Eric Fraser

ERIC FRASER

1902-1983

ERIC FRASER 1902-1983

CHRIS BEETLES 8 & 10 Ryder Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6QB Telephone 020 7839 7551 Facsimile 020 7839 1603 gallery@chrisbeetles.com www.chrisbeetles.com

Copyright © Chris Beetles Ltd 2013 8 & 10 Ryder Street St James’s London SW1Y 6QB 020 7839 7551 gallery@chrisbeetles.com www.chrisbeetles.com ISBN 978-1-905738-55-7 Cataloguing in publication data is available from the British Library Researched, written and edited by David Wootton Editorial assistance from Catherine Andrews Design by Jeremy Brook of Graphic Ideas Photography by Julian Huxley-Parlour Reproduction by www.cast2create.com Colour separation and printing by Geoff Neal Litho Limited Front cover: – And certainly I should then have killed him with the knife I held but that he was riding a white horse to which he clapped spurs, leaving his cape in my grasp, in order to preserve his life [31] Front endpaper: The End of Faust [91] Frontispiece: Self portrait, 1949 Back endpaper: A banquet was set out in Agrippa’s basin upon a barge [132] Back cover (clockwise from top left): Journey into Spring [63] Drugs and the Mind [II] [89] Goodbye Jimmy Goodbye [164] Inventing the Future [171] The Girls of Slender Means [174] The Twelve Days of Christmas [166]

CONTENTS Introduction 7 Chronology of Life and Work 13

01 Early Work 1920-1930 15

02 First Magazine Commissions 1929-1937 19

03 The Lilliput Years 1937-1944 27

04 The Late Forties 1945-1949 39

05 The Fifties 1950-1959 47

06 The Sixties 1960-1969 65

07 The Seventies 1970-1979 105

08 Late Work 1981-1982 123 Appendix Radio Times: Article and Programme Details 127 Select Bibliography 147

Eric Fraser designs the Complete Radio Home Radio Times, issue dated 18 November 1938, page 18

INTRODUCTION | 7

INTRODUCTION

Eric Fraser’s work as an illustrator and designer is at once wide-ranging and highly distinctive. Developing an assured technique and an impressive general knowledge, he could adapt his style to almost any subject matter, from ancient to modern, and any mood, from the whimsical to the tragic.

He was also industrious, meticulous and dependable. As a result, he defined the look of Radio Times for over four decades and became a mainstay of J M Dent’s Everyman’s Library – while also creating impressive murals and stained glass windows and an astonishing variety of advertising.

Founding a Graphic Style Eric Fraser benefited greatly from a thorough training at Goldsmiths’ College School of Art, New Cross, during the years from 1919 to 1924. His teachers appreciated and encouraged his particular talents, and he developed the skills necessary for a career as a versatile commercial artist. The events of 1923, his last full year at Goldsmiths, encapsulate the success of his student days.

When one of his older teachers, Edmund Joseph Sullivan (1869-1933), fell ill in 1923, it was Fraser who was asked to take charge of the lithography class. Sullivan, who taught book illustration, as well as lithography, provided a strong link to the black and white artists of the previous century, and, according to the artist’s son, Geoffrey Fraser, taught him ‘the careful planning of an illustration and the vitality of confident and imaginative execution’ (Davis 1985, page 23).

In asking him to take his class, Sullivan seemed to hand over the baton of tradition to Fraser in recognition of both his artistic potential and his quiet authority.

A much younger teacher, Clive Gardiner (1891-1960), asked Fraser to join other students, including Graham Sutherland, to assist him on a major commission: 24 large decorative murals for the Malaya Pavilion, for the British Empire Exhibition, which was to be held at Wembley in 1924.

When Gardiner arrived at Goldsmiths in 1919 – to teach drapery study, drawing and painting from the antique, and still life painting – he provided a breath of fresh air: ‘he made the students aware of Cézanne and Matisse and the exciting developments in art in Europe, especially France’ (Backemeyer 1998, page 9), and ‘enthused’ Fraser, in particular, ‘with the importance of form and colour’ (Davis 1985, page 23). If Sullivan provided Fraser with a connection to the past, Gardiner prepared him for the future, generally as a modern artist and specifically as a mural painter.

The Headmaster, Frederick Marriott (1860-1941), also recognised Fraser’s qualities and, in a glowing reference in 1927, would spell them out, including a ‘remarkable skill as a figure draughtsman’ and ‘a rare faculty for pictorial composition’. However, while Fraser was still at Goldsmiths, Marriott expressed some reservations about his interest in commercial art. He therefore seems particularly magnanimous to have introduced the student to the artist and designer, Reginald Percy Gossop (1876-1951).

In 1923, R P Gossop was setting up his own firm of artists’ agents, in part to help his friend, and Fraser’s teacher, E J Sullivan, receive advertising and other commercial commissions. It was possibly through Gossop that Fraser received his own first commercial commission: to illustrate the Christmas catalogue of the department store, Barkers of Kensington. And, if he did, Gossop might also be credited with influencing, however indirectly, Fraser’s personal life; for, in submitting these illustrations, Fraser met his future wife, Irene Lovett, who worked for Barkers as a buyer of advertising images. By 1937, when Fraser had been married 12 years, he received almost all his commissions through Gossop.

8 | INTRODUCTION

Commentators on Eric Fraser tend to consider his early career as a time of experimentation, in which ‘he tried out different styles and techniques, many of which he returned to later’ (Hodgson 1991, page 7). It has been characterised as ‘angular, expressive of revolt’ (Davis 1985, page 15), and ‘considerably influenced by Cubism, Futurisim and Vorticism’ (Hodgson 1991, page 10). However, Fraser himself ‘considered his early work as light and humorous’ (Rufus Segar, quoted in Davis 1985, page 22). And, while commentators believe that his early period continued until the late 1930s, Fraser ‘was aware of a significant change in his style in 1928, pivoting on an early [though unspecified] commission for Radio Times’ (Geoffrey Fraser in Davis 1985, page 22). In fact, the late 1920s and the late 1930s both mark significant points in his artistic development.

In 1926, Fraser responded to two significant opportunities: he produced his first drawing for The Radio Times (as it was then known) and began to teach part-time at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts. Then, two years later, his position at Camberwell was made permanent, while, through his drawings for The Radio Times, ‘the more graphic style was founded, the subjects done with more research and composition, the finishing a steady and inventive application of patient craft’ (Segar in Davis 1985, page 22). At the age of only 26, Fraser felt that he had established himself as a mature, professional artist.

Nevertheless, for a decade from the late 1920s, much of Fraser’s best work remained ‘light and humorous’, and fitted comfortably with Art Deco and the Jazz Age, if not Modernism at its most austere. As an advertising artist, he communicated technological advances through accessible and entertaining motifs, most famously the enduring character of Mr Therm, for the Gas, Light and Coke Company, which he invented around 1931.

One regular and fulfilling commission, from The Radio Times during the mid 1930s, was to illustrate articles by the popular satirist, M N D Thacker (1893-1968), who was known to the public as Maurice Lane-Norcott. Fraser created a distinctive caricature portrait of the author, and placed him in dynamic, decorative compositions that were at once modern and archaic in their spatial playfulness and picturesque detail [16-24].

Fraser proved equally adept at representing the latest in women’s fashions for Harper’s Bazaar, at a time when fashion illustration was more the norm than photography.

His elegantly mannerist mannequins disport themselves in park and garden, at the café and on the tennis court [2529]. Indeed, he was so successful that he taught fashion presentation, among other subjects, at the short-lived

Reimann School of Commercial and Industrial Design between 1937 and 1940.

Through the achievements of this decade, Fraser secured a high profile, and received the praise of such fellow designers as Ashley Havinden (1903-1973) and Richard Haughton James (1906-1985). In 1937, Havinden included Fraser among 32 leading international artists in his book, Line Drawing for Reproduction; singling out his speculative illustrations to The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, he described them as indicative of a ‘formalised and stylised treatment that adds richness and scale to a dramatic situation’ (page 67) [30-31]. And, in the same year, Haughton James lauded him in the journal, Art and Industry, as ‘a powerful draughtsman’, possessing ‘a large fund of knowledge’.

A number of changes in his situation – both in his work and private life – from the mid 1930s, moved Fraser towards a more settled existence, and allowed him to focus his energies, and so hone his characteristic style. In 1935, after 10 years of marriage, Fraser and his family moved from Twickenham to Hampton, also on the Thames, and settled at Penn’s Place, a 16th century house at 9 Church Street. It would remain his home for the rest of his life. Three years later, in 1938, he gave up the last of the studios that he used in central London, the one that he had shared in Queen Anne’s Gate with Milner Gray (1899-1997). From then on, he would work from home. Indeed, as he apparently ‘had a phobia about being a passenger in any vehicle’ (Hodgson 1991, page 36), he travelled as seldom as possible. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, he ‘was classified as unfit for active service and worked as a civil defence ARP warden until the summer of 1945’ (Backemeyer 1998, page 16). Then a year into the war, in 1940, he gave up teaching.

The artistic activities of the wartime period, while inevitably fewer, are still varied, combining as they do perhaps the last major group of humorous drawings, as published in Lilliput [41-55], and the first in a newly dramatic mode, to illustrate programme listings in Radio Times. It is a mode that communicates action, character and atmosphere through intense tonal contrast and expressive, often curvaceous distortion [37-40]. However, Fraser would remain alert to the fact ‘that the mood of the story should be matched by the illustration which accompanies it’, so that ‘a love story will need a gentle treatment and soft gradations of tone’ (Eric Fraser, quoted in Davis 1985, page iv).

INTRODUCTION | 9

give him a detailed description over the phone’, though this could lead to complications, as on ‘one occasion when he had to draw some characters in a railway carriage’ and ‘she forgot to tell him that one of them had a beard’ (Backemeyer 1998, page 16).

Meeting a Deadline In 1948, Eric Fraser ‘bought an ex-army asbestos hut, twelve by twenty-four feet, had it erected at the bottom of the garden, and equipped it with a solid-fuel stove’ (Backemeyer 1998, page 14). This became his studio, and he spent as much time there as possible. His son, Geoffrey, remembers that, I never knew a time when my father was not drawing.

