The Modern Encyclopædia for Children & Nature Lover's Companion

 

I recently acquired an encyclopedia published by Odhams in 1948. The Modern Encyclopædia for Children. I spotted the signature of the image in the bottom right of the page showing 4 portrait images and immediately recognised Raymond Sheppard's style.

These are the four captions:

• Indian Leaf Butterflies, one with folded wings
• Seychelles Leaf Insect blends with the leaves
• Striped Angel Fish merge with water plants
• Ptarmigan's colouring matches the hillside

 But did Sheppard do all four? I could accept the bottom two but the top two?

The good news is I have some -sort of - proof he did. Christine Sheppard kindly sent me sketches and amongst them is this page of both a leaf insect and a butterfly. Interestingly the butterfly has a hint of vibrant cobalt which the published piece does not - the reason I enhanced the colours so you could see it. Indian Leaf Butterflies have those distinctive points to their wings as well as the cobalt colour. 

Leaf Insect + Butterfly (strengthened colours)

 Then we also have another study of a leaf insect.

Leaf Insect study

Amongst the studies I have there are unfortunately no Angel fish of Ptarmigan.

Whilst writing about this single page in a 640 page book, I thought I'd add another book with just one page by Raymond Sheppard as I was looking for ptarmigan images, but unfortunately this is another member of the family!

Nature Lover's Companion, p.65b

 Nature Lover's Companion    

Nature Lover's Companion, cover by Tunnicliffe

This book, also by Odhams was published in 1949. On the colour page opposite page 65, we have this amazing piece showing "Birds of Prey" - including the kestrel, common buzzard, golden eagle (striking down red grouse) Peregrine, Sparrow Hawk (chasing goldfinch), Merlin, Barn Owl, Montague's Harrier (Male), and an Osprey - all in one image! It's a great book with all illustrations being credited for a change - lots of Badmin and Stanley Herbert but only one Sheppard page. 

The Children's Nature Book

This book was also reprinted as The Children's Nature Book in 1958 with the same cover - different title obviously -  and the contents were the same - just the contents pages inverted!

If you want to see more illustrations from The Modern Encyclopædia for Children, have a look at my other blog.

Crusader Series Part Seven Raymond Sheppard and George Bell

 

Sahara Adventure - Cover by Raymond Sheppard.

Part One Algerian Adventure + Index
Part Two Avocet Island + Dangerous Journey
Part Three Men O' the Mists + The Riddle of Monk's Island
Part Four The Deserted City + Rustlers at Bar-Two Ranch + Highveld Mystery
Part Five Fen Laughs Last + Ivory Poachers
Part Six Mystery of Middle Tree Island

I'm enjoying reading these 50 page schoolbooks as the stories are great fun - mostly boys' adventures, and today I want to look at two by author George Bell. With a common name like his, I've tried guessing what else he wrote but have completely drawn a blank. If anyone out there knows who he was, what he wrote and when he lived, I'd be grateful to know. I can only be sure of two books he wrote and both are from the Crusader series by Blackie and Son! A very short career if it was just two books. Is George a pseudonym? Could George be Georgina? 

SAHARA ADVENTURE by George Bell, and illustrated by Raymond Sheppard. [London: Blackie & Son, 1955 [Crusader series No. 20]] is the story of the Deakin family who head to South Africa over land via Algiers. From there to Cairo they encounter the Foreign Legion who are searching for gun-runners. After being allowed to continue they go on, only to breakdown having lost their water supplies en route. They flag a car down and are shocked to see the man has a rifle!

Sahara Adventure
"He saw that the man was holding a rifle"

They ask the man to tell someone from the next village to return with water and whilst waiting the two children head off and start throwing rocks at a target they set up. Mr Deakin feels someone is watching them and just about to call the children realises they have disappeared! Searching for them he hears a slight echo and Dick and Alice have discovered a cave with water in it. They take cans of water back to their lorry, all the time noticing the discreetly hidden man. 

Sahara Adventure p. 14
"Dick leaned over the edge and rippled the calm water"

They head off in the dark to the nearest village where they are surrounded as they change a tyre that looks to be going flat and the strange man appears again. He lives in a house above the village and gets his servant to fix the tyre for them and invites them to a meal where Signore Torre asks them all sorts of questions about their plans and stops. Alice and Dick want to know about the well they found in a cave and Torre tells them it must be Roman and he knew nothing about its existence.

