'Ionicus '
Joshua Charles Armitage (1913 - 1998)

A most accomplished illustrator of magazines and books, particularly associated with PUNCH, the English humour magazine. Many Penguin jackets of the 1950's and 1960's bear his signature. These images are drawn from his illustration to the edition of Dick Whittington, published to a text by Walter de la Mare, 1951 and measuring 14 x 21 cms. The format of page tells the tale with 4 linked panels horizontally across the double page. So you must imagine these two scans running across the page with panels of text under each image. Here Dick, an orphan with a cat, is urged by a portly charcoal burner to make his fortune in London. He sees the Lord Mayor ( a presentiment here), and is generally rejected by the populace. I chose this spread because of the pacing of the narrative - achieved by considerable economy of line. See how much narrative can be achieved in a row of four panels.