His working day began about eleven, after a brisk walk in Bushey Park, near Hampton Court, with his dog.

It seldom finished, except in the last few years of his life, before ten or eleven at night when he switched off the light over his desk … He was always under pressure, with a constant list of commissions waiting to be fulfilled. (Davis 1985, page 22) However, he had everything to hand that he needed to fulfil those commissions, including his own reference library.

Among the illustrated volumes, photographs and prints, sat ‘long runs of journals such as Punch’ (Backemeyer 1998, page 16) and Arthur Mee’s indispensable encyclopaedia, I See All. What is more, he soon found that he did not need to leave home to collect a brief from, say, Radio Times on a Friday, or deliver the finished drawing on the Monday; for R P Gossop’s assistant, Kathleen Wheston, lived nearby, and she could do it for him. Nevertheless, Fraser found a tight deadline to be stimulating, for it ‘did produce an ability to draw upon hidden reserves of energy which are not normally used … as far as I was concerned, every commission I received from Radio Times was an emergency’ (quoted in Driver 1981, page 20).

Though, according to Geoffrey Fraser, ‘he was always under pressure’, his father, Eric, never took ‘short cuts in his meticulous method of work’, a method that consisted of seven stages (Davis 1985, page 23).

The first stage was ‘the script and the essential limitations of shape and size’, Fraser either reading the script or listening to it read to him by his wife, Irene. Sometimes ‘the script failed to arrive on time, and Kathleen Wheston … had to

The second, which followed immediately, was to ‘assemble whatever reference was necessary’ (Driver 1981, page 20), and then make ‘the rough pencil sketch, quite small, to establish for himself the clear design’. This sketch might be drawn ‘on the back of an envelope or some other odd scrap of paper’ (Davis 1985, page 12). Fraser said of this that ‘I consider this quality of visual impact so important that whenever possible I do the initial rough as small and as complete as is practical’ (quoted in Davis 1985, page iv).

The third was ‘the careful pencil drawing’, usually on smooth Bristol board, about half as big again as the finished printed work would be’. While doing this, Fraser would bear in mind ‘that enlargement of the width of the lines is often as important as that of the areas contained within the lines’ (Davis 1985, page iv). This is probably the stage of finish that was shown for the approval of a client on longer and larger scale projects.

The fourth, undertaken on the following day, was ‘the drawing in Indian ink, working out in careful detail all he wished to build into his finished design’.

The fifth, on the third day, concerned ‘the blocking in of solid areas of black, often obliterating much of what he had already done’.

The sixth involved ‘the skilful working in opaque white on top of the black ink’, and the seventh ‘the pulling together of all the detailed finish in both black and white, tidying it up into the completed work’.

Explaining his preferred materials and techniques, Fraser once stated that, Much of my black and white work is based on the white line on black principle of the woodcut and is done with white poster paint and a flexible pen on black, waterproof, Indian ink. I like too the chalk-like effect of a white scratched line on a previously black-inked Bristol board. This latter method is of course only suitable to reproduction on good quality paper.

(Davis 1985, page iv) Please note that in this catalogue, Fraser’s use of opaque pigment, including poster paint, is described as ‘bodycolour’.

10 | INTRODUCTION

Playing a Part In preparing to illustrate an article or listing in Radio Times, Fraser upheld the principle that ‘the artist is similar to an actor, in that he has a part to play and should make up and act that part. The artist receiving a script should adapt himself to interpreting that script’ (Driver 1981, page 20).

So as an actor would alter his speech pattern to tackle Webster or Wilde, Fraser believed that he should adapt technique as well as style to the subject matter: When you come to Greek drama, it’s necessary to draw in such a manner that gives it a true impression of Greek design and methods of patterning; the same applies to Shakespeare – all plays which require a more elaborate, crosshatch technique. As to Restoration plays they definitely require a complicated flowing line and very decorative formal masses (Driver 1981, page 20) In summarising the classic dramatic tradition, this statement offers a way to negotiate the embarrassment of riches that comprise Fraser’s contributions to Radio Times.

Turn to the late 1940s, and Fraser’s approach becomes immediately clear by comparing the drawing that he made for Euripedes’ Hippolytus in 1945 [68], and those for Shakespeare’s historical plays of two years’ later [72-76].

Hippolytus and his stepmother, Phaedra, engage with each other in such a way as to suggest both an Athenian stage performance and a classical relief or vase; the drapery is sculptural, while the facial profiles appear as masks. By contrast, the English kings are portrayed in the dense and varied marks and textures associated with the medium of woodcut.

Move forward to the early 1960s to see another vigorous portrait of Richard III, drawn in October 1961 to advertise a broadcast of Laurence Olivier’s famous film version of Shakespeare’s play [187]. Just a month earlier, Fraser illustrated Farquhar’s Restoration comedy, The Beaux’ Stratagem, with exactly the ‘flowing line’ and ‘decorative formal masses’ that he deemed appropriate [188]. And a year earlier, he represented Britten’s Roman opera, The Rape of Lucretia, with a funerary monument carved by chiaroscuro [184]. These three small drawings in pen and ink convey three utterly distinct dramatic worlds.

What Fraser did not mention, in his summary, was the modern drama, which is an essential component of the repertoire of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and thus of the artist’s remit. Recent, new and specially commissioned plays and operas provided different challenges, and demanded greater responsibility as well as giving greater freedom. For his interpretation could not draw on existing imagery, and would contribute more directly to the public’s understanding of a work.

Examples of Fraser’s success in this field might be drawn from almost any period of his career, but one group of images here stands out, that for four plays broadcast in the late 1940s: The Flowers Are Not for You to Pick by Tyrone Guthrie [69], The Family Reunion by T S Eliot [77], Who Sups with the Devil by Anthony Gittins [78] and Silence in Heaven

by Lance Sieveking [79]. Like the actor that he himself evoked, or better still a producer, Fraser showed himself to be completely in tune with these experimental psychological morality plays, three of which were written specifically for the medium of radio. Finding a visual parallel for such aural techniques as montage and cross-fading, he overlapped complex motifs and balanced elements of design and tone.

In his incomparable long service for Radio Times, Fraser inevitably set both a standard and mode of operation for his fellow illustrators. But, perhaps more than that, he created a visual identity for the magazine – and thus for the BBC – that paralleled the activities of writers and producers, and became popular with members of the public, many of whom cut out his drawings to keep. In so doing, he seems to have contributed, whether consciously or not, to a project that might loosely be called ‘Reithian’, after the influential General Manager, John Reith, and his civilising precepts: to educate, entertain and inform. Because of this bond between Fraser’s creativity and that of the programme makers, the notes in this catalogue not only draw attention to aspects of the drawings but provide fragments of the history of the BBC, and its laudable attempts, and achievements, in disseminating the products of culture.

INTRODUCTION | 11

Building a New World Of course, Fraser was not only a draughtsman with a strong sense of line, but a painter with a strong sense of colour.

While always, in the words of Richard Haughton James, ‘his own highly characteristic self’, he was also extremely adaptable in responding to subject or scale. The image of him sitting in his army hut, completing commissions from Radio Times perfectly and punctually, is undoubtedly accurate. However, he worked on an astonishing range of projects, from postage stamps to ambitious murals.

Many of these projects may, to some degree, be considered as advertising, but advertising an ethos more than a product.

At root it is the ethos of any individual idealistic designer, who believes that his practical aesthetic can contribute to a better world; but, following the end of the Second World War, it took on a national significance, especially as communicated through the Festival of Britain in 1951. For the Festival itself, Fraser produced a mural of Roman Britain for The People of Britain pavilion. And, elsewhere during the period, his designs played a key role, in the official programmes for both the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip, in 1947, and the Coronation of Queen

Elizabeth II, in 1953; and on the walls of the History of Parliament Exhibition at the House of Commons gallery, in 1951 [121-124]. Then, late in the 1950s, he helped promote national interests abroad, in producing murals of discoverers for the British pavilion at Expo ’58, in Brussels [125-128].

Alongside these popular public works, Fraser designed dust jackets and covers and illustrated books, activities that extended his contributions to magazines, and proved particularly satisfying, both to himself and to the reader.

Illustrations for children’s books and designs for covers provided opportunities for his highly arresting use of colour, while full-page plates for classics of world literature, including Manzoni’s The Betrothed in 1969, allowed his graphic genius to breathe [147-159]. It is as fitting that he should have involved himself in such admirable endeavours as J M Dent’s Everyman’s Library and The Folio Society, as with Radio Times and the Festival of Britain. An initial engagement with the visual pleasures of the art of Eric Fraser soon leads to a rich experience of man’s shared heritage and potent imagination.

David Wootton, 2013

Eric Fraser at work in his studio at Hampton-onThames, 1981

CHRONOLOGY | 13

CHRONOLOGY OF LIFE AND WORK 11 June 1902 Born Eric George Fraser at 39 Vincent Street, Westminster, the only child of George James Fraser, a solicitor’s clerk, and Matilda Emily (née Peartree), head of the infant department of St Mary’s Church of England elementary school in Hide Place, near Vincent Square Circa 1902 The family moved to 23 Earl Street (now Marsham Street), next door to Emily Peartree, Matilda’s mother 1913-19 Educated at Westminster City School, Palace Street, where the art master was John Littlejohns 1915-17 Won certificates of merit for ‘good work in the Arts and Crafts Club’ at Westminster City School From 1916 Attended Westminster School of Art, Vincent Square, as an evening student, taking Walter Sickert’s life class, among others 1917 Won a certificate of merit for pen-and-ink sketching from the Order of the Sons of Temperance 1919-24 Won scholarship to Goldsmiths’ College School of Art, New Cross, and studied there for five years. His teachers included the Headmaster, Francis Marriott (etching, aquatint and mezzotint), and also Clive Gardiner (drawing and painting), Harold Speed (painting), E J Sullivan (book illustration and lithography) and Alfred Taylor (commercial art) 1921 Won a further scholarship, of £90 per annum for two years 24 February 1921 Death of his mother 1923 Joined other students to work with Clive Gardiner on murals that Gardiner had designed for the Malaya Pavilion at the British Empire Exhibition. The exhibition took place at Wembley in the following year