After a night's sleep in their van, they set off. Dick became suspicious when he saw Torre's car not speeding past but following them at a distance. Mr Deakin remembers he must fill up with petrol at Phillipeville and cannot find his wallet or passports. They decide to confront Torre and see his car has turned up a hill road. They follow and see a hole below some rocks and head down on foot.

Sahara Adventure p. 31
“I'm going down there,” said her father at once

They soon discover boxes piled up and there was Signor Torre who claimed to be investigating a Roman well he'd been told about. The Deakins knew he was lying and Dick took the opportunity to knock Torre into the water while his Father knocked out Ahmed the servant. He comes round and grabs the gun which Torre wielded.  

Sahara Adventure p. 49
He moved suddenly taking a running dive at Torre

Then Alice thwarts Ahmed by kicking the gun into the water but Ahmed helps himself to another gun from the boxes. As the family are tied up, suddenly there is the the sound of boots coming down the steps. Dick cries out "The Foreign Legion!". Torre has hidden his gun and Ahmed dropped something as Mrs Deakin saw him and stabbed him with her knitting needles! It was their wallet. Torres pointed his gun at them all - including the Arab - telling him if he hadn't been too greedy they could have got away with their game and that he planned to entomb them all. One of the Legion shot the gun from his hand. It was all over. The man the family saw watching them was a legion spy who alerted the captain to the family's plight.

The Stowaway

THE STOWAWAY by George Bell and illustrated by Raymond Sheppard. [London: Blackie & Son, 1955  [Crusader series No. 17]]

The SS Dalesman is on the way up the coast of South America when hit by an enormous storm. the wheelhouse is smashed and they lose one engine. They battle the storm and young Peter takes on the duties of a donkeyman - a naval rating who does various jobs - in this case, working the sea anchor. A wall of water crashed over the ship and Peter held tight but was knocked breathless. He and another member of the crew decided they needed to get the engine working so they left the sea anchor to do its work. Peter was caught by another giant wave which smashed upon the lifeboat throwing it in two parts overboard. 

Peter realised there was someone in the shattered lifeboat and he went to help. The tangled ropes and wreckage were slipping overboard and Peter grabbed the thin brown arm.

The Stowaway Frontispiece
He was hanging onto a small brown boy

Pedro, the small boy is heading back to Salvador and rather than tell the Captain, Peter hides Pedro in a bunk bed. Mac, the engineer shares a cabin with Peter and spots the boy but decides after 3 days of no sleep he was seeing things. They put into Salvador for repairs and parts, where Pedro impersonates some of the begging 'bumboat' sailors hoping to sell fruit and he leaves. 

The Stowaway p.13
A policeman came out of the shadow near the bridge

Mac and Peter need to look for spares and think of evading the police but are stopped and confined to their cabin by the revolutionary police. However Pedro pops through the porthole and Peter sends him on a errand to the company's warehouse for some piston rings. 

The Stowaway p.32
He slid down a mooring rope to a small boat below

Pedro is successful and he returned to his boat promising to return the following night. The rings fitted perfectly, and Peter had another idea. He shared his thoughts with the Captain and mac who agreed it was worth a shot. The next day, the crew acting casual, the Police Chief arrived and claimed to have evidence of smuggling. Just then there was shooting coming from the port, the Police Chief ordered his men to suppress this rebellion. Suddenly the Chief was grabbed and bound and gagged by the crew. 

The Stowaway p.49
“I'll take this,” said the second mate

On shore Pedro was throwing fireworks in the open doorways of the company warehouse. The Police began shooting at each other not realising there were no shooters in the warehouse. The ship pulled away, a signal being sent to all ships about the revolution. Soon a Brazilian destroyer put down the revolution and celebrations were had.
  

Crusader Series Part Six - Raymond Sheppard and Isobel M. Knight

Part One Algerian Adventure + Index
Part Two Avocet Island + Dangerous Journey
Part Three Men O' the Mists + The Riddle of Monk's Island
Part Four The Deserted City + Rustlers at Bar-Two Ranch + Highveld Mystery
Part Five Fen Laughs Last + Ivory Poachers

I'm enjoying reading these 50 page schoolbooks as the stories are great fun - mostly boys' adventures, which is interesting. Did Blackie also do a girls' series? I think not, as one of the titles I don't own is "Pamela in Paris" (and to continue that sexist thinking, maybe "Ponies for Sale" - which I can't corroborate as I don't have that one either!)

