Raymond Sheppard and Collins Famous Dog Stories

Spike of Swift River and Silver Chief: Dog of the North were both written by Jack O'Brien, and published by Collins for their Famous Dog Stories series. The former was published in the copy below in 1958 and has a cover very similar to "Silver Chief" and "Tan" (more on this later). But Christine Sheppard and I don't think it is by Raymond Sheppard. It has similarities to his work but there is no signature and the dog's shadow does not match the dog!

Cover by unknown artist

List of Collins Seagull Library

The frontispiece, with a group of men watching a fist fight – with a dog in the background, is interestingly Sheppard's signed work where the rest of the book is illustrated but by Kurt Wiese!

Dan's coiled right struck again, and McQuade's head jerked back

According  to an article by David Ouse, "O’Brien continued his life of adventure in the 1930s, [after travelling to Antarctica] using his experience with sled dogs to take several prospecting trips to northern Canada". He wrote in total four books about the next dog which first appeared in 1933.

Silver Chief: Dog of the North, in the same series has no illustrations apart from the cover and the frontispiece which are both drawn by Sheppard!

Silver Chief cover by Raymond Sheppard

With the speed of a flashing shadow the dog leaped

With the speed of a flashing shadow the dog leaped

"Jack O’Brien was living in an apartment in New York City when he died of cancer at the age of forty-one on December 6, 1938. Two more novels were discovered with his papers and published, with some reworking, after his death: Silver Chief’s Revenge and Royal Red" - Ouse, Forgotten Duluthian Jack O’Brien, 2013

The third title I own in the "Collins Famous Dog Stories" series is Tan: a wild dog by Thomas C. Hinkle.

Tan: a wild dog Cover

Tan hit the grey wolf like a ton of bricks

Hinkle has quite a fan-following in those readers who like pony and horse stories. He lived from 1876-1949 and you can find a biography and photo on Onanga, Kansas Rootsweb site.

I had an enjoyable few hours browsing images on the Internet from this series and have listed them below, but none appear to be drawn by Sheppard. And interestingly I think the only one I would wonder about would be Spike!

List of Collins Famous Dog Stories

Courtesy of Jane Badger Books

1. Kenneth Gilbert: Wolf Dog Valley
2. Thomas Hinkle: Vic, a Dog of the Prairies 
3. Thomas Hinkle: Tan, a Wild Dog 
4. Thomas Hinkle: Gray, the Story of a Brave Dog
5. Jim Kjelgaard: Lion Hound 
6. Jim Kjelgaard: Outlaw Red
7. Jim Kjelgaard: Stormy: a Boy and his Dog in a Fight for Justice
8. Jim Kjelgaard: Wild Trek
9. Jack O’Brien: Silver Chief, Dog of the North
10. Jim Kjelgaard: Irish Red
11. Jack O’Brien: Spike of the Swift River
12. Lathrop West: Jet, Sled Dog of the North

For more information on Collins Seagull Library take a look here

Raymond Sheppard and Wide World magazine 1956

Wide World October 1956 pp354-355
The Sadhu's Secret by Peter Hall

By my calculations Raymond Sheppard's work appeared in 17 issues of George Newnes' Wide World magazine between the dates October 1956 and July 1958 (unfortunately Sheppard passed away the following month). He would have been in his element illustrating tales of derring-do from the British Empire and beyond. Wide World was a fairly unique magazine in that it had, what it called a "brotherhood" (people who had similar interests could connect in a fellowship and share experiences such as camping, cycling etc.) and it also encouraged pen-pals in an age when the widespread British Empire was on the verge of shrinking. Interestingly, it told the true stories of people who submitted their own typewritten manuscripts. To read one now, one wonders about the sexism and imperialism but it's easy to be critical when looking back! I have shown the complete double pages for the first story to demonstrate how these images were published.

Wide World October 1956 pp356-357
The Sadhu's Secret by Peter Hall

As stated on the contents page:
“The Editor is willing to consider Articles illustrated with curious or remarkable photographs, and also Stories of Adventure. These must be STRICTLY ORIGINAL AND TRUE IN EVERY DETAIL.” - interesting capitalisation there!