Took charge of the lithography class when his teacher, E J Sullivan, was ill Possibly received first commission through R P Gossop, his agent for almost 60 years. His first black-and-white drawings to be published appeared in the Christmas catalogue of Barkers of Kensington. Through this commission met his future wife, Irene Lovett, who worked for Barkers as buyer of illustrations for press advertising and catalogues Circa 1923 Designed his first book jacket 1924 Exhibited the etching, The Glass House, at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, as no 1044 14 April 1925 Married Irene Lovett at St John’s, Smith Square, Westminster. Soon after, they moved to Tennyson Avenue, Twickenham 1926 Produced first work for Radio Times 28 September 1926 Birth of Peter John Fraser 1926-38 Worked from various studios in central London: in Essex Street, off the Strand; then in Paternoster Row; and finally in Queen Anne’s Gate, shared with Milner Gray 1926-40 Taught part time at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts 8 January 1929 Birth of Geoffrey Michael Fraser 1929-37 Produced work for Harper’s Bazaar Circa 1931 Designed the advertising character, ‘Mr Therm’, for the Gas, Light and Coke Company

14 | CHRONOLOGY

17 November 1932 Birth of Mary Margaret Jean Fraser 1935 Moved, with his family, to Penn’s Place, 9 Church Street, Hampton. Became a member of the Art Workers’ Guild 23 December 1935 Birth of Stephen Richard Fraser 1937-40 Taught commercial design, decorative illustration and fashion presentation at the Reimann School of Commercial and Industrial Design, Regency Street, Westminster 1938 Produced murals for the vestibule of the Ministry of Health’s Fitter Britain Exhibit at the Empire Exhibition, Glasgow 1939-45 During the Second World War, worked in Civil Defence as an ARP Warden. Also received commissions from the Ministry of Information to draw maps 1945 Elected one of the first ten Fellows of the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers (FSIAD) 1948 Erected an ex-army asbestos hut at the bottom of his garden to use as his studio 1951 Produced a mural of Roman Britain for The People of Britain pavilion at the Festival of Britain, on the South Bank, assisted by his son, Geoffrey, and other students Produced drawings for the photographic murals of the Kings and Queens of England for the History of Parliament Exhibition at the House of Commons gallery 1952-79 Book illustrations for the Folio Society 1953 Designed the official programme for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 1956 Produced a mural for Babcock House, Euston Road, the new London headquarters of the American engineering company, Babcock & Wilcox, assisted by his son, Geoffrey,

and others 1958 Produced murals of British discoverers for the British Pavilion at Expo ’58, in Brussels 1959-63 Designed two stained glass windows for St Mary the Virgin, Hampton 1977 Designed an altar cloth for St Mary the Virgin, Hampton 1977-79 Designed stained glass windows for St Mary the Virgin, Childswickham, Worcestershire 1978 Elected an Honorary Member of Association of Illustrators (HAOI) 1979 Designed Navigators’ Memorial for the south cloister of Westminster Abbey 1981 Appeared on the BBC TV Arena programme, The Art of Radio Times 1982 Produced reredos for St Stephen’s, Ashill, Devon 1983 Three Fairy Tales by Oscar Wilde selected as one of the 50 best books printed in Germany in 1983 15 November 1983 Died at Penn’s Place and buried nearby at St Mary the Virgin

01 Early Work 1920-1930

16 | EARLY WORK 1920-1930

01

Early Work 1920-1930

In 1919, Eric Fraser won a scholarship to Goldsmiths’ College School of Art in New Cross, and in the same year began the first of five years’ study there. He produced most of these early watercolours and prints during that period.

All the works in this section are: Provenance: The Artist’s Family

1920

01 FLIES IN WINTER wood engraving 6 x 4 1⁄2 inches Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 20

02 BACCHUS signed and dated 1920 on reverse watercolour with pencil 14 x 9 3⁄4 inches

‘He was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant students I had in the School during the 34 years I was headmaster. He possesses remarkable skill as a figure draughtsman both from the draped and nude subjects, together with a rare faculty for pictorial composition in its application to book illustration, posters and other forms of artistic expression’ (Frederick Marriott, Headmaster of Goldsmiths’ College School of Art, in a reference for Eric Fraser, June 1927)

EARLY WORK 1920-1930 | 17

1921

03 PANORAMIC LANDSCAPE signed and dated 1921 watercolour 9 3⁄4 x 13 1⁄2 inches

Circa 1921 04 PARTING DAY watercolour 10 1⁄2 x 13 inches

18 | EARLY WORK 1920-1930

1924

Circa 1930

06 THE HOSTESS AND THE GRIMACE! pen ink and watercolour, 8 x 5 inches

05 THE GLASS HOUSE etching 10 3⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches Literature: Pat Hodgson, Eric Fraser. An Illustrator of Our Time, London: British Gas plc, 1991, page 9; Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 67 Exhibited: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 1924, no 1044

07 VICTORIAN MISS bodycolour on paper laid on board 11 x 7 3⁄4 inches

02 First Magazine Commissions 1929-1937

20 | FIRST MAGAZINE COMMISSIONS 1929-1937

02

1929

First Magazine Commissions 1929-1937 From the mid 1920s, Eric Fraser produced many magazine illustrations, including his most famous and most regular work, for The Radio Times. He also undertook a number of commissions for fashion drawings for Harper’s Bazaar, from its foundation in 1929 and through the early 1930s.

08 ACCEPTANCE signed pen and ink on board 5 inches diameter Illustrated: Nash’s Magazine, 9 April 1929, ‘Acceptance’ by Robert Frost

All the works in this section are: Provenance: The Artist’s Family

09 PROFESSIONAL GIRLS [I] signed pen ink and monochrome watercolour on board 7 3⁄4 x 6 3⁄4 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Good Housekeeping Magazine, June 1929

10 PROFESSIONAL GIRLS [II] signed pen ink and monochrome watercolour on board 7 3⁄4 x 5 3⁄4 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Good Housekeeping Magazine, June 1929

FIRST MAGAZINE COMMISSIONS 1929-1937 | 21

1930-32: The Radio Times For details of the BBC programmes, as listed in The Radio Times, please refer to the Appendix.

11 HOPELESS LOVE signed and dated 30 pen and ink on board 7 x 8 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 24 January 1930, page 201, ‘Nothing Succeeds on the Wireless – like Hopeless Love’ by Jonathan Derry

12 IS THAT ALL THEY DO? signed pen and ink on board 6 3⁄4 x 8 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 28 November 1930, page 590, ‘Our Music Editor introduces the Music of the Week’

13 AN IDLE THOUGHT PUBLISHERS BEING TAKEN RELUCTANTLY TO HEAVEN

BY THE LITTLE GILT CHERUBS WITH AVERTED EYES

signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 7 1⁄4 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 12 June 1931

‘In all the work he did, whether wood or scraper-board engravings for the Radio Times, line drawings or posters, his craftsmanship was superb.

He lived his work, slept with it, woke with it, taught with it.’

(William Johnstone, Eric Fraser’s fellow teacher at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, writing in Points in Time: An Autobiography, London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1980, page 184)

22 | FIRST MAGAZINE COMMISSIONS 1929-1937

14 SONGS FROM THE SHOWS signed pen and ink on board 4 3⁄4 x 3 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 7 October 1932, page 70, for broadcast on the Daventry National Programme on Saturday 15 October 1932 at 8pm

15 GUY FAWKES signed pen and ink on board 6 1⁄2 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 28 October 1932, page 314, ‘Fireworks!’, for broadcast on the Daventry National Programme on Saturday 5 November 1932 at 9.50pm; The Radio Times, 2 November 1945, page 9

1932-37: Maurice LaneNorcott in The Radio Times Maurice Lane-Norcott was the pseudonym of the once popular satirist, Maurice Norcott Detmold Thacker (1893-1968). From the 1920s, he wrote revue sketches, and contributed stories and articles to newspapers and periodicals, including the Daily Mail and The Radio Times.

The best of his articles for The Radio Times – illustrated by Eric Fraser – were collected together in Up the Aerial (1933).

16 ‘MISS PRIMBERRY’, I SAID, LEANING SLIGHTLY IN HER DIRECTION AND LOWERING MY VOICE, ‘I FEEL THAT AT LAST THE MOMENT IS RIPE.’ signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 7 3⁄4 x 10 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 10 June 1932, page 661, ‘Wireless has killed English Croquet!’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott

17 HOWEVER, I DIDN’T WAKE UP NEXT DAY signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 1⁄2 x 7 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 1 July 1932, page 7, ‘Down a Tin-Mine: an O B that Failed’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott

FIRST MAGAZINE COMMISSIONS 1929-1937 | 23

18 IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE WE ACTUALLY CAME TO PREFER EACH OTHER’S MODE OF LIVING TO OUR OWN signed pen ink and bodycolour on board 4 1⁄2 x 6 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 29 July 1932, page 249, ‘On Relaying the Nightingale’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott; Maurice Lane-Norcott, Up the Aerial, London: Grayson & Grayson, 1933, page 40, ‘Relaying the Nightingale’ (detail)

19 SUDDENLY I JUMPED ON A CHAIR ... pen ink and bodycolour on board 5 3⁄4 x 4 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 1 July 1932, page 7, ‘Down a Tin-Mine: an O B that Failed’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott

20 ONE DAY I HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO FALL OUT OF A TREE signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 1⁄2 x 3 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 29 July 1932, page 249, ‘On Relaying the Nightingale’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott; Maurice Lane-Norcott, Up the Aerial, London: Grayson & Grayson, 1933, page 42, ‘Relaying the Nightingale’

24 | FIRST MAGAZINE COMMISSIONS 1929-1937

22 GERMS AND CORPUSCLES DIAGRAMMATIC SECTION OF BILL BLOGGINS , SHOWING THE ACTION OF CORPUSCLES , AS EXPLAINED BY MR LANE NORCOTT IN THIS ILLUMINATING ARTICLE

21 MISS RIGWORTHY NICKS OFF DOWN THE STAIRS LIKE LIGHTNING, THE MISCHIEVOUS LITTLE THING! signed pen ink and bodycolour on board 4 3⁄4 x 4 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 8 September 1933, page 535, ‘Where do talks go?’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott

23 THE MAIN THING IS TO DIG A HOLE DEEP ENOUGH pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 1⁄4 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 18 May 1934, page 512, ‘Listeners should listen to Fish this Whitsun’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott

signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 3⁄4 x 4 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 13 January 1933, page 67, ‘Are molecules worth while?’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott; Maurice Lane-Norcott, Up the Aerial, London: Grayson & Grayson, 1933, page 64, ‘Are molecules worth while?’