Cover to "The Mystery of Middle Tree Island"

MYSTERY OF MIDDLE TREE ISLAND by Isobel M Knight

This could be number 10 or 7 depending when you bought it and tracking down when this was first published is a bit easier - it was 1952. Raymond Sheppard had previously illustrated a story by Isobel Knight ("Royal Monkey") in For All Girls.

Raymond Sheppard's first picture shows a dying man - a Chinese clerk, whom 'Uncle Bill' got to help in the past,  being helped by an English officer - Uncle Bill, who coincidentally meets him again in a civil war in Hong Kong. The man tells him to go and see his wife about a tin hidden in their garden. And so the adventure begins. 

Mystery of the Middle Tree Island, Frontispiece
"He struggled to sit up, gasping out his story"

The next image throws us into the adventure with Ming Lo - the dying man's son, accompanying Uncle Bill and his nephew, Jimmy, to England with the treasure map. But someone has attacked Ming Lo in the night! He recovers and they set sail after provisioning.

Mystery of the Middle Tree Island, p.12
"Stretched out on the floor was Ming Lo"

I don't think Raymond Sheppard drew this trasure map but I've included it for fun. My wife guessed the solution from the clue on the "Middle Tree Island" map. 

"Not south, not north, not east, not west, not in earth, or sea or air. Remember thy youth",

Mystery of the Middle Tree Island, p.15
The treasure map

The party of three are exploring the island when they spot another boat on the opposite side of the island!

SPOILER ALERT AHEAD! You've been warned!

 

Mystery of the Middle Tree Island, p.29
"“Look!”, cried Jimmy excitedly. “A boat!”"

And the last image gives the game away as to where the treasure is hidden. After a tuussle and kidnapping by the occupants of said other boat, we get the happy ending for Ming Lo's family, we'd expect.

Mystery of the Middle Tree Island, p.47
"“There's a big hole here – in the fork,” he called"

ISOBEL M. KNIGHT

I thought I'd have a look at Knight's biography but in researching Isobel M. Knight, I hit a brick wall! That is until I found in her book The Treasure Seekers,1969, the copyright statement states "Isobel Lockie" and a dictionary of pseudonymns confirms this, but still that brick wall! That led me to searching a bit wider for more names. The other clue was the dedication in one of her books, similarly named as the one above, "Mystery of the Island". It states "To Fiona, Cameron and Andy". Often mothers might use their own mother's name for their children but in this case I think these are her nephews and niece and Isobel's own mother was named Fiona too - but I'd love someone better than me to confirm or disprove this.  Perhaps she was Fiona Isobel MacLeod Lockie (11 Nov 1932 -18 Dec  2002 died in Edinburgh)?  That stray middle name beginning with an 'M.' sort of corroborates this but I'm still guessing and hoping our Isobel is the same one who appeared on the radio telling of a personal experience in Scotland, please note!

One other interesting piece appeared in The Listener and I thought it worth sharing here:

SOMETHING TO DO WITH TIME?
‘My most frightening supernatural experience was not meeting a ghost—it had something to do with time’, said ISOBEL KNIGHT in ‘Woman’s Hour from Scotland’ (Light Programme). ‘I still do not know whether I re-lived something that had already happened, or was projected into something that has yet to take place.

‘My husband and I were returning from Glasgow to Dumfries. There were so few passengers on the train that we had no difficulty in finding a compartment to ourselves. After a short time we went through to the dining car; then, when we had finished our meal, we started to make our way back to our seats. During the interval in which we had been having tea the train had not stopped at any stations. Now, to our amazement, we could not find our compartment, which should have been easily recognizable because of the luggage we had stacked on the rack. Even more amazing, the previously almost empty train was now filled with passengers.

‘In a kind of daze we ran up and down the corridor, going into each packed compartment. Every seat was taken up; but, strangely, not one person moved a muscle or looked up when we flung open doors and anxiously examined the racks. After travelling the length of the train three times I began to panic. My husband was pale. “Look”’, he said, “where have all these people come from, and where is our luggage? Is there something wrong with us, or has something happened to the train? We'll walk down once again and if we still can’t find our own compartment I’m going for the guard ”.

Shaking like a leaf, I followed him; and yes, the train was almost empty, just as it had been when we got in. Only a few passengers sat dozing over their newspapers. There, with the luggage safely on the rack, was our own compartment, just as it had been when we left to go to the dining-car.