Every month this statement would appear below the unique contents page which took the form of a map showing from where the stories came

Wide World October 1956 Cover
Artist unknown

Wide World October 1956 Contents page

On the basis that the names of several famous authors of the time appeared I guess the submitted ideas had to be re-written sometimes. The Brotherhood had an enamel button badge (brooches for ladies). As stated in the monthly "Wide World Brotherhood" section, many requests came from 'brothers':
"The Wide World Brotherhood is a fraternity of men (and women) of goodwill linked by the common bond of a love of travel and adventure. It has only one rule - a solemn pledge to treat fellow members as brothers and, if need arises, give them any help possible" (p. 387, October 1956)

Wide World Oct 1956 p.389
Example requests from 'brotherhood' members

Wide World began life in 1898 with its Diamond Jubilee being celebrated in 1958 and it ran until December 1965. When one thinks of Wide World covers one is likely to see W. C. Nicolson's handiwork from the post-WWII era. Other interior artists in the period of my interest included Frank Grey, Cyril Holloway, Neville Dear, Edward Osmond, Stuart Tresilian, Edgar Spenceley (who had a very ornate signature) and one of my other favourites Mike Noble. When I interviewed Mike for a book many years ago, he didn't mention this work at all, but he is easy to identify, and the thing that first led me to Wide World was my interest in another artist, Frank Bellamy. The art reproduction appeared very crude and I have never seen any original artwork from these magazines so wonder whether they were thrown in a skip during one of the many Fleet Street takeovers and mergers in the late 1950s / early 1960s. Often photographs would appear alongside illustrations, which were always black and white, even in the 1960s when photography took over all together. To read more about Wide World head over the Greg Ray's excellent article.

Further illustrations from Wide World 1956 by Raymond Sheppard:

Raymond Maufrais was lost in French Guiana in 1950 and this story - told by his father - comes from the son's diary, found by Indians in the jungle. There's lots of information on this story (mostly in French) on the Internet. It was serialised in Wide World from November 1956 to March 1957 and the following shows the first parts drawn by Sheppard.

November 1956:
"Manhunt in Green Hell" [Edgar and Raymond Maufrais]

Summoning his last ounce of strength he managed at last to re-float the precious canoe pp.6-7

"The unseen enemy" [Edgar and Raymond Maufrais]

I found myself on the ground entangled in my mosquito net.
One tree pinned my legs and the other lay across my belly
p.11

Add Meirelles gave a shout and pointed.
We saw the vestiges of a human camp scattered all over the place...a human skull...a second...all that remained of Barbosa's expedition
pp.12-13

December 1956:
"The swallowing swamp" [Edgar and Raymond Maufrais]

With bleeding feet and hands I staggered from rock to rock in the roaring rapids,
Bobby gamely following behind me
pp. 80-81

There was a rending crack and the cross-piece gave way,
plunging me into the river
pp. 84-85

The wind blows like artillery fire in the tops of the palms;
dead branches and whole trees come tumbling down,
bringing other trees with them, pp. 88-89

Raymond Sheppard and The Favourite Wonder Book (Part Two)

Favourite Wonder Book title page
(Art opposite is by Reginald Mount)

In my previous blog article about this Odhams title I expressed frustration about editions, dates, endpapers, etc etc. And now I discover that this was justified!

Endpapers (Artist Unknown)

I happened to keep a search alert going on eBay for this book hoping that one day I might find out what went on with its publication and amazingly I have discovered something else that helps me in my search for Raymond Sheppard's work. I showed the illustration to 'Little Trotty Wagtail' in the above mentioned blog and it appears on page 183 in my two copies of the book, one with a reprint date and one with no date.It was only when looking carefully at the title page (above) that one ebayer had uploaded to eBay I noticed that the name P.G. Wodehouse was the first name listed. My copies have A.A.Milne as the first name listed.

I asked the question whether Sheppard had illustrated anything (knowing about the wagtail illustration in mine) and imagine my surprise when they replied about the wagtail and 'Time Signals'

[---]
Five older boys chase and threaten three younger schoolboys

The story is about the "Dipcote First Boat race" and I must confess was a struggle to read, not just because of the dated language and school terminology but because, to be honest, I found it very boring! Here are the other pictures in the story.

Could they regain that extra half length?
Two boats in a race with coxs and a crowd on the river bank

Softly Jimmy crept forward
Two boys sneak into a a sleeping man's bedroom. They both hold alarm clocks

A policeman disentangled the combatants
A policeman pulls a man in pyjamas off a top-hatted gentleman on a cobbled street

And for completeness sake and for other collectors, here are the contents of this 1938 version of Odham's Favourite Wonder Book. There are 768 pages in this edition of the book.

Raymond Sheppard and The Hunted Head by Olivia Fitzroy (Part Three)

Here's the third and final part of my long article on Olivia FitzRoy and her books, focusing on "The Hunted Head" - the last of her novels. She was born eight years after Raymond Sheppard and died 11 year after him, both passing away from cancer (Sheppard at the age of 45; FitzRoy 48). Both author and artist died too young but both were prolific, with their work appearing together for just two books, to my knowledge.