24 CHANCING TO SEE A MIRROR WHICH MY AUNT HAD ADORNED WITH A PRETTY SKETCH OF A STORK IN FLIGHT, RUSKIN STARED AT IT FOR SEVERAL MOMENTS IN COMPLETE AMAZEMENT signed pen and ink on board 5 3⁄4 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: The Radio Times, 23 July 1937, page 15, ‘My Aunt knew some Men, too’ by Maurice Lane-Norcott

FIRST MAGAZINE COMMISSIONS 1929-1937 | 25

1931-33: Harper’s Bazaar 25 FASHION DECLARES FOR THE SUIT signed pen ink and monochrome watercolour with bodycolour 17 1⁄2 x 11 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Harper’s Bazaar, April 1931 Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 70

26 NEW DESIGNS IN BRITISH COTTONS AND LINENS [I] signed pen ink and monochrome watercolour with bodycolour 12 1⁄4 x 8 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Harper’s Bazaar, June 1932, page 54, ‘New Designs in British Cottons and Linens’

‘Little frock in green and yellow daisy-pattern cotton voile with grosgrain belt in two colours (Debenham & Freebody)’ 27 NEW DESIGNS IN BRITISH COTTONS AND LINENS [II] (below) signed pen ink, watercolour and bodycolour, 14 1⁄2 x 16 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Harper’s Bazaar, June 1932, pages 54-55, ‘New Designs in British Cottons and Linens’ Literature: Pat Hodgson, Eric Fraser. An Illustrator of Our Time, London: British Gas plc, 1991, page 13

‘Sweet seventeen in a fitted bodice and scalloped skirt of Ferguson’s green and white printed cotton, with triple collar and cuffs of white piqué (Sarah Jane)’ ‘Printed linen in hydrangea colourings, its white organdie plastron and sleeve insets blue-edged and embroidered with little posies (Liberty)’ ‘Scallop edges distinguish a smart linen suit worn with the popular panama hat.

It may be obtained in rose, turquoise, or lemon (Robinson & Cleaver)’ ‘Red and white printed linen cambric, washable, with white lingerie collar.

For summery days there are parasol, hat, and bag to match. (Robinson & Cleaver)’ ‘Mediaeval inspiration in a race or garden-party frock, black and white voile (Horrockses) with bands of black organdie and many tiny buttons. (Helen Chandler)’

26 | FIRST MAGAZINE COMMISSIONS 1929-1937

‘“Dozi” frock in white knitted woollen has a cashmere scarf and felt béret. It bears Miss Eileen Bennett’s approval and initial. (Izod)’ ‘Cool and very smart is a cellular top to a white angel-skin frock.The buttoned tie provides a new note, the pleats easy movement.

(Marie Simone)’

28 THEIR ADVANTAGE [I] signed pen ink and monochrome watercolour with pencil and bodycolour on board 11 x 7 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Harper’s Bazaar, May 1933, page 18, ‘Their Advantage’

‘Cowslip yellow washing silk with a shining pin-spot makes Walpole’s dress with a cape coatee. Matt white straw hat with a yellow ribbon.

(Walpoles)’ ‘The cape yoke unbuttons and comes off for sunbathing in a dress of Wm Hollins’ “Rochene”, gaily striped and with red pipings and buckle.

(Elizabeth Koby)’ ‘A well-planned skirt, narrow sections ending in pleats, distinguishes pale pink washing silk. Scalloped yoke, with pearl buttons; petersham belt in pink, brown and green.

(Walpoles)’ 29 THEIR ADVANTAGE [II] signed pen ink and monochrome watercolour with bodycolour on board 11 x 11 inches Illustrated: Harper’s Bazaar, May 1933, page 19, ‘Their Advantage’

03 The Lilliput Years 1937-1944

28 | THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944

03 The Lilliput Years 1937-1944

Between the late 1930s and the 1940s, Eric Fraser’s work developed considerably. His contributions to Lilliput possibly comprised the last large group in his lighter, more humorous vein, while such drawings for Radio Times as The White Steed of 1944 [38] established his mature style: ambitious, dynamic compositions emphasised by strong tonal contrasts.

All the works in this section are: Provenance: The Artist’s Family

‘Formalised and stylised treatment adds richness and scale to a dramatic situation’

1937

(Ashley Havinden, Line Drawing for Reproduction, 1941, page 67)

30 FRATO ALESSIO DISGUISED ME LIKE A FRIAR AND GAVE ME A LAY BROTHER TO GO WITH ME. QUITTING THE CONVENT, AND ISSUING FROM THE CITY BY THE GATE OF PRATO. I WENT ALONG THE WALLS AS FAR AS THE PIAZZA DI SAN GALLO

31 – AND CERTAINLY I SHOULD THEN HAVE KILLED HIM WITH THE KNIFE I HELD BUT THAT HE WAS RIDING A WHITE HORSE TO WHICH HE CLAPPED SPURS, LEAVING HIS CAPE IN MY GRASP, IN ORDER TO PRESERVE HIS LIFE

BOOK I CHAP XVIII

BOOK I CHAP XXXIII

signed inscribed with title on original mount pen ink and watercolour 10 x 8 1⁄2 inches Speculative illustration for The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini

signed inscribed with title on original mount pen ink and watercolour 10 x 8 1⁄4 inches Speculative illustration for The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini Literature: Ashley Havinden, Line Drawing for Reproduction, London: The Studio Publications [‘How to do it’ Series No 4], 1941 (revised edition), page 67, as ‘one of a series of drawings for “Benvenuto Cellini”’

THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944 | 29

‘Fraser’s virtues are plain. He is first and foremost a designer with a strong sense of discipline; he is a powerful draughtsman, and possesses a large fund of knowledge.

His drawings are very searched, his line deliberate. He skimps nothing. His observation is tremendous; his treatment highly objective. His work seldom betrays the use of formula although so mannered. He does not hesitate to sacrifice truthful drawing to effect, and by such sacrifices – of mere prettiness, of realism in the photographic sense, of conventional proportions – his work gains tremendously.’

(R Haughton James, ‘Eric Fraser, creator of Mr Therm’, Art and Industry, May 1937, page 183)

1937-1944: Radio Times Nota bene: In 1937, The Radio Times dropped the definite article to become Radio Times.

For details of the BBC programmes, as listed in Radio Times, please refer to the Appendix.

The Modern Muse ‘A Recital of Contemporary Poetry’, The Modern Muse included work by the leading poets of the ‘Auden Group’: W H Auden (1907-1973), Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972), Louis MacNeice (1909-1995) and Stephen Spender (1909-1995). Fellow poet, Roy Campbell, described them collectively as ‘MacSpaunday’.

The programme was arranged and introduced by the writer and teacher, Michael Roberts (1902-1948), who is now best remembered for editing the Faber Book of Modern Verse (1936).

32 THE MODERN MUSE signed pen and ink on board 4 1⁄2 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 October 1938, page 42, for broadcast on the Daventry National Programme on Tuesday 18 October 1938 at 10.30pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 102

Ithuriel’s Hour Ithuriel’s Hour (1931) is an early work by the novelist and children’s writer, Joanna Cannan (1898-1961). It was adapted for radio by E M Delafield (1890-1943). The title refers to an angel originally mentioned in the mystical Jewish writings of the Kabbalah, and taken up by Rudyard Kipling in his poem about judgement, ‘The Hour of the Angel’ (1898). The following summary should make clear the implication of the title: Old-school sportsman, Sir Clement Vyse, recruits the experienced John Ullathorne to help him tackle unclimbed Tibetan peak. But Ullathorne resents Vyse’s flirtation with his young wife and, perched precariously atop the glittering peak, the two climbers confront each other. A life is lost.

But is it murder?

(Audrey Salkeld and Rosie Smith (compilers), One Step in the Clouds. An omnibus of mountaineering novels and short stories, London: Diadem Books, 1991, page 1038) Eric Fraser’s image illustrates this dramatic moment.

33 ITHURIEL’S HOUR signed pen and ink on board, 6 1⁄2 x 6 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 30 June 1939, page 77, for broadcast on the regional service on Saturday 8 July 1939 at 7.30pm Literature: David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 56; Pat Hodgson, Eric Fraser.

An Illustrator of Our Time, British Gas plc, 1991, page 15

30 | THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944

Further Outlook Warmer Further Outlook Warmer is a farcical comedy specially written for BBC radio by playwright and critic, Ronald Jeans (1887-1973). The caption in Radio Times explains the premise: ‘Sidney Tripp should have been dead when his temperature reached 108 degrees, but he most certainly was not. The remarkable adventures of this village schoolmaster with a passion for gasometers are the subject of Further Outlook Warmer’.

34 FURTHER OUTLOOK WARMER ‘ I ’ M NOT GOING TO CHAIN - SMOKE THERMOMETERS ALL DAY FOR ANYBODY ’ signed pen and ink 6 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 1 September 1939, page 59, for broadcast on Friday 8 September 1939 at 7.15pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 103

The Lying Jade The Lying Jade, or The Art of Spreading Rumours in Wartime, was a BBC radio feature on rumour and gossip written by Stephen Potter (1900-1969). It made use of the dossier of rumours of war collected by the organisers of Mass Observation. It is described in Radio Times in the following terms: ‘“The Lying Jade” is always busy in wartime, and most of us have already suffered from her unruly tongue. The programme tonight at 8.5 deals with some of the favourite rumours’.