“What happened? ” I asked. My husband shook his head: “ Don’t ask me”. I saw his hands were trembling. “It’s been fantastic—and horrible”. Afterwards I tried to check with the railway to see if there had been any accidents on that line but I could not find out anything. I have no explanation to offer. Perhaps the reason may be that I have Highland blood in my veins, People have told me I have “a gift ”. Maybe I have, but I would rather be without it’

~Listener 23 February 1961

 

ISOBEL M. KNIGHT BIBLIOGRAPHY

 BOOKS

• Stories of Jesus.[Silver Torch Series. no. 53.] Glasgow: Collins Clear-Type Press, 1946
• Stories from the Old Testament.  [Silver Torch Series. no. 57.] London; Glasgow: Collins Clear-Type Press, 1947
• The Mystery of the Island [Illustrated by Lindsay W. Cable] London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, [1948.]
• Pilgrim's Progress (retold by Isobel Knight) London; Glasgow: Collins, 1948
  
• Robinson Crusoe the Second, London: Pickering & Inglis, 1949
• Friendly Animals [Illustrated by A. E. Kennedy]. London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1951
• Come to the Farm! [Illustrated by A. E. Kennedy]. London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1952
• On our Farm [Illustrated by A. E. Kennedy].London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1952
• Swiss Family Robinson (Retold by Isobel Knight) London: Pickering & Inglis, 1952
• The Mystery of Middle Tree Island [Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard]. [Crusader Series. no. 10.] London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1952
•  Surefooted. [Starling Series.] London: Pickering & Inglis, 1953 
• A Present for Mother Pixie's Birthday [Illustrated by Doritie Kettlewell].[Nelson's Speedwell Readers. no. A 15.] London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1954
• Awheel to Happiness.[Starling Series.] London: Pickering & Inglis, 1954
• Come to the Farm, London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1954
• The Piper's Cave [Illustrated by Gilbert Dunlop], [Kingfisher Books. ser. 4. no. 6.] London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1954
• The Bunny Whiskers find an Island [Illustrated by John S. Goodall], [Kingfisher Books. ser. 1. no. 7.] London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1954
• The Circus comes to Town, [Illustrated by R. MacGillivray]. [Heritage Story Books.] London: Longmans, 1955
• The Farmyard Mystery [Illustrated by H. Radcliffe Wilson]. [Heritage Story Books.] London: Longmans, 1955
• The Magic Foxgloves, [Illustrated by Joyce Wellman].[Heritage Story Books.]London: Longmans, 1955
• Holiday at Honeysuckle Farm.[Nature Stories.] Edinburgh: W. & A. K. Johnston & G. W. Bacon, 1955 
• The Runaways [Illustrated by Mary Shillabeer].[Heritage Story Books.] London: Longmans, 1955 
• Rascal to the Rescue [Illustrated by Joyce Johnson]. [New Times Readers. no. A12.] Huddersfield: Schofield & Sims, 1958
• Detectives on Horseback [Illustrations by Joyce Johnson][New Times Readers. no. C10.] Huddersfield: Schofield & Sims, 1959
• Island Adventure [Illustrated by Joan Milroy].[Dolphin Books. no. E4.] London: University of London Press, 1960
• The Young Farmers, [illustrated by J. C. Jarvies], [Far and near readers] London; Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, 1960
• Rescue in the snow, [Illustrated by Faith Jaques], [Dolphin books no. C.7] London: University of London Press, 1963
• Three Bangles for Mummy. [Illustrated by Romain Simon].[Robin Books.] Edinburgh: McDougall, 1964
• The Battle with the Dark Invaders. Glasgow: Robert Gibson & Sons, 1965
• The McEwen Brownie, Glasgow: Robert Gibson & Sons, 1965
• Mary Jane's pink straw hat [Illustrated by Jo Crickmay] Glasgow: Robert Gibson & Sons, 1965
• Mermaid in a gym-suit. Glasgow: Robert Gibson & Sons, 1966
• The Adventures of Mr Alf Mouse. Glasgow: Robert Gibson & Sons, 1968
• The Treasure Seekers, [Illustrated by David Grice], London: Epworth, 1969
• Exploring in the Scottish Lowlands [Mystery trail books] Nutfield: Denholm House Press, 1971
• Families [Exploring Your World series]  Edinburgh: Holmes McDougall. 1972
• Yesterday and Today [Exploring Your World series]  Edinburgh: Holmes McDougall. 1972
  

STORIES and BROADCASTS

• "The charm of craftsmanship", "Round the World at Playtime", "Chrismas at home and abroad" and "Queer customs"  The Children's New Illustrated Encyclopedia Collins, 1950
  
