Blackie were illustrated by Sheila Rose, and A. Malculric. Jane Badger has a nice overview of various editions too. I wish other sellers would add in illustrators names - even children's booksellers omit that information sometimes!

Above we see the first drawing of Beauty's free early life with his mother and then the stable fire. Here are the other two images accompanying the text - where Blantrye discovers.Lady Anne lying face down, and finally Beauty at work as a cab horse in London.

Black Beauty by Raymond Sheppard

Black Beauty by Raymond Sheppard

I was fortunate that a colleague, in the library world - Rachel Nelligan - provided a PDF of the images for the book for which I am very grateful. I thought it about time to write about Beauty and share these images

Just to round things off here are two studies by Sheppard 

Nomenclature of a horse

 

Skeleton of a horse

 NEXT: The comic version of Black Beauty

Raymond Sheppard and Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4

The Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p11

Searching for The Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, I bought the preceding three books and I have shared two so far on my other blog. Well, I now finally own a copy of Book 4!

The British Library tells us that Eric Newton is a pseudonym for Frederick George Newton, who they tell us was born in 1904. I've found one Frederick George Newton born in Wandsworth on 16 January 1904, who died in Wandsworth in the 1st quarter of 1978. The same man was listed as a General Labourer and having a civilian role in Air Raid Precautions and married to Edith Newton (born 1908). Is this likely him? I don't know. In a later entry the BL also add a further name "Christensen Frederick George Newton" about whom I can also find nothing to help either, so Eric Newton remains a bit of a mystery to me.

 However, the book itself tells me that he was "Head Master, Blackhorse Road Junior School, Walthamstow; Lecturer in School Drama for the Speech Fellowship, and Essex County Council, Middlesex County Council etc." Book 4 also mentions he is the author of Drama Omnibus which the British Library says is dated 1946 so I assume (with the BL corroboration) that Drama Merry-Go-Round was published in 1949 for the 10-11 age group. The Introduction covers "Reading and Acting", "Atmosphere",  "Space", "Contents" and "Notes". It then covers matches each story number below to a type - "Verse Mimes" (#2, #4, #12), then "Stories for Acting" (#5, #10), and "Play-making" (#6, #8, #11), "Plays" (#1, #3, #9, #13, #14) and finally "Broadcast" (#7).

CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION

1. The Horse-shoe Nail
2. Glasshouse Street (Eleanor Farjeon)
3. The Wise Men of Gotham and the Cuckoo
4. Billy's lost his Hat
5. Moses
6. The Queen of Hearts
7. Stupid and the Pot of Gold
8. Androcles and the Lion
9. Belling the Cat
10. The Two Father Christmases
11. Lost and Found
12. The Wraggle-Taggle Gipsies O!
13. The Voyage to the Treasure Island
14. David and the Bear

• NOTES

The first image at the top of this article comes from the first tale of "The Horse-Shoe Nail" where the poor King asks how the battle is going only to be told "Because of a nail the shoe was lost" etc.

The second image by Raymond Sheppard  accompanies "The Wise Men of Gotham and the Cuckoo" where three fools and Grandad attempt to catch a cuckoo - demonstrating with a net plonked on Andrew Addlepate's head!

 

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.16

The next three illustrations are for the story of Moses - firstly three servant girls and the daughter of Pharaoh go to wash and find Moses in a basket floating on the Nile. Secondly Moses witnesses a taskmaster whipping a Jewish slave. Thirdly we see Moses parting the Red Sea.

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.20

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.24

 

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.26

The next image accompanies "The Queen of Hearts" and needs no explanation for you to guess who this thieving character is.

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.28

 "Stupid and the Pot of Gold" is about a boy whose name is given to him by other lads who tease him. It's a cute story of how he is stupid. the three pictures show Stupid scaring his Mother's hen, meeting a man on his way to the fair, and finally accidentally discovering some gold in a statue - who he thought a rude man for not paying him - and thus smashed his head in!

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.31

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.34

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.37

 We have two illustrations for the classic tale of the Christian Androcles whose bravery removing a thorn from the paw of a lion saves his life later in the Roman arena. I loved this story as a child and whilst re-reading here, I wondered if it was possible that I saw this book as a child in the 1960s, it was so familiar!

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.39

  

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.41

The next image in "Belling the cat" gave me pause to study. Is this cute mouse picture by Sheppard? The second image of a cat is most certainly his and as the rest of the book is his work, I have to believe it is his work.

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.44

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.46

 The next tale is of "The Two Father Christmases" - a silly tale of mistaken identity where neighbours look after each others' houses when they are on holiday. 

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.49

"The Wraggle-Taggle Gipsies O!" is in the form of a poem and Sheppard manages to portray the subject matter beautifully in a small space.

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.52

"The Voyage to the Treasure Island" is based on a play of the original book and we see here the pirates plotting mutiny with young Jim Hawkins watching them. 

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.53

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.57

Lastly, in "David and the Bear ", Raymond Sheppard shows us images from a very common story. Two children, Joan and Hugh, trick another child, David, into leaving his basket of eggs on the ground near the sleeping man in the stocks. They pretend to play Blind man's Buff but steal the eggs to get admittance as traders to the fair. David meanwhile stumbles around and trips and awakens the man in the stocks.  The man assures David, the man has lost something much bigger than eggs and makes David guess.  Then out of the blue the bear comes running towards them both. David, convinced the man is telling him the truth strokes the bear bravely. Suddenly a group of horsemen arrive after the bear. The Lord of the manor, never fully trusting his Bailiff''s story about the bear being a killer tells the men to hold off when David persuades them. The Lord is so impressed with David's bravery and we discover the bailiff put the man who owns the bear in the stocks without the Lord's permission. You can guess the ending - David is made a free man as does his new friend and they take the bear away with them to start a new life.

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.61

  

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.65

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.68

 

 Drama Merry-Go-Round Book 4, p.75

ERIC NEWTON BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Never to be: Song. With Violin or Violoncello Obligato, ad lib. Words .by G. W. Southey,  Eric Newton. Birmingham: Arthur & Co, 1900
• Play Production for Youth: A book for producers and leaders in youth clubs. London: Samuel French, 1943
• Drama for Youth: A guide to drama for clubs and schools. London: Samuel French, 1943
• Drama Omnibus, etc. [On acting.] London: Samuel French, 1946
• The Drama Merry-Go-Round (Books.1 - 4.), London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1949
• The Playmakers: A graded course in dramatic activity for children of primary schools. (Books.1 - 4.) by Maisie Cobby and Eric Newton, [Illustrations by Rosamond Stokes]London: Pitman, 1951
• Drama in the Making Book 2. London: University of London Press Ltd, 1955
• The Merry-Go-Round of Mimes. [Illustrated by Ruth Murrell]. London & Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1955
• Teacher's Book. by Eric Newton and Jean McConnell, London: University of London Press, 1956
• Drama in the Making. By Eric Newton, and Jean McConnell, London: University of London Press, 1956
• Drama in the Making: Teacher's Book, London: University of London Press Ltd, 1956 
• The Legend of Carcassone, by Jean MacConnell and Eric Newton, London: University of London Press, 1962
• A guide to teaching poetry, Eric Newton and Graham Handley, London: University of London Press, 1971