35 THE LYING JADE, OR THE ART OF SPREADING RUMOURS IN WARTIME ‘ DON ’ T PASS IT ON , BUT ...’ signed pen and ink 5 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 8 December 1939, second page, Tuesday, for broadcast on Tuesday 12 December 1939 at 8.05pm Literature: Pat Hodgson, Eric Fraser. An Illustrator of Our Time, London: British Gas plc, 1991, page 14; Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 104

THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944 | 31

Noah Sails Again Noah Sails Again was a BBC radio production of a translation of the 1930 play, Noé, by the French author, André Obey (1892-1975), serialised over five episodes. This particular image illustrated the fifth instalment, which, according to the summary in Radio Times, ‘finds Eve bored and exasperated by Noah’s simple faith, while the Ark travels slowly across the waste of waters’.

36 NOAH SAILS AGAIN signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 1⁄4 x 3 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 8 November 1940, page 7, for broadcast on the Home Service on Sunday 10 November 1940 at 7.35pm

The Raft The Raft is a play written specially for BBC radio by the Scottish author, Eric Linklater (1899-1974). The caption in Radio Times describes the premise as ‘six men adrift on the Atlantic, after their ship has been torpedoed, discuss the war’. The introduction to the text that was published with two other ‘conversations’ elaborated, explaining that ‘the state of Britain is considered.

Are the people of Britain capable of serving the new world, of writing with honour a new chapter in history? The answer, conclusively, is Yes …’

37 THE RAFT signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 1⁄4 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 August 1942, page 6, for broadcast on the Home Service on Sunday 16 August 1942 at 3.30pm Literature: David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 84

32 | THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944

The White Steed The White Steed is a comedy drama written in 1939 by the Irish dramatist, Paul Vincent Carroll (1900-1968). In Radio Times, the action is described as that ‘in which a vision from an old Celtic legend moves through a girl’s waking dreams and brings her strength and courage in adversity. The action is set in a seaside village overlooked by the Mourne Hills in Ireland’.

38 THE WHITE STEED signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 6 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 10 November 1944, page 8, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 13 November 1944 at 9.30pm

King John Eric Fraser prepared this drawing to illustrate a BBC radio production of Shakespeare’s King John in 1944. However, it appeared in Radio Times only in 1953, when it accompanied the details of another production of the same play.

39 KING JOHN signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 7 August 1953, page 16, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 10 August 1953 at 5pm, though it was drawn for an earlier 1944 Issue

40 KING JOHN inscribed ‘King John/King Philip of France/Constance/Arthur/ Salisbury/Lewis/Dauphin/ Blanche/Elinor/Bastard/Austria’ pencil 2 1⁄2 x 4 inches Preliminary drawing for Radio Times, 7 August 1953, page 16, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 10 August 1953 at 5pm, though it was drawn for an earlier 1944 Issue

THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944 | 33

1940-1944: Lilliput

41-45 are all illustrated in Lilliput, January 1940, ‘What Soldiers Sang ...’ by George Edinger

A small-format monthly magazine, Lilliput was the brainchild of the Hungarian filmmaker and photojournalist, Stefan Lorant (1901-1997). Lorant had arrived in England from Hungary in 1934, in order to find an editor for I Was Hitler’s Prisoner, a memoir of his imprisonment by the Nazis in Munich. As a result, he was invited to become editor of a new picture magazine, Weekly Illustrated, a position that he accepted. However, when asked to become editor of the American magazine, Life, in 1936, he refused, preferring his independence.

What Soldiers Sang In the Lilliput article, ‘What Soldiers Sang …’, published in January 1940, George Edinger wondered, ‘what the song of this war is going to be’, before rehearsing the entire tradition of the military song.

So, in 1937, Lorant set up Pocket Publications and launched Lilliput with the financial help of £1,200 borrowed from his lover, Alison Blair. The magazine encompassed short stories, articles, humour, the fine arts and photography (including daring, if tasteful, nudes), while projecting a clearly anti-totalitarian stance. It was aimed at – what Lilliput contributor, Kaye Webb, called – ‘fairly intelligent people, the duffel-coat brigade’ (quoted in Valerie Grove, So Much To Tell, London: Viking Books, 2010).

In the same issue, George Edinger (born 1899) was described as ‘a lawyer turned prolific journalist. Was for several years leader-writer to the Sunday Express, and a dramatic and film critic. Then turned to free-lancing, which has taken him to all the capitals in Europe, except Moscow’.

41 THE SONG OF THIS WAR signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 9

43 MUSKETEER AND PRIVATE signed with initials pen and ink on board 3 1⁄4 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: page 10

45 KNIGHT AND GRENADIER pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: page 12

42 THE FRENCH DRAGOON pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 9

44 THE BRITISH SOLDIER pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 10

34 | THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944

The Enthusiast ‘The Enthusiast’ is one of a series of short poems by John Pudney, which were collected in Lilliput in March 1940 under the heading ‘Spring in Sight’.

In the same issue, John Pudney (1909-1977) was described as ‘short-story writer and journalist, now acting as special correspondent to the News Chronicle. Has also written radio plays and poems. Is a son-in-law of A P Herbert’.

46 THE ENTHUSIAST PRIMAVERA IS COMING NEARER ; I DON ’ T HALF ITCH AFTER FEB FILL DITCH

signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour 2 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Lilliput, March 1940, page 202, ‘Spring in Sight’ by John Pudney

A Visit to the Rich One of seven contributions that Peter de Polnay made to Lilliput between 1939 and 1943, ‘A Visit to the Rich’ appeared in June 1940.

In the same issue, Peter de Polnay (1906-1984) was described as ‘a young Hungarian-born writer who spent the first years of his childhood in England. Out of six languages he knows he prefers to write in English. His first two novels have been highly successful and he is now at work on another with Kenya as its background’.

47 A VISIT TO THE RICH signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 2 1⁄2 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Lilliput, June 1940, page 505, ‘A Visit to the Rich’ by Peter de Polnay

The Song of the Shirt Apropos of Thomas Hood’s poem, ‘The Song of the Shirt’, George Edinger published a short article on the history of the garment in Lilliput in March 1941.

48 THE SONG OF THE SHIRT signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 3⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: Lilliput, March 1941, page 271, ‘History: The Song of the Shirt’ by George Edinger

THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944 | 35

Seven Days of Broadcast Love In the article, ‘Seven Days of Broadcast Love’, published in Lilliput in 1944, Frederick Laws analysed the BBC’s attitude to love as represented in the songs that it broadcast over one week: ‘192 renderings were heard of 65 songs; the word love was crooned some 2,000 times, and it was spoken practically not at all’.

In the same issue, Frederick Laws (1911-1976) was described as ‘radio critic on the News Chronicle. Born in Stockton-on-Tees, now lives in Oxford. Aged 32, married, with one daughter. Taught French at Imperial Service College at Windsor, has also been a translator, copy writer, BBC assistant lecturer. Main interests: psychological research and adult education’.

49 BROADCASTING HOUSE signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour 2 3⁄4 x 3 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Lilliput, March 1944, page 183, ‘Seven Days of Broadcast Love’ by Frederick Laws Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser.

Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 75

50 CUPID signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour on board 3 1⁄4 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Lilliput, March 1944, page 186, ‘Seven Days of Broadcast Love’ by Frederick Laws Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser.

Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 77

Changing the Map In this article published in Lilliput in October 1944, S P Kernahan considers major activities that would revolutionise life on Earth, for instance, watering the Sahara, thawing the North Pole and even building a Channel Tunnel.

51 CHANGING THE MAP three images in pen and ink on board each signed and measuring 3 1⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Lilliput, October 1944, pages 320-322, ‘Changing the Map’ by S P Kernahan

36 | THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944

52 GULLIVER GOES AFTER LOOT signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 x 6 3⁄4 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Lilliput, November 1944, ‘Gulliver goes after Loot’ by Lemuel Gulliver [Macdonald Hastings]

53 THE SPECIALITY OF THE WHITE WITCHES IS TO CURE BY CHARMING signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour 3 x 5 inches Illustrated: Lilliput, November 1944, page 415, ‘Wizardry: It’s not so quiet in the Country’, an anonymous article about Witchcraft

54 SHE HAS TURNED HER BACK ON GOD, BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE DEVIL, AND BECOME A WITCH signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Lilliput, November 1944, page 418, ‘Wizardry: It’s not so quiet in the Country’, an anonymous article about Witchcraft

55 EARL & GIRL signed with initials pen and ink 3 x 5 inches Drawn for Lilliput

THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944 | 37

Circa 1940: Cartoons and Drawings

56 DAFFODILS signed with initials pen and ink 4 1⁄2 x 5 1⁄2 inches

57 THE BIG ONE signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 9 3⁄4 x 8 inches

58 ‘OO MUMMY – MY KNEE’S GOT TUMMY-ACHE’ signed and inscribed with title signed on reverse pen and ink with bodycolour on paper laid on board 7 1⁄2 x 9 1⁄2 inches

38 | THE LILLIPUT YEARS 1937-1944

59 GOD BLESS OUR HOME pen ink, conté crayon and monochrome watercolour 7 1⁄2 x 7 inches

60 WALKING IN THE RAIN watercolour and bodycolour 8 1⁄4 x 7 inches

61 GARRICK’S TEMPLE IN SNOW signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour on board 5 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches

‘During the Second World War Fraser was classified as unfit for active service, and worked as a Civil Defence ARP warden until the summer of 1945.

One of the warden posts was Garrick’s Temple, on the banks of the Thames, not far from [Fraser’s home at] Penn’s Place. David Garrick, the actor, had erected this classical octagonal building in 1754, in the grounds of his house, as a tribute to Shakespeare.’

(Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries Publishers, 1998, page 16)

04 The Late Forties 1945-1949

40 | THE LATE FORTIES 1945-1949

04 The Late Forties 1945-1949

Eric Fraser consolidated his mature style during the late 1940s, as can be seen from a group of contributions to Radio Times. Most impressive perhaps are The Flowers are Not for You to Pick (1946) [69], The Family Reunion (1948) [77] and Silence in Heaven (1949) [79]. In all of these, the overlap of complex motifs and the taut balance of design and tone help suggest the emotive power of the plays that they illustrate. However, Fraser’s style was highly adaptable, and perfectly fitted the mood and period of a subject, and also the format of a commission, whether advertisement, illustration or cover design.