• "The Wee MacGowans" on Children's Hour - first broadcast Tuesday 12 August 1952, 17:25 on BBC Home Service Scottish, 1952
• "Royal Monkey" in For All Girls, London; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 195?
• "Annals of the Loch Ness Monster- review ", Scotland's Magazine, July 1957
• "?" in A Packet of adventures: an omnibus of thrilling stories for girls and boys. Stirling: Stirling Tract Enterprise, [195-?]
• "Ghosts I have Met: by Isobel Knight" Woman's Hour, Friday 30 December 1960, 14:00 on Light Programme [See article above from The Listener]
• "Russians In Russia and Russians in Scotland": Gloria Stewart lived in Moscow and Isobel Knight accompanied twenty-seven Russians on a tour of Scotland, Woman's Hour Monday 14 December 1964, 14:00 on Light Programme
• "It Would Happen to Me: says Isobel Knight", Woman's Hour Monday 3 April 1967, 14:00 on Light Programme from Scotland
   
  

 

Raymond Sheppard and the Crusader series- Part Five

Part One Algerian Adventure + Index
Part Two Avocet Island + Dangerous Journey
Part Three Men O' the Mists + The Riddle of Monk's Island
Part Four The Deserted City + Rustlers at Bar-Two Ranch + Highveld Mystery
 

The Crusader series published by Blackie & Son were for schoolchildren aged between 9-11. I've covered some of the series before - see links above.

Fen Laughs Last - cover with Christmas sticker!

This story Fen laughs last (1952) by John Hornby (who I have mentioned before on this blog) tells the story of two friends whose dog is accused of sheep-killing. Naturally this turns out to be erroneous as two suspicious men are on the Cumbrian Fells and they have a wolf!

My copy came - as you can see - with a Christmas sticker, but that doesn't matter as the covers seem to be all the same knight drawn by Raymond Sheppard! Here are the usual four images from inside the book.

Fen Laughs Last p.00
"Hal dragged the dog back with less than an inch to spare"

An open-backed truck nearly runs over two boys and their dog - and this is after apologising for nearly running into their car!

Fen Laughs Last p.13
"“I'd like to know what they're up to” said Cliff

Cliff and his friend Hal together with Fen - Cliff's dog, watch the two suspicious men on the moors as they are out for a run with Fen.

Fen Laughs Last p.32
"On the ground beside fen lay the body of a dead sheep"

Just at the wrong moment, two local farmers out looking for the sheep-killer hear the ruckus of Fen barking loudly to alert the boys to a dead sheep. He nudges the carcass and naturally gets blood on his snout. The farmers take this as hard evidence and lock up the Alsatian.

Fen Laughs Last p.49
“Fen! You've won!”

The boys decide they don't want the Alsatian shot so run away with him to the High Fell and aim to hide in a cave that Hal knows, but before they can get there, Fen has run on growling and barking. This noise attracts the two suspicious men and also the two farmers who are searching for the boys,. But they are aware Fen has slipped into the cave to attack something or someone - the wolf - and as you can see by the caption Fen wins.

A lovely tale of drama and resolution with four great illustrations by Sheppard - particularly the Alsatian. We don't get to see the wolf (too bloodied for children!) but Sheppard, if you remember did illustrate an article for Lilliput on "The Last Wolf" 

The Ivory Poachers - Hardback!

Now before any collectors rush out to look for hardback versions of the Crusader series by Blackie and Son, this is a one-off - produced by the Henry Compton School, in Fulham, London to stretch the budget by protecting the book. It's nice to think Sheppard's designs - and the story of course - were so well-read they wore out quickly, but I suspect it was because the school had a better budget.

Anyway to the story written by Geoffrey Feild, - note, not 'Field'! The author is a mystery, as, in common with the British Library, I misspelled his surname - now corrected and I've informed the British Library. I suspect given the stories he has written for this series - two, one illustrated by Will Nickless - he might have been Dutch or South African - especially as "Lion's Gold" seems to have been published in Dutch (later in 1958) - and the story in Boy's Fun Annual 1955 sounds similar "Prize Catch by Geoffrey Feild" - well spotted John Wigmans! As a side-note the commentary in a Dutch magazine for schools* mentions "De moeilijke woorden zijn in het Nederlands en Frans gegeven in de omslag" which John confirms means something like "difficult words appear in Dutch and French on the [inside?] cover"! ***SEE BELOW FOR AN UPDATE***

The story is of a boy and his Father who track ivory poachers and rescue a baby orphan elephant who charges their native cook. The boy being suspicious of the latter investigates and follows some poachers who capture him. Rescue arrives at the last minute!

