Alfred Bestall (1892 - 1986) took over from Mary Tourtel in 1935 as the illustrator of the Daily Express comic strip Rupert Bear. The sequence above reflects one of the neglected aspects of the Rupert Annuals, the turn from the cover to the end paper to the contents. Standrds of drawing and colouring are always high but the promises made in the early stages of the book I found unique, and a great exzcitement for the yound reader. The text in doggerel was always a pain but the the inventive narratives, often involving gnomes, magicians and Chinese fantasy figures were magical.

 

see

Caroline Bott, The Life and Work of Alfred Bestall, Bloomsbury, 2004.

George Perry Rupert, a Bear's Life, Bramley 1998

 

RUPERT MUSEUM, CANTERBURY