Ronald Searle (1920-2011): A signed first edition copy of “The Female Approach” by Ronald Searle, with a letter from Sir Max Beerbohm. The book is signed and inscribed to front end paper “For Eileen Evans, with the artists best wishes, Ronald Searle – Christmas 1949”. Published by MacDonald, London. Hard cover, in 8vo size, with original pictorial dust-jacket, illustrations include St. Trinian’s characters.

Dimensions: width 14cm x height 20.5cm

The inscription is dedicated to Eileen who was Eileen Evans a British artist, Graphic Designer and co founder of the Mount/ Evans design studio. Eileen Evans worked often as a poster designer and designed many well-known propaganda and safety posters for the British Government during the 1940s – 1960s.

Condition report: Overall condition fair/ good – dust cover with losses throughout, ink stain visible to dust jacket front, cloth cover with some discolouration, pages with handling creases and some with staining one with minor ink mark, some looseness to binding (see images).

Ronald Searle CBE

Ronald Searle CBE (1920-2011) was a hugely influential artist, illustrator and cartoonist. His work as the creator of St Trinian’s is probably his most famous but over a career that spanned nine decades, he worked on a vast number of projects. Searle came from humble beginnings, he began drawing aged 5 but upon leaving school at 14, he worked for the Co-Op. Searle, however, continued taking evening classes to further his education. His talent was spotted after he submitted cartoons to a local Cambridge newspaper and he won a full time scholarship.

With the onset of the Second World War, Searle then aged 19, enlisted with the Royal Engineers. In 1942 he was serving in Asia and was captured during the fall of Singapore. He was held as a prisoner of war from 1942 to 1945. Under extremely harrowing and brutal conditions Searle continued to draw – his archive of almost 300 drawings is an important first hand record of life in the prison camp – the collection is now held by the Imperial War Museum.

Ronald Searle returned to Britain in 1945 and began producing St. Trinians (characters he had first drawn some years earlier – a St Trinian sketch was first published in Lilliput in 1941). His work began gaining recognition and he worked during the post war period as a cartoonist for many publications including Punch and Lilliput.

Ronald Searle The Female Approach was published in 1949 and includes numerous illustrations including St. Trinian’s.

By the early 1960s Searle had relocated to France, and began to work more as a painter. His 1965 illustrations for Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines are some of the most recognisable of the era.

Ronald Searle’s drawings had an enormous influence on his contemporaries – John Lennon amongst them, who said of him in 1968 “I started trying to draw like Ronald Searle when I was about eight. So there was Jabberwocky and Ronald Searle I was turning into by the time I was thirteen”.

To read more about Ronald Searle see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Searle

For more signed first editions included in our store see RONALD SEARLE: A signed first edition copy of “This England 1946 – 1949”

Dimensions: Width 14cm x height 20.5cm

Price: £160

Shipping: Price includes free insured shipping to a UK address. If you are based outside of the UK please email us directly for a cost price shipping quote.

Condition Report: Overall condition fair/ good – dust cover with losses throughout, ink stain visible to dust jacket front, cloth cover with some discolouration, pages with handling creases and some with staining one with minor ink mark, some looseness to binding (see images).