All the works in this section are: Provenance: The Artist’s Family, except No 66

1945-1949: Dust Jackets and Book Illustrations

62 THE HOUSE IN CLEWE STREET signed with initials and inscribed ‘The letters at bottom could be closer together and may be better in a lavender colour?’ on reverse watercolour landscape with church on reverse watercolour with bodycolour 8 x 6 1⁄2 inches Design for Mary Lavin, The House in Clewe Street, London: Michael Joseph, 1945, dust jacket The House in Clewe Street Mary Lavin (1912-1996) was an Irish American writer best known for her short stories. Her novel, The House in Clewe Street (1945), is a family saga that reveals the poignancies of an Irish Catholic upbringing.

63 JOURNEY INTO SPRING signed pen ink and watercolour 7 1⁄2 x 6 inches Design for Winston Clewes, Journey Into Spring, London: Michael Joseph, 1948, dust jacket Journey into Spring The novelist and playwright, Winston Clewes (1906-1957), made his name with Violent Friends (1944), a novelised biography of Jonathan Swift and his relationship with Esther Johnson. His third novel, Journey into Spring (1948), was advertised as ‘an original, exquisitely worked-out, richly human story of an English village and its mellowing influence on a stranger’, Godfrey Fletton, the last lord of the manor.

64 JOAN OF ARC watercolour, bodycolour and pencil on board 10 3⁄4 x 4 inches Joan of Arc The project for which this drawing was made has not been identified. It may be a book illustration, though the fact that it is squared up suggests a study for a mural or stained glass window.

THE LATE FORTIES 1945-1949 | 41

65 IRON AND GOLD signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 x 8 inches Probably a dust jacket design for Hilda Vaughan, Iron and Gold, London: Macmillan & Co, 1948

Iron and Gold Welsh writer, Hilda Vaughan (1892-1985), produced poems, short stories and novels, the last of which included Iron and Gold. It first appeared in the United States in 1942, under the title, The Fair Woman, and in Britain in 1948. One of her most characteristic works, it retells the Welsh ‘fairy bride’ folktale, The Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach.

66 AN ELIZABETHAN VISION signed pen ink and watercolour on reverse 7 x 6 1⁄4 inches

1945-1949: Radio Times

67 OUTWARD BOUND signed pen and ink 4 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 24 August 1945, page 18, for broadcast on the Home Service on Saturday 1 September 1945 at 9.20pm

Outward Bound First produced on Broadway in 1923, Outward Bound was a highly successful play by the British writer, Sutton Vane (1888-1963). It appeared on the BBC Home Service in the series, ‘Saturday Night Theatre’, on 1 September 1945. It concerns a group of passengers on an ocean liner, each of whom eventually accepts that they are dead and are heading for judgement.

For details of the BBC programmes, as listed in Radio Times, please refer to the Appendix.

68 THE ‘HIPPOLYTUS’ OF EURIPEDES signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 3⁄4 x 7 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 28 September 1945, page 8, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 1 October 1945 at 9.30pm

The ‘Hippolytus’ of Euripedes Euripedes’ version of the myth of Hippolytus, son of Theseus, was originally produced in Athens in 428 BC. Gilbert Murray (1866-1957) made his rhyming verse translation in 1902, as the first in a series of modern performing versions of classics commissioned by Harley Granville Barker of the Royal Court. It was premiered at the Lyric Hammersmith, and then the Royal Court, in 1904, and remained in regular use into the 1940s, as is evidenced by the Home Service production of 1945, which this image illustrates. Eric Fraser highlights the fatal magnetic attraction that exists between Hippolytus and his stepmother, Phaedra.

42 | THE LATE FORTIES 1945-1949

69 THE FLOWERS ARE NOT FOR YOU TO PICK signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 x 6 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 24 May 1946, page 8, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 27 May 1946 at 9.15pm; Radio Times, 8 June 1961, pages 19 and 24 illustrating a different production of the same play, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 12 June 1961 at 9.15pm

The Flowers Are Not for You to Pick Though best remembered as a stage director, Tyrone Guthrie (1900-1971) began his career with the BBC, and as a writer of plays conceived specifically for radio as well as a producer.

Notable among such plays was The Flowers Are Not for You to Pick (1930), the story of a curate whose life flashes through his mind as he drowns, told through such experimental techniques as montage and cross-fading. Eric Fraser’s image illustrated two productions of the play, the second of which partly celebrated Guthrie’s knighthood in 1961.

Precession The author of Precession, Eric James King-Bull (born 1897) held positions as a naval officer and a colonial administrator before working as a writer and producer for BBC radio between 1927 and 1957.

The Heartless Giant The Heartless Giant is considered to be one of the best plays of the Irish poet, Louis MacNeice (1907-1963).

He based it on the Norwegian folk tale, ‘The Giant who had no Heart in his Body’, which had been collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe in the mid 19th century, and also translated into English by the Victorian writer, George Macdonald, retold as ‘The Giant’s Heart’ in 1864.

70 PRECESSION A CARICATURE

signed pen and ink 5 1⁄2 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 20 September 1946, page 8, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 23 September 1946 at 9.15pm Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 102

71 THE HEARTLESS GIANT signed pen and ink on board 6 x 6 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 6 December 1946, page 26, for broadcast on the Home Service on Friday 13 December 1946 at 9.30pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 108

THE LATE FORTIES 1945-1949 | 43

Shakespeare’s Historical Plays In the autumn of 1947, the BBC Third Programme broadcast productions of Shakespeare’s mediaeval history plays. The two parts of Henry IV were given in whole, but as so often the three parts of Henry VI were reduced to a single ‘shortened version’. The poet and Oxford academic, the Rev Maurice Roy Ridley (1890-1969), introduced the series, having published editions of Shakespeare’s plays. Ridley was the model for Dorothy L Sayers’ fictional detective, Lord Peter Wimsey.

72 RICHARD II signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour 4 3⁄4 x 3 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 3 October 1947, page 8, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Sunday 5 October 1947 at 8.30pm

75 HENRY VI signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 3 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 3 October 1947, page 24 (printed in reverse), for broadcast on the Third Programme on Thursday 9 October 1947 at 8.30pm

76 RICHARD III signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 3 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 3 October 1947, page 28 (printed in reverse), for broadcast on the Third Progamme on Friday 10 October 1947 at 7.40pm

73 HENRY IV signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 2 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 3 October 1947, page 12 (printed in reverse), for broadcast on the Third Programme on Monday 6 October 1947 at 7.45pm

74 HENRY V signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour 4 3⁄4 x 3 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 3 October 1947, page 20 (printed in reverse), for broadcast on the Third Programme on Wednesday 8 October 1947 at 7.40pm

44 | THE LATE FORTIES 1945-1949

77 THE FAMILY REUNION signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄2 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Radio Times, 24 September 1948 Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 113

78 WHO SUPS WITH THE DEVIL signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 3⁄4 x 6 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 5 November 1948, page 10 for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 8 November 1948 at 9.45 pm

The Family Reunion This psychological verse drama by T S Eliot (1888-1965) was badly received when it premiered at the Westminster Theatre, London, on 21 March 1939. It began to be taken seriously only from its revival at the Mercury Theatre, London, in 1946, and on BBC radio two years later. However, Eric Fraser’s illustration, which is a fitting blend of ancient and modern, was not used when Radio Times advertised the broadcast on 24 September of that year.

Who Sups with the Devil Anthony Gittins (active 1933-1948) was a once popular writer, mainly of plays, screenplays and short stories, many of which were ‘thrillers’, involving crime or the supernatural. Soon after it was originally broadcast on the Home Service on 8 November 1948, Who Sups with the Devil was described as ‘a modern morality, a fantasy in which Satan, bored by Hell, and by a life of perpetual vice, revisits the earth determined to experience the exquisite and unlawful pleasure of doing good’ (Stephen Williams, Plays on the Air, London: Hutchinson & Co, 1951, page 214).

THE LATE FORTIES 1945-1949 | 45

79 SILENCE IN HEAVEN signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 1⁄4 x 8 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 11 March 1949, page 12, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 14 March 1949 at 9.15pm; Radio Times, 21 April 1950, page 40 illustrating a repeat of this production for broadcast on the Home Service on Saturday 29 April 1950 at 9.15pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser.

Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 113

1947-1949: Advertising

80 THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR & HIS COLLEGE OF NAVIGATION

inscribed with title on label on original backboard watercolour and pencil with bodycolour 4 x 6 inches Preliminary drawing for ‘Trade Winds No 4: The Cape of Good Hope’, an advertisement for the United Steel Companies Limited, Sheffield, 1948

Silence in Heaven The pioneer BBC radio and television producer, Lance Sieveking (1896-1972), wrote a number of original radio plays, as well as adaptations, during the 1940s and 50s. He originally published Silence in Heaven as a novel (in 1936, with a dust jacket by Paul Nash), before adapting it for ‘Radio Theatre’ on the Home Service in 1949. An article in the BBC periodical, London Calling, introduced it in the following terms: The author asks: ‘What would you think if you suddenly saw yourself as you really are? Would you be stimulated, shocked, or rather pleased, and what would you do?’

Stanley L Binstock, a biscuit manufacturer in a Midland town, had an attack of amnesia for half-an-hour one day, and, by a series of extraordinary accidents, revealed with cruel clearness his own character …

46 | THE LATE FORTIES 1945-1949

81 FLOOD signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄4 inches This drawing was commissioned by the Chilean Iodine Educational Bureau, which was organised by the Nitrate Corporation of Chile Ltd

82 ROTHMANS OF PALL MALL signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 6 x 8 1⁄2 inches

‘his packaging for Rothmans [is] printed in black on high-quality brilliant white card; the design is crisp and classic, and has something of the elegance and simplicity of an engraved bank-note or a postage stamp.

This lends an air of trustworthiness: who could doubt the message’ (Wendy Coates-Smith, ‘Eric Fraser the Illustrator’, in Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer and Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 25)

05 The Fifties 1950-1959

48 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

05 The Fifties 1950-1959

By the early 1950s, Eric Fraser had become almost synonymous with Radio Times, his drawings setting a style and standard that other artists followed. However, he was equally busy increasing the range and scale of his work. In 1951, he provided large murals for both the Festival of Britain and the History of Parliament Exhibition [121-124], while, in 1952, he received his first commission from the Folio Society, for The Reign of Nero [129-133]. A developing relationship with the Post Office is indicative of his many projects for advertising and product design [109-111].