I couldn't track down any books of poetry by FitzRoy but found a couple online. Strangely, FitzRoy gets a mention in Radical Visions: Poetry by Vietnam Veterans,  by Vicente F. Gotera (p.16 ):
Olivia FitzRoy was stationed in Ceylon as a flight direction officer with the Women's Royal Naval Service during WWII. Her poem "Toast" captures another side of war - utter ennui. The poem opens with a convincingly detailed description of setting:

All the way back from the air field
Along the jolting road,
Past the paddy fields
And the mud-covered water-buffalo,
I've been pretending to myself
That I am not thinking about letters

She is mentioned in other war poetry anthologies - even with erroneous biographical details - maybe one day her poems may be published.

To continue the last set of images drawn by Raymond Sheppard from "The Hunted Head"

The Hunted Head, p.123
"Armand handed her into the dinghy with a flourish"
Group of sailors take girl on row boat at quayside

The above image is just the sort of composition from Sheppard I find satisfying; it has a great point of view, the people are interesting, what's happening is well staged and the background is detailed enough to hold interest too.

The Hunted Head, p.129
Two people lie on floorboards

The Hunted Head, p.138
Girl with flowing cape rides horse uphill [same as dustjacket spine]

The Hunted Head, p.139
Border Collie

The Hunted Head, p.146
An eagle

The Hunted Head, p.153
Portrait of man

The Hunted Head, p.154
Dirk in scabbard

The Hunted Head, p.162
"“Come out or I fire!”"
Man, girl and boy in cave aim at uniformed soldier

Sheppard must have perfected 'cave drawing' by this time as he also does one in the Adventures of Tome Sawyer - see last picture - the light source gives him the opportunity to have large shadows and dramatic lighting.

The Hunted Head, p.164
A flintlock pistol

The Hunted Head, p.173
Portrait of man – Bonnie Prince Charlie

Compare Sheppard's portrait to the famous one (reproduced here from Wikipedia page couretsy of the national Galleries of Scotland Google Art Project)

The Hunted Head, p.174
"Fiona knew she would never forget that scene"
Several men in cave

The Hunted Head, p.187
Open Bible

FitzRoy ends the novel with the place and date it was written: Rarsaidh: 1954.

Raymond Sheppard and The Hunted Head by Olivia Fitzroy (Part Two)

The Hunted Head, p.49
"A boy wrapped in a torn Stewart plaid"
A boy with his deerhound open door to another older boy with stick in hand

In an article entitled "Wars and other diversions" written by Mary Crozier (Guardian Oct 5, 1956) she writes:"History sometimes pulls the contemporary world into its orbit. Recently some of the hardy boys and girls whose summer holidays have yielded such a crop of daring doings, have slipped back into the past so that everyone gets the best of both worlds. A crack on the head is a simple and sufficient entry visa. In "The Hunted Head" this is just what happens. We start with the contemporary James and Fiona of earlier books by this author, but when James has a fall the whole family is, in his unconsciousness, transported into Jacobite times and there is a stirring story of hardship, courage and travel all for the sake of Bonnie Prince Charlie. One may deplore the ease of this device but apart from that the story is good; the hills and glens, the chase and escape, are in the Stevenson tradition and there are better than average dialogue and character-drawing"  

Unfortunately no mention of Raymond Sheppard's illustrations but that's not unusual for the time.

The Hunted Head, p.54
Two boys lying in ferns watch troops approaching

 

The Hunted Head, p.56
Older man carries girl in his arms

The Hunted Head, p.66
Girl shows man a hiding place under rocks

The Hunted Head, p.75
Man looks over shoulder as he struggles with a full sack over his shoulder

Olivia FitzRoy (sometimes 'Fitz Roy') bibliography
=========================================

1) Orders to Poach
London : Collins, 1942
The Stewart family return to a cottage on the family estate for the summer holidays, their father being in Burma writes to express his concern that the tenant of the estate is refusing to manage the estate properly with regard to the shooting and fishing. Thus, their father asks his children, ranging in age from debutante Fiona and Old Etonian Ninian to twelve year old twins Jean and Jamie, to poach the land over the summer in order to keep down the deer and salmon.   

2) Steer by the Stars ... Illustrated by Anne Bullen.

London : Collins, 1944.
The Stewarts have returned to Carrick Lodge on the west coast of Scotland for another summer holiday, and this time they have a boat of their own, the Fauna. Naturally this adds to their fun enormously, and they have a wonderful time sailing, camping and fishing together besides having some very exciting and unexpected adventures.

3) The House in the Hills ... Illustrated by Phyllida Lumsden.