The Ivory Poachers p.00
"It backed a way squealing and lifted its forelegs into the air"

This frontispiece shows the first time the group encounter the baby elephant, Bill watson - Tom's Dad - holding the baby elephant with a rope whilst whispering to it, to calm it down.

The Ivory Poachers p.14
"Mgao covered the ten yards at terrific speed"

Sheppard's drawing of the elephant in action chasing Mgao round the compound is wonderful and the fear in the cook and housekeeper is drawn well too.

The Ivory Poachers p.31
"Kali was leading a file of natives to the east"

Tom is shown on a slight hill spying on the activities of some of the local villagers who are led by the Story-Teller, Kali, the ringleader of the poachers. He follows them keeping his distance.

The Ivory Poachers p.49
"A dark figure stood in his path"

After being captured and held in the hut by the dry river bed, Tom manages to cut his bonds on some sharp edged ivory but escapes just as the men return, including their leader Kali who holds a knife. But luckily for Tom, his Father and the native police have arrived too

I own six more of this series which I will share in due course. The history of the series is interesting as each batch were published over a decade:

• Sheppard illustrated the first twelve, in 1951 and 1952
• Will Nickless started the next four in 1955
• Sheppard continued for four more in 1955
• Then in 1959 and 1962, Nickless and others drew the rest as Sheppard had sadly passed away by then

 --------------------------------------------------

* Het schoolblad. Geraadpleegd op Delpher op 11-02-2025

UPDATE MARCH 2025

"Lion's Gold" photographic cover

As John Wigmans provided some more help and said "Lion's Gold kept haunting me. So I sent an inquiry to the Dutch Royal Library with some questions." Thanks to his efforts we now know that "Lion's Gold" by Geoffrey Feild was published in English with Dutch and French vocabulary lists. He also found out there are no illustrations in this translation, and the text below shows italicised words which can be consulted on the foldover part of the front and back covers.
 
 

English text with italicised words

The explanation that this text can be used in Benelux countries
as Dutch and French vocabulary have been supplied

Others in the series - which don't appear to have ever been published in Britain!

Then we have two examples of vocabulary lists:

It's amazing the rabbit holes we go down as fanatics!. Many thanks to John and to Brina of Klantenservice Koninklijke Bibliotheek - Customer Service of the Royal [National] Library in The Hague.

 

 

 

 

Raymond Sheppard and various Everybody's illustrations

 

Everybody's 2 January 1954 p.11

Today I want to carry on looking at Raymond Sheppard's work in the weekly large format  Everybody's magazine.

"Long, Long Trail of the Eskimo Killers" was written by Roland Wild (in an interview with Constable of the Withers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police)  and we see the half page illustration above with the caption "Slowly they were surrounded by a ring of impassive men and women, who could kill them in an instant". The story is of how the phrase "The Mounties always get their man" came about and is based in 1915-1916.

I found out that Roland Gibson Wild was born in 1903 in Manchester and died in 1989 (aged 86) in North Vancouver, British Columbia where he was a respected newspaperman, wrote 13 books - working on another at his death - and had the dubious distinction of hitting the Prince of Wales with a "surprisingly long drive" while playing at Britain's Sunningdale golf course.

Everybody's 3 April 1954 p.17

In Everybody's 3 April 1954 "The last stampeders" we have the second tale by Roland Wild. he tells, over two pages, how the survivors of the Klondike Gold Rush meet up. Writing in 1954 he mentions that the 400 men and women present "are a race apart, living on the memories of fifty-six years ago". He then recounts some of the factual stories but mostly tall tales of the "Stampeders". Sheppard's illustration shows one very great legend, whose stories seem to change over time, that of 'Soapy', the bandit prince of Skagway, as he orders "the guards to jump into the river. Both guns cracked". We see three men jumping into river near a boat while two men face each other with rifles. As one Yukonner admits, the tales get "taller and taller".

