n Most people can remember books that enchanted (or sometimes terrified) them in their childhood. These memories are nearly always connected with the illustrations and still today it is the skill of illustrators that sells many children's books.
In a sale of Illustrated Books and Drawings to be held by Sotheby's in London next Thursday, May 22, Sotheby's are offering some of these memories for our delectation.
Among the most attractive are four drawings by the artist Charles Folkard, below, who illustrated a book called The Land of Nursery Rhymes which was published by Dent in 1932.
Folkard's drawings for Old King Cole; the knave of hearts stealing the tarts; Sing a Song of Sixpence; and an American nursery rhyme Uncle Jehosophat which is not well-known in this country, are all estimated to sell for around #3000 each.
Also in the sale is a copy of the first Superman comic which came out in 1939. Superman has an interesting history because he was dreamed up by two young Americans, Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster, who began publishing science- fiction comics in 1932 when they were still at school.
In June 1938, in their Action Comic No.1, the character of Superman first appeared in his present format, and in the following year it was decided to give him a comic all to himself. What happened after that, as they say, is history.
Sotheby's estimate that the first Superman comic should sell for between #2000 and #3000, although it is slightly torn and soiled. They say that Superman is the second most important comic ever issued. Action Comic No.1 is the first.
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