All the works in this section are: Provenance: The Artist’s Family, except Nos 86 & 87

1950-1957: Dust Jackets The Pendent Years The now forgotten writer, Robert Rishworth (active 1948-1952), published six novels between the years 1948 and 1952, of which the third was The Pendent Years (1950).

83 THE PENDENT YEARS [I] watercolour, bodycolour and pencil with pen and ink 7 1⁄2 x 5 1⁄4 inches Design for Robert Rishworth, The Pendent Years, London: Robert Hale, 1950, dust jacket

84 THE PENDENT YEARS [II] signed with initials watercolour and bodycolour with pencil on board 7 3⁄4 x 6 inches Preliminary design for Robert Rishworth, The Pendent Years, London: Robert Hale, 1950, dust jacket

THE FIFTIES 1950-1959 | 49

85 A DAY OF GRACE signed pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 7 3⁄4 x 6 1⁄2 inches Design for Hebe Elsna, A Day of Grace, London: Robert Hale, 1952, dust jacket

86 UNDER FIRE pen and ink with bodycolour and collage 7 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄4 inches Design for Henri Barbusse, Under Fire, London: J M Dent & Sons [Everyman’s Library, no 798], 1955, dust jacket

A Day of Grace On its appearance, A Day of Grace was advertised in the following terms: ‘Miss Elsna’s enthralling new story tells of the influence of a lovely, remote island of the Irish coast on six broken and thwarted lives’. Hebe Elsna was one the pseudonyms used by Dorothy Phoebe Ansle (1890-1983), a prolific writer, mainly of historical romances. She also worked under the names of Laura Conway, Vicky Lancaster and Lyndon Snow.

Under Fire The French communist writer, Henri Barbusse (1873-1935) is best remembered for his autobiographical First World War novel, Le Feu: journal d’une escouade.

It appeared in 1916, and was translated into English in the same year, by W Fitzwater Wray, as Under Fire: The Story of a Squad.

The Talisman The second of Sir Walter Scott’s two ‘Tales of the Crusades’, The Talisman (1825) is set in Palestine at the end of the Third Crusade.

In Eric Fraser’s image, the novel’s hero, Sir Kenneth of the Couchant Leopard, Prince Royal of Scotland, sits astride his horse.

87 THE TALISMAN signed with initials pen ink and watercolour on board 8 x 6 3⁄4 inches Design for Walter Scott, The Talisman, London: J M Dent [Everyman’s Library], 1956, front cover Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 93; ‘The Illustrators: The British Art of Illustration 1800-2008’, Portico Library and Gallery, Manchester, November 2008 - January 2009

50 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

Drugs and the Mind While working at the Lederle Laboratories (near Pearl River, New York), the biochemist, Robert S de Ropp (1913-1987) wrote Drugs and the Mind (1957) on the subject of psychoactive substances.

88 DRUGS AND THE MIND [I] signed pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 6 x 5 inches Preliminary design for Robert S de Ropp, Drugs and the Mind, London: The Scientific Book Club, 1957, dust jacket

89 DRUGS AND THE MIND [II] signed watercolour with pen ink and bodycolour on paper laid on board 9 3⁄4 x 7 3⁄4 inches Design for Robert S de Ropp, Drugs and the Mind, London: The Scientific Book Club, 1957, dust jacket Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 63

1950-1958: Radio Times For details of the BBC programmes, as listed in Radio Times, please refer to the Appendix.

The Story of St David The Story of St David was a Home Service feature for St David’s Eve, 28 February 1951. Devised by the Welsh writer and producer, Elwyn Evans (born 1912), it was based on Rhigyfarch’s 11th century Latin biography of the saint, as translated by A W Wade-Evans (1875-1964).

90 THE STORY OF ST DAVID signed pen and ink with bodycolour 10 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 23 February 1951, page 34, for broadcast on the Home Service on Wednesday 28 February 1951 at 10pm

THE FIFTIES 1950-1959 | 51

‘Eric Fraser has drawn for Radio Times from its very earliest days.

His work must have gained in power and expressiveness, but it seems there never was a time when he did not have an uncanny gift for going to the heart of a script and epitomising the whole weight of it in a single drawing.This is essentially an intellectual gift; he draws what he thinks and feels and seems incapable of irrelevance. If he is frequently asked to draw the grand and sinister it is because he is one of the few artists who can be relied on to avoid banality.’

(R D Usherwood, Art Editor of Radio Times from 1950 to 1960, writing in Drawing for Radio Times, London: The Bodley Head, 1961)

91 THE END OF ‘FAUST’ signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 7 April 1950, page 12, for broadcast on the Home Service on Easter Day, Sunday 9 April 1950 at 2.30pm; Radio Times, 7 March 1958, page 40, illustrating a performance of Berlioz’ The Damnation of Faust for broadcast on the Home Service on Wednesday 12 March 1958 at 7.45pm; Radio Times, 26 October 1961, page 48, illustrating a performance of Part 3 of Schumann’s Faust for broadcast on the Home Service on Wednesday 1 November 1961 at 9.15pm; Radio Times, 20 December 1962, page 13, illustrating a performance of Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust for broadcast on the Third Programme on Saturday 22 December 1962 at 7.40pm

The End of ‘Faust’ Eric Fraser’s exciting design meets the challenge of illustrating Goethe’s Faust (1806-32), perhaps the most ambitious drama in the Romantic canon.

Good and evil, light and dark, are set against each other in a tensely dynamic composition. In fact it summed up the subject so well that the editor of Radio Times also used it to illustrate other programmes during the late 1950s and early 60s, namely performances of works of music inspired

by Goethe’s version of the Faust legend: Berlioz’ The Damnation of Faust (1845-46) and Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust (1844-53).

The Home Service broadcast of Goethe’s play made use of the translation

by Louis MacNeice, which was commissioned by the BBC to commemorate the bicentenary of Goethe’s birth in 1949.

52 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

Spring 1600 Spring 1600 is an early comedy by the Welsh playwright and actor, Emlyn Williams (1905-1987), who is best remembered for Night Must Fall (1935) and The Corn is Green (1938). A failure on its first appearance, at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1934, it appeared in a revised version at the Lyric Hammersmith in 1945. Mollie Greenhalgh (1916-2003) adapted it for the Home Service in 1951, in a production by Raymond Raikes (1910-1998), who was a leading force in BBC radio drama between the 1940s and the 1970s.

The play concerns a young woman who disguises herself as a boy in order to join Shakespeare’s company, and there falls in the love with leading actor, Richard Burbage.

92 SPRING 1600 signed pen ink and bodycolour 5 3⁄4 x 4 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 September 1951, page 26, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 17 September 1951 at 9.15pm

A Saint in a Hurry The Spanish-born Roman Catholic missionary, St Francis Xavier (1506-1552), was one of the founders, in 1540, of the religious order, the Society of Jesus. As explained in Radio Times, ‘in the brief space of ten years the great Jesuit missionary spread the Christian doctrine through India, Japan and China’. His reputation as ‘a saint in a hurry’ gave José Maria Péman the title of his 1933 play on Xavier, El divino impaciente. Eric Fraser’s portrait illustrated the details of an evening service, broadcast on the Home Service on 16 January 1953, commemorating the 400th anniversary of his death.

93 ‘A SAINT IN A HURRY’ ST FRANCIS XAVIER

signed pen ink and bodycolour 4 1⁄4 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 16 January 1953, page 12, for broadcast on the Home Service on Sunday 18 January 1953 at 7.45pm

The Man Who Was Thursday Once described by Kingsley Amis as ‘a metaphysical adventure’, G K Chesterton’s novel, The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (1908), centres on a group of anarchists, the leading members of which are named after the days of the week. Eric Fraser’s image for Ronald Barton’s radio adaptation, broadcast on the Home Service on 4 May 1953, perfectly captures the work’s atmosphere. Amusing as well as disturbing, it draws on the artist’s early comic style, as well as suggesting the look of Ronald Searle, who contributed to Radio Times during the late 1940s and early 1950s.

94 THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY signed pen and ink with bodycolour 8 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 1 May 1953, page 18, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 4 May 1953 at 9.15pm

THE FIFTIES 1950-1959 | 53

Another Part of the Forest The American playwright, Lillian Hellman (1905-1984), wrote Another Part of the Forest (1946) as a prequel to The Little Foxes (1939). It charts the rise to prominence of the wealthy and ruthless Hubbard family of Bowden, Alabama, during the summer of 1880. Adapted and produced by Peter Watts for the Home Service series, ‘Twentieth-Century Theatre’, it was first broadcast on 1 February 1954. Those taking part included Sidney James (as Marcus Hubbard), Tucker McGuire (as Lavinia Hubbard), Peggy Hassard (as Regina), John Glen (as Ben) and Gaylord Cavallero (as Oscar).

95 ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST signed pen and ink with bodycolour and collage 4 x 6 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 29 January 1954, page 18, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 1 February 1954 at 9.15pm

The Battle for Democracy – The Persian War This image illustrates an article in Radio Times that introduces two dramas based on the Histories of Herodotus. Broadcast on the BBC Home Service in August 1955, they retold ‘the story of the great struggle for freedom waged by the Greek States against their Persian enemies in the fifth century BC’. The dynamic composition of the Persian army firing arrows is reminiscent of the work of Edward Bawden, though his edition of The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus would not be published until 1958.

96 THE BATTLE FOR DEMOCRACY – THE PERSIAN WAR THE TRAGEDY OF THERMOPYLAE

signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 x 5 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 12 August 1955, page 7, for broadcast on the Home Service on Sunday 14 August 1955 at 9.30pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 123

Palm-Wine Drinkard The novel, Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952), by the Nigerian writer, Amos Tutuola (1920-1997) is considered a seminal work of modern African literature. Inspired by Yoruba folktales, it tells the mythological tale, in nonstandard English, of a man who follows a palm wine tapster into the land of the dead.

