Raymond Sheppard and Unlawful Cargo

 

Unlawful Cargo, p.7

 I want to share the drawings from another children's book illustrated by Raymond Sheppard.  This time for Oxford University Press as part of a school reader scheme "Stories Told and  Retold".

The series, formerly known as Stories Retold, was extended to include newly-written adventure stories. As the South Pacific Commission reviewer in SPC Quarterly Bulletin.(Vol. 7 No. 4, October 1957) says:

Overseas students often wish to read material with a local background; they also often wish for something which is a little more up-to-date and faster-moving than the somewhat dull fare of bygone days which is so frequently served up to them. This series is now beginning to cater for this need, and these three titles provide well-written, fast-moving adventure stories which we feel sure will be welcomed in tropical areas by students who have completed six years of an English course.  

Unlawful Cargo is an exciting story about diamond smuggling in the Middle East and Africa. The Crocodile Dies Twice has Singapore and Malaya as a background and is about a school-boy’s discovery of a wartime treasure trove. Adventures at Dabanga School has an African background and comprises two short stories.   

Unlawful Cargo, p.28

The story tells of the Head of Police, Ronald Wilson's meeting with Sir George Leatherstone "one of the British Civil servants whose names do not get into the newspapers" in a "British West African colony". Sir George wants Wilson to find a suitable candidate to infiltrate a diamond smuggling gang.  He does and the adventure begins - with Sullivan being arrested and meeting the local lawyer - Mr. Amerilla (pictured on page 7). Sullivan manages to ingratiate himself with the lawyer who happens to be the organiser of the smuggling ring locally. he uses a beautiful woman to smuggle diamonds to the Middle East from West Africa and Sullivan tags along fooling the traffickers by not getting caught with the diamonds.

 In Khartoum Sullivan follows the woman and witnesses the swapping of handbags at a market stall. (page 28). He eventually lands in Beirut and meets the head of the organisation, whom he persuades, to organise an expedition to Nigeria to collect three quarters of a million pounds of raw diamonds Sullivan allegedly has hidden. In truth he wants the lawyer, Amerilla and the Boss, Mr Fuad, to cross the Nigerian border so they can be arrested. On page 49 we see the meeting between Sullivan and Faud - who wears sunglasses. He falls for Sullivan's plan and they head off. But trouble pursues them and someone recognises Sullivan's local accomplice as a police officer. (page 77). But just in time the French police arrive to arrest the smugglers and free Sullivan and his friend. What happens to the woman, is not mentioned.

STORIES TOLD AND RETOLD

The cover of Unlawful Cargo

On the back cover are listed other titles in the series - my copy of Unlawful Cargo is a 1958 reprint, the original was printed in 1955 with Sheppard's illustrations. 

Unlawful Cargo, p.49

• Stories from Shakespeare Retold by H. G. Wyatt
• More Stories from Shakespeare Retold by H. G. Wyatt
• Tom Brown’s Schooldays by T. Hughes. Retold by H. D. B. Harford
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Retold by E. Smith
• Treasure Island by R. L. Stevenson Retold by G. F. J. Cumberlege
• Beau Geste by P. C. Wren Retold by R. C. Goffin
• The Hound of The Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle. Retold by B. M. Chester
• The Tale of The Bounty by H. G. Wyatt
• The War of The Worlds by H. G. Wells Retold by L. Brander
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Retold by A. S. Hornby
• Adventures At Dabanga School by P. H. C. Clarke [Illustrated by Jack Matthew]
• The Crocodile Dies Twice by Shamus Frazer [Illustrated by Richard Walker]
• Unlawful Cargo by S. F. Stevens [Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard]
• The Message from The Tomb by F. J. F. Tingay [Illustrated by A. S. Douthwaite]

Notice the last four are the newer tales and are illustrated, I couldn't find any evidence whether the others are or not.

Unlawful Cargo, p.77

According to the British Library and others, S.F. Stevens is Sydney Frank Stevens. Now I assume as he has written for Oxford University Press school readers that he has an interest in simplified English - i.e. for non-native speakers. If this is the case we might assume too that he is the person mentioned in the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 1960, where we learn about "Sydney Frank Stevens, lately English by Radio Manager, British Broadcasting Corporation". The English language teaching department "English by Radio" within BBC World Service began in 1943 and listings in the Radio Times don't mention Stevens unfortunately.. Looking for other works by Stevens I think I have a basic list below in which I make the assumption this is the same person, several published in Florence, Italy.  

• The Missing Scientist, etc. (Illustrated by Raymond Briggs.), London: Oxford University Press, 1958
• Business in English [Audiobook] London: BBC, 1960
• The Odhams Series of Language Courses. [A series of text books with gramophone records in French, German, Italian and Spanish.], London: Odhams Press, 1960
• Twelve American-English conversations, Madrid: Omnivox, 1961
• A Christmas Carol, Firenze: Valmartina ed., 1963
• Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Firenze: Valmartina ed., 1964
• Arms for sale. Originally broadcast in the B.B.C.'s English by radio programmes as The past tense of murder [Published unknown] 1964
• Relaxed English, Firenze: Valmartina ed., 1965
• Spoken English Firenze: Valmartina ed., 1967
• Highlights of English history and Civilization , Firenze: Valmartina ed., 1967
• Treasure Island Firenze: Valmartina ed., 1968
• Business in English : a guide to English commercial practice and correspondence, London: Chatto and Windus Ltd Published in association with the British Broadcasting Corporation London, 1968

 

Raymond Sheppard and seaside sketches

 

Noah's Ark by Raymond Sheppard

In the UK we have seen so many rainy days in the last few months - with flooding everywhere and flood warnings being issued day by day. Living on the edge of the Fens we are very interested in those warnings. But we haven't yet had to buy a boat, but Raymond Sheppard's drawing of Noah's Ark doesn't seem to far-fetched!