Everybody's 2 January 1954 p.15

You really need to click on the above picture to enlarge it, in order to see the fantastic detail. Not only has Sheppard drawn historic costume but also rigging on the ship and even rats who are obviously leaving the sinking ship! The two page article is called "When the 'Royal George' sank" and is written by Oliver Warner, appearing in Everybody's 2 January 1954, the same issue as the Eskimo illustration above. Sheppard's single colour illustration takes up half of the second page.The caption describes the scene  "In addition to her full company, the ship was crowded with wives, sweethearts, children and hucksters. Disaster struck with a suddenness so horrifying that even rats came panicking out of their holes. The cannon burst from their moorings and in a moment hundreds were drowning". This is the story behind William Cowper's poem which "does not tell the whole truth about the loss of the 'Royal George' ". This ship was the largest warship in the world at the time of her launch on 18 February 1756 and after seeing action 

on 29 August 1782 whilst anchored off Portsmouth, the ship was intentionally rolled (a 'parliamentary heel') so maintenance could be performed on the hull, but the roll became unstable and out of control; the ship took on water and sank. More than 800 people died, making it one of the most deadly maritime disasters in British territorial waters. ~ Wikipedia

Oliver Warner (1903-1976) is a well-known naval historian and writer and a bibliography of his books is on Wikipedia. If you want to read more about the incident, Roy and Lesley Adkins have written on Lloyd's Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre's site.

Raymond Sheppard and more Everybody's illustrations

Everybody's 25 April 1953 p.23

 

Everybody's 25 April 1953 p.34

This rather tame illustration of two boys who help "Old Elmer", a beaver by supplying wood for him to build his dam is not the best Sheppard illustration. The problem is they are late for school every morning and the school report is due any time by post. How to make sure Dad doesn't see it? Why, hold up the mail coach of course. They manage to fumble their way to finding the specific letter but by then, yes you've guessed it, their dog has grabbed it and heads home. 

"Report Stage" was written by James McCormick and appeared in Everybody's 25 April 1953 and he also wrote another tale, I have, which was illustrated by Sheppard, called "Lion's Share" which appeared in the same year in 26 September issue

Everybody's 26 September 1953 p.28

The caption reads "He spotted us alright – and he'd spotted the rifles too" and the illustration shows Sheppard's talent off to the full with a herd (is that the right word?) of stallions and their young running towards us. I count seventeen animals plus five on the rise! The story is about a 12 year old who visits his Grandpa who should "live on 4 legs" according to the boy's 'Grandmaw' and a specific horse, "Baldy" who "had a broad white blaze down his face and the rest of him was a lovely golden brown". Baldy was known to be able to spot a gun and head off up to tall timber to escape and that's what he does despite the presence of a cougar which the man and boy spot. 

Both stories make me think McCormick was American but one line in this story makes me suspicious: "You could have lost a couple of English Counties in them easily". Was he like many writers at the time based in Britain and using Wild West genre to inspire them to write? I have no other magazines with his work illustrated by Sheppard so there may more out there, but he's a complete mystery to me.

Everybody's 28 November 1953 p.30

Moving on the next image I want to share is from a short story written by the prolific author Alan Jenkins. "Ad Infinitum" appeared in Everybody's 28 November 1953 and Sheppard's drawing shows a woman on platform speaking to crowd while being filmed with the caption “And now Dr. Grimble showed us the most terrible thing of all”. It's a nice little science-fiction story about a reporter visiting Doctor Felicity Grimble at the brand new Ribbleswick Atomarium where a "ultra-microscope, an observatory for studying the motion of atoms and electrons" was being shown off for the first time. In fact Dr. Grimble shows them life on an electron by slowing the film down and comments that we are like that electron. Other larger beings outside our know universe are observing us as we have just observed the life on an electron - with all that that entails for religions and ethics! An interesting tale.

Raymond Sheppard and two Odhams Children's books

"Little Silk-Wing" The Children's Golden Treasure Book, p.47

"Little Silk-Wing" The Children's Golden Treasure Book, p.49

"Little Silk-Wing" The Children's Golden Treasure Book, p.51

"Little Silk-Wing" The Children's Golden Treasure Book, p.53

"Little Silk-Wing" The Children's Golden Treasure Book, p.54a

"Little Silk-Wing" The Children's Golden Treasure Book, p.54b

I often get confused between titles of similar names from Odhams Publishing so today I want to feature two books in this one post. 

The Children's Golden Treasure Book for 1939

The Children's Golden Treasure Book for 1939 - Cover

The first is Odhams' "The Children's Golden Treasure Book" which has an interesting publication history. All evidence I can find suggest an initial publication date of 1935 with the title being "The Children's Golden Treasure Book" and the British Library have this as a monograph - i.e. non-recurring.

Then we see "The Children's Golden Treasure Book for 1937" - so an annual - and the British Library accessioned the latter as a journal - i.e. a regular publication, not a one-off but as I'll show on my other blog only 1937, 1938 and 1939 had dates on them - despite some reprinting as you'd expect from Odhams. It seems reasonable to say the war stopped the production of the next in the series.

