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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
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| 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.
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| Redskin and Cowboy - Blackie's Famous Books - cover |
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| 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
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| "Blackie's Famous Books" series |
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| 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?
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1951
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1951
- Little Shop on the Corner by Monica Backway, illustrated by Gilbert Dunlop, 1951
- The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's, by Talbot Baines Reed, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1951
- Redskin and Cowboy by G. A. Henty, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1954
- The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, illustrated by Jack Matthew, 195?
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jack Matthew, 1954
- Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott, illustrated by William Littlewood, 1954
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1954
- Heidi by Johanna Spyri, illustrated by Raymond Sheppard, 1955
- The Burnished Sword, by Jessie Hagart Maclehose, 1956
- 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
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Redskin and Cowboy p.43
"“You rotten coward!” Hugh shouted and flung himself forward in a headlong attack" |
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Redskin and Cowboy p.186
"Like a prow of a ship cutting the seas, the cowboy charge crashed home" |
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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
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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
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Fifth Form at St. Dominic's p.54
"There was such a hustling and crowding in front of it" |
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Fifth Form at St. Dominic's p.177
"The luckless Stephen in the clutches of three or four disreputable fellows" |
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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.
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| Embossed cover |
If you want to read the book, Project Gutenberg comes to your rescue
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