I decided this time to take the theme of the seaside in order to remember that the rain will disappear some time soon - I hope!  All the images are photos taken by Christine Sheppard who kindly sent them to me. I have cropped some but generally left them as delivered.  

Lobster study in pencil

Lobster

Lobster study

Lobster

I always love looking at Raymond Sheppard's studies, imagining the hours of work he put in at London Zoo and other places. In "Drawing at the Zoo" Sheppard writes:

[The] next problem is [...] how to cope with an animal that is rarely still and often on the move. This latter is our most harassing and immediate problem. Most of us have learnt to draw from still objects. [...]. I need hardly say that a different approach is necessary when drawing from an animal who rarely holds any pose for more than a minute and is just as likely to disappear entirely into some inner den or sleeping box. This vanishing trick can be very exasperating. We must just exercise patience and hope he will re-appear. Now, no one can be expected to change his habits overnight, so to start with I think it a good idea to draw from the sleeping or seated animal whenever you get the chance. At first try to get the whole animal down on paper—then make careful studies of separate details; eyes, ears, paws, etc. Considered renderings of the difficult foreshortening of limbs outstretched in slumber; all these studies will increase your knowledge. Most important of all; when you get home draw it all again from MEMORY. 

 

Lobster

Lobster outline in profile

He certainly "practised what he preached" looking at the various angles of the lobsters above. Below is a finished pen and ink which I have not found to be published yet. For some finished drawings of seaside life, I've shared the images already from The Children's Own Treasure Book  and there's an image of a lobster also in The Children's Book of Games, Puzzles and Pastimes

Pen and ink of Lobster

The second set of studies are of seals - which will have been invaluable for the drawings accompanying Rowena Farre's Seal Morning - which I have covered five times on this blog as it's a favourite of mine!

 

Studies of a seal (x5)

Studies of a young seal

The upper image shows the principle of catching the outline, then trying to add depth to the figure followed by concentrating on one aspect. I also love the fact Sheppard has started with a finished drawing in the latter image and then focussed on the flippers. 

When I was a child, living in Malta in the 1960s I loved swimming and catching hermit crabs and racing them off rocks into the water. Hopefully I didn't traumatise too many! So here are some studies of hermit crabs and their shells by Sheppard - some in outline and some finished in pencil.

I recently bought a photo of sand eels on acrylic plastic and these images of seaweed make me want to see what the finished drawing, or painting might have been! But at least we can see Sheppard's work.

Sand eels in seaweed

Seaweed forms

 When I was a child I owned a budgie which loved cuttlefish. Here we see two studies by Raymond Sheppard of two live cuttlefish on the move! 

Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish 

Finally we have a starfish and a crab both drawn in colour.

 

Common Starfish

Crab

 

Raymond Sheppard and Birds of Woodland and Hedgerow by Elizabeth Gould

 

Birds of Woodland and Hedgerow - Front and back cover

 This is the fourth book alphabetically in the series by Elizabeth Gould, but third in order within the single volume My Little Bird Book, (1952). When this title was published by Blackie and Son, in November 1950 at 1/6d all four titles were simultaneously published and then in 1952 combined into My Little Bird Book 

I've also previously mentioned there are no title pages to each individual volume.  The cover to Birds of Woodland and Hedgerow shows a large pheasant in the foreground - normally a field bird, being squawked at by a jay and in the background are a tree creeper, nuthatch plus a woodpecker!

So let's look at the Raymond Sheppard full colour artwork for this book

BIRDS OF WOODLAND AND HEDGEROW

Wood Pigeon

Owls

Nightingale

Pheasant

Willow Warbler

Goldcrest

Green Woodpecker

Nuthatch

Tree Creeper

Jay

Rook

Magpie

Of all 63 images Sheppard drew for these books (plus covers) this is the only drawing which has his signature! Blackie were not averse to showing artists' signatures, so was this Sheppard indicating a favourite bird or favourite painting?

Yellow-Hammer

Long-tailed Tit

Goldfinch

Bullfinch 

Raymond Sheppard and Birds of Moorland, Hill and Sea by Elizabeth Gould

 

Birds of Moorland, Hill and Sea - Front and back cover

This is the third book alphabetically in the series by Elizabeth Gould, but fourth in order within the single volume My Little Bird Book, (1952). This title was published, like the other three, in 1950 - before the combined book of 1952. The book, published by Blackie and Son, came out in November 1950 at 1/6d. 

I've also previously mentioned there are no title pages to each individual volume.  The cover to Birds of Moorland, Hill and Sea shows seaside birds - thankfully, Sheppard ever the professional knew it would be really difficult to show all three types covered by the title!

So let's look at the Raymond Sheppard full colour artwork for this book

BIRDS OF MOORLAND, HILL AND SEA

Rock Pipit 

 

Herring Gull

Jackdaw

Oyster-catcher

Common Tern

Cormorant

Puffins

 

Gannet

Golden Plover

Redshank

Ring Ouzel

Curlew

Dunlin

Black-headed Gull

Linnet

Wheatear  

So that's the third book done, 

NEXT: Birds of Woodland and Hedgerow