One version of the title that I own has a reprint date in it of 1946 (on the last page) and is titled "The Children's Golden Treasure Book"and the stories match most of those in "The Children's Golden Treasure Book for 1939". Both the reprint and the original start with the story called "The unpleasant visitors" but we are concentrating on the story which Raymond Sheppard illustrated: "Little Silk-wing" written by Charles G.D. Roberts- follow the link for more information on this Canadian writer. 

Sheppard's first illustration heads up the story beginning on page 49 showing a bat hanging upside down followed by a drawing of an owl catching a bat "The owl swooped on her". Then we see a wonderful full page captioned "A very hungry mouse was tiptoeing along the beam" where a mouse looks at the bat hanging from a rafter. This is one my favourite Sheppard pieces. The accuracy of proportion, the line work, the light falling onto the beam , all beautifully drawn. We then see a drawing with text wrapping around it "Then came carts and children, with shrill laughter and screams of merriment" showing a fully-laden hay-cart with three children, two men and a dog. The last page has two images, the first a silhouette of a bat over a barn roof against a full moon and the second captioned "He couldn't understand it all" - a dog barking at not one, but two bats on the ground.

The second title I mentioned - with a similar title is

The Children's Own Treasure Book 

"Round the year 3" in
The Children's Own Treasure Book, 1947, p.255

Have you heard of the "Fraser Darling Effect"? In 1938, the author F. Fraser Darling proposed a theory - since accepted - of "the simultaneous and shortened breeding season that occurs in large colonies of birds". He was known as a naturalist and writer of not only of academic texts but also books on animals and birds for children. The articles in The Children's Own Treasure Book (1947) are:

• ROUND THE YEAR (I)  - IN POND AND MARSH. Illustrated by Eileen Mayo
• ROUND THE YEAR (II) - IN STREAM AND RIVER. Illustrated by Eric Tansley
• ROUND THE YEAR (III) - IN SEA AND ON THE SEASHORE. Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard  
• ROUND THE YEAR (IV) - IN FIELD AND HEDGEROW. Illustrated by James Lucas

I'd love to know how the artists were chosen to illustrate these articles by Fraser Darling.  

"Round the year: III: In the sea and on the seashore" appears on pages 255-262 and I've chosen to show the complete pages where Sheppard's art appears as they have wonderful positioning on the page. I've also noticed something else, but more on that after you see the pages.

The harmless basking shark feeds on plankton and may be forty feet in length

"Round the year 3" in
The Children's Own Treasure Book, 1947, p.256

Whales are not fish but mammals, they breathe air and their tails are horizontal

"Round the year 3" in
The Children's Own Treasure Book, 1947, p.257

Those shoals of playing mackerel close inshore move into deeper water in winter 

Spiral-shelled mollusca like whelks

"Round the year 3" in
The Children's Own Treasure Book, 1947, p.258

You may also find a lobster there; be careful of his claws as he can nip

"Round the year 3" in
The Children's Own Treasure Book, 1947, p.259

 Be careful when feeling under the larger rocks in case you find a conger eel

"Round the year 3" in
The Children's Own Treasure Book, 1947, p.260

Gulls have long lives barring accidents they may live to be fifty years old 

Oyster catchers are black and white

"Round the year 3" in
The Children's Own Treasure Book, 1947, p.261

Puffins have orange legs and large parrot-like bills

So that when spring comes again there shall be another bursting forth of new life

"Round the year 3" in
The Children's Own Treasure Book, 1947, p.262

Aren't these superb? We have gulls sitting on rocks as waves lap on the shore around them; a basking shark with its fin above the water; two gulls flying overhead; a baleen whale; seven mackerel in a shoal – some others in shadow in the distance; whelk underwater; lobster in the undergrowth with fish swimming above; a curling conger eel; gulls near rocks; four oystercatchers landing on the sand; five puffins and lastly a half-buried anchor in sand dunes

The amount of detail in the lobster picture and the beautiful "sandscape" with weathered  anchor and a storm brewing is so atmospheric.

Interestingly Sheppard who was not afraid to sign his work with his full signature does something else here. Look on page 255 in the surf at the bottom left corner, and on page 258 look under the whelk's front and lastly page 262 at the bottom right of the puffin image. All the other drawings have his full name but on these listed pages, he creates a monogram with the S snaking round the R. he didn't really use this device much at all.