London : Collins, 1946.
Fiona, Ninian and Hugh find a dilapidated old croft in the wild hills of Scotland; they paint and repair it to make a wonderful home for themselves.  Of course it is the perfect place for adventures too: they stalk deer, they sail in the Black Swan and with the help of the mysterious Fergus, search for a legendary cave

4) The Hill War ... illustrated by Shirley Hughes.
London : Collins, 1950.Significant as this was Shirley Hughes first commercial work

Ninian, Fiona, Sandy, Jamie and Jean, the family whose holidays on the West Coast of Scotland have been described in Orders to Poach, Steer by the Stars, and The House in the Hills, appear again in this book. It covers the first few days of another summer together at the Lodge below their old home, with eight square miles of mountains, glens and deer forest to roam over. On the first day Ninian and Fiona quarrel, and Fiona, followed only by Sandy, storms off into the hills. These two hide from the rest, living in a cave, making raids on the house for food, and foiling Ninian in his attempts to shoot of fish without them. There are lovely parts in this book which tell of waking up in the morning to wash in the burn, and dropping off to sleep at night to the sounds of water and the sight of the first pale stars. There are exciting chases and narrow escapes. There is a particularly strong feeling for that part of the country, so that the reader begins to know exactly what the wood round the Lodge is like, and how the rocks break through the shorts of the loch and the sea shows between the headlands far away.
At the end of the week a truce is made between the parties. The awkward patch, that can so often occur between the end of term and the beginning of holidays, is over, and the summer can really begin. -Thanks to Watermill Books on eBay who have a copy of this rare book for sale on eBay

5) Wandering Star ... With drawings by Sheila Rose.
London : Collins, 1953.
[No description - the name of Fergus' boat - see "Island of birds" below]

6) The Island of Birds ... Illustrated from drawings by Raymond Sheppard.
London : Jonathan Cape, 1954.
Jamie and Jean Stewart are convalescing after measles at Carrick on the west coast of Scotland. Their housekeeper, Maggie, is looking after them, but they are depressed because their family and friends are away and they can find nothing interesting to do. But one day a friend. Fergus, does arrive, and persuades Maggie to let him take them to his island in his fishing boat, the Wandering Star. They are delighted to learn that they are to act as crew for the voyage, and that Fergus's Island of Birds is forty miles beyond the Outer Hebrides. They enjoy exploring the island with its deserted village, keeping house in the cottage Fergus has rebuilt for himself, fishing and watching birds, including a pair of rare sea-eagles which have nested on the cliffs. An unexpected interruption of their happiness is the arrival of two shady characters who pretend to Jean, whom they find alone in the cottage, that they are friends of Fergus's. Inadvertently she gives away the secret of the sea-eagles' nest. From then on Fergus and the children are defenders in a battle to protect the valuable eggs from the two would-be thieves. The Island of Birds proves to be an even more exciting place than Jean and James had bargained for. Here is a desert island with a difference and a 'treasure' with a difference. What better setting could there be for a story about the protection of rare birds than the Western Isles, beyond which lies the well-known sanctuary of St. Kilda?’ 

7) Wagons & Horses. With drawings by Mary Gernat.

London : Collins, 1955.
In Wagons and Horses Olivia Fitz Roy tells a brilliantly real story of the circus, based entirely on her long practical experience of 'tenting'. Her chief characters are Mike, Mary and Nicky, circus children who are left orphaned and in desperate need. They come across their cousins who own Fisherfield's Circus: they are taken on by them, and spend an exciting 'tenting' season, touring the country and taking part in the busy round of circus life. Olivia Fitz Roy does not dwell only on the glamour of the 'big top'. She presents circus life in the round, with its back-breaking hard work and drudgery, its rivalries and jealousies, its frantic behind-the-scenes panics, as well as its exciting moments of reward and thrilling achievement.


8) The Hunted Head ... Illustrated from drawings by Raymond Sheppard.
London : Jonathan Cape, 1956.
For description see previous blog article

9) Men of valour: the third volume of the history of VIII King's Royal Irish Hussars, 1927-1958. With a foreword by H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel of the Regiment. Liverpool: Printed by C. Tinling & Co.Ltd., 1961

The Hunted Head, p.76
A Scots portrait in shadow

The Hunted Head, p.85
"They stood as still as tree trunks in the water"
[Same as dustjacket]

The Hunted Head, p.86
Waxing crescent moon behind clouds

The Hunted Head, p.87
Man and two boys crawl on fronts

The Hunted Head, p.97
Older woman points to girl (panelled wall behind)

The Hunted Head, p.108
Castle aflame with people around it

The Hunted Head, p.109
Man lying asleep on the ground

The Hunted Head, p.115
Girl stands in wreck of castle

Part Three...\