Happy 90th Birthday, Ronald Searle!

Ronald Searle, the greatest living cartoonist, celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday. I've always loved Searle's work since seeing his Molesworth illustrations (particularly of the life and habits of the Gerund) at school . His most famous drawings are probably his St. Trinian's cartoons, though many may also know him for his earlier, more serious work as an unofficial war artist from when he was a prisoner in Changi. Since Searle has the good taste to live within easy reach of a number of vineyards, I've uploaded some of his wine-themed cartoons.

I love the billowy stomach set against the flat, stiff limbs in the drawing above.

At some restaurants the wine is treated with such reverence and ceremony that the wine list might as well be delivered by the 'High Priest'.

Love the use of straight lines and diagonals to emphasise the force here. I've only just noticed the pot-bellied bloke at far right, ogling the woman sitting opposite him.

'Ah, my Beloved, fill the cup...' A really beautiful drawing that proves that not drawing a line can be as effective as drawing one. As always the thickness of the line adds weight and tone.

This one's one of my all-time favourites. I love the impression on the waiter's face. He looks like he'll still pour a glass for the unfortunate guest.

The seated couple are so delightfully ugly in this one. Note the layers of fat, the dozy expressions, the many chins, the snout-like noses and the slightly exposed nipples.

'A jug of wine, a loaf of bread and Thou...'

Johann Gaspar Lavater: Physiognomische Fragmente (1774-1778)

More attempts at discerning the physiognomy of madness, here from the eighteenth century.

A madman,

Four male idiots,

Two melancholics,

Six female idiots,

Two cretins.

The Sword in the Stone

T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone is one of my favourite childhood books. These illustrations are from a 1939 edition of the book - only a year after it first came out - for Reader's Union from Collins Publishers, London. Gib (below) identifies the illustrator as White himself. The drawings have a 'Thurberesque' charm to them.

There are a number of similarities to the designs of the 1963 Disney adaptation, namely the walrus-whiskered Sir Ector, the plain clothes of Merlyn and the snarling pike. The image of Merlyn dozing is very similar to a Bill Peet story sketch for the film.

Also depicted is Madame Mim as an Aullay, a creature 'as much bigger than an elephant as an elephant is larger than a sheep. It was a sort of horse with an elephant's trunk.' Peet would later contemplate using this creature in the film.

Visit Michael Sporn's blog for more Merlin and Mim, and to see Peet's sketches of Merlin dozing and Mim as the Aullay.