97 PALM-WINE DRINKARD pencil 2 x 3 1⁄2 inches Preliminary drawing for Radio Times, 25 November 1955, page 4, for broadcast on the Third Programme on 27 November 1955 at 3.25pm

54 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

98 FREEDOM signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 28 December 1956, page 4, ‘The Secret of Happiness is Freedom’

99 CALEB WILLIAMS signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 3⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 February 1958, page 35, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Tuesday 18 February 1958 at 9.10pm

Freedom This image illustrated ‘The Secret of Happiness is Freedom’ a Radio Times article by Sir Linton Andrews (1886-1972), Editor of the Yorkshire Post and Chairman of the Press Council. It introduced ‘Against the Wind’, a series of 24 plays broadcast on the BBC Home Service, which reflected various aspects of the idea of freedom.

Caleb Williams William Godwin’s novel, Things as They Are, or The Adventures of Caleb Williams (1794), is considered a landmark in the history of fiction, for it challenged the tyrannical government of the day by demonstrating the corrupt nature of its system of justice. By 1958, it had fallen out of print, and the BBC radio version, to which this illustration relates, helped to revive interest in it. It was dramatised by Walter Allen (1911-1995) and Rayner Heppenstall (1911-1981), both of whom were novelists, Heppenstall also working as a BBC radio producer. Allen would write an introduction to an edition of Caleb Williams that was published by Cassell in 1966.

Danton In 1902, the Nobel prize-winning French author, Romain Rolland (18661944), wrote the manifesto, Le Théâtre du peuple, in which he proposed ‘an epic historical theatre of “joy, force and intelligence” which will remind the people of its revolutionary heritage and revitalize the forces working for a new society’ (as translated by Bradby and McCormick in 1978). He attempted to put his ideas into practice in a cycle of ten plays about the French Revolution, though he completed only three, including Georges Danton (1899).

Starring Donald Wolfit as Danton, the BBC Third Programme adaptation was produced by Reginald Donald Smith (1914-1985), and made use of a translation by John Holmstrom (born 1927), who is best remembered as an announcer and presenter.

100 DANTON signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 February 1958, Page 39, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Wednesday 19 February 1958 at 8.0pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, Page 124

THE FIFTIES 1950-1959 | 55

101 ADAM signed pen and ink 7 x 5 1⁄4 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Radio Times, 15 August 1958, page 27, for the programme broadcast on the Third Programme on Monday 18 August 1958 at 8.20pm Adam Though not published in Radio Times, this drawing perfectly captures the mediaeval spirit of Le Jeu d’Adam, a 12th-century Anglo-Norman drama, broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in a translation by Father John W Doyle SJ.

The Fiery Angel This image illustrated the details of the first broadcast performance of an English translation of Prokofiev’s opera, The Fiery Angel, on the BBC Third Programme in February 1959. Though it had been composed in the 1920s, The Fiery Angel was given its first performance only in 1954, the year following Prokofiev’s death. Based on Valery Bryusov’s 1908 novel of the same name, the opera concerns demonic possession.

103 THE FIERY ANGEL signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 1⁄4 x 6 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 30 January 1959, page 27, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Monday 2 February 1959 at 7.45pm; Radio Times, 10 April 1959, page 43, for repeat performance broadcast on the Third Programme on Thursday 16 April 1959 at 8pm Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 59

102 PAOLO PAOLI signed further signed and inscribed with title and artist’s address on exhibition label on reverse pen and ink with bodycolour 6 1⁄2 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 29 August 1958, page 23, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Sunday 31 August 1958 at 5.25pm Exhibited: ‘Illustrators in Britain’, Society of Illustrators and Designers, 1971 Paolo Paoli This image illustrated details of a BBC Third Programme production of Paolo Paoli, or The Years of the Butterfly (1957), a farce in 12 scenes by Arthur Adamov (1908-1970), translated by Geoffrey Brereton. The play marked a change of direction for Adamov from the Absurdism with which he made his name to a more directly political form of radical theatre.

56 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

Porgy and Bess This image illustrates a BBC Home Service programme in which Edric Connor presented scenes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess on gramophone records, in a performance conducted by Lehman Engel, with Lawrence Winter and Pamela Williams as the eponymous lovers, June McMechen as Clara and Avon Long as Sporting Life, with the J Rosamond Johnson Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Lehman Engel.

104 PORGY AND BESS signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 1⁄4 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 13 March 1959, page 40, for broadcast on the Home Service on Wednesday 18 March 1959 at 8pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser.

Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 124

Elgar, Delius, Holst This image was drawn to illustrate the details of a concert to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the deaths of Elgar, Delius and Holst, which was broadcast from the Royal Festival Hall on 13 May 1959. However, Eric Fraser’s individual portraits of Delius and Holst proved sufficiently accurate and resonant for them to be used repeatedly to illustrate the details of other programmes on the Home Service and the Third Programme.

105 ELGAR, DELIUS, HOLST signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour 3 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 8 May 1959, page 38, for broadcast on the Home Service on Wednesday 13 May 1959 at 8.0pm; Radio Times, 2 March 1961, page 55 (Delius only), illustrating an item on A Mass of Life, which was broadcast on the Home Service on Friday 10 March 1961 at 7.15pm; Radio Times, 25 January 1962, page 16 (Delius only), illustrating ‘Delius. A Radio Portrait’, which was broadcast on the Home Service on Sunday 28 January 1962 at 9pm; Radio Times, 23 March 1962 (Delius only); Radio Times, 30 September 1965, page 20 (Holst only), illustrating a talk on Holst by his daughter, Imogen Holst, which was broadcast on the Third Programme on Sunday 3 October 1965 at 6.55pm; Radio Times, 14 October 1965, page 58 (Holst only), illustrating a programme of music by Holst and Purcell, which was broadcast on the Third Programme on Thursday 21 October 1965 at 8.35pm Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 100

Blood Wedding This image illustrates the details of the first BBC television presentation of Bodas de Sangre (1922), a poetic tragedy written by the Spanish playwright, Federico García Lorca (1898-1936).

It appeared in the ‘World Theatre’ series in a production by George R Foa (1907-1981), using a translation by George Leeson.

106 BLOOD WEDDING signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 1⁄4 x 8 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 29 May 1959, page 15, for broadcast on BBC Television on Tuesday 2 June 1959 at 9.30pm Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 89

THE FIFTIES 1950-1959 | 57

Don Bludgeon was a Puppet Lorca wrote his early play, Los Títeres de Cachiporra, in about 1923, for a proposed travelling puppet troupe. However, it was not produced until 1937, the year following Lorca’s murder by the forces of General Franco.

And it would appear in print only in 1949.

Though now usually known in English as The Billy-Club Puppets, the American poet, William Stanley Merwin (born 1927), translated the play for the BBC Third Programme in 1959 as Don Bludgeon was a Puppet – billyclub and bludgeon being synonyms of each other. The central figure of this and Lorca’s later puppet play, Retabillo de Don Cristóbal (1931), is Don Cristóbal, the Andalusian version of Punch, who carries such a weapon.

In Raymond Raikes’ production, Norman Shelley took the role.

107 DON BLUDGEON WAS A PUPPET signed pen and ink on scraperboard 4 x 3 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 12 June 1959, page 23, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Sunday 14 June 1959 at 6.35pm

The Fiends Frae Hell! Wemen-Fleshers!

This image was drawn to illustrate details of the premiere, on BBC radio, of The Wallace.

A verse drama about the Scottish hero, William Wallace, written by Sydney Goodsir Smith (1915-1975), it was produced by Finlay J Macdonald (1926-1987), with Tom Fleming in the title role. It had its stage premiere at the Edinburgh Festival in 1960.

108 THE FIENDS FRAE HELL! WEMEN-FLESHERS! signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 3⁄4 x 5 3⁄4 inches Probably illustrated in the Scottish edition of Radio Times, 27 November 1959, page 6

58 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

Circa 1950: Various Designs

109 BIRTHDAY GREETINGS signed pencil and watercolour with bodycolour 3 1⁄4 x 4 3⁄4 inches Design for a Post Office Greetings Telegram

110 PARADISE GARDEN watercolour and pencil 4 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄4 inches Design for a Post Office Greetings Telegram

111 WINGED CHARIOT watercolour and pencil with bodycolour 7 x 8 inches Design for a Post Office Greetings Telegram

‘The British greetings telegram eventually achieved a market of many millions, and in the period 1935 to 1979 went through a total of seventy-nine designs.These covered birthdays, weddings, births, St Valentine’s day, and two coronations (those of George VI, 1937, and Elizabeth II, 1953).

Designers included such prominent names as Edward Ardizzone, Eric Fraser, Frank Newbould, Norman Thelwell, Rex Whistler, and Anna Zinkeisen’ (Maurice Rickards, The Encyclopedia of Ephemera, London: The British Library, 2000, Page 167)

THE FIFTIES 1950-1959 | 59

112 THE CHARIOT OF NEPTUNE pen ink and gold paint with bodycolour 2 1⁄2 x 4 inches oval Design for an Appeal letter

113 THE CHARIOT OF APOLLO inscribed ‘Appeal’ below mount pen ink and gold paint with bodycolour 2 1⁄4 x 3 3⁄4 inches oval Design for an Appeal Letter

114 THE WOUNDED UNICORN pen and ink 3 1⁄2 x 5 3⁄4 inches

115 A LEISURELY VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY pen and ink with pencil 2 1⁄2 x 5 1⁄2 inches

116 THE WINGED MERMAID signed with initials pen and ink 2 3⁄4 x 5 3⁄4 inches

117 A SOLITARY ANGEL signed with initials pen and ink 2 1⁄4 x 4 3⁄4 inches

60 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

118 INITIAL LETTER G: A CORNUCOPIA OF FLOWERS signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour 2 x 2 inches

1951-1958 Mural Designs

121 EDWARD I signed pen and ink with bodycolour 12 1⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 inches Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser.

Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 81

119 GUARDIAN ANGEL signed watercolour and pencil 4 1⁄4 x 5 3⁄4 inches Design for Baptism card

120 INITIAL LETTER G: A FISHY ONE signed with initials pen and ink 2 x 2 1⁄4 inches

121-124 are all designs for a mural of the Kings and Queens of England, for ‘The History of Parliament’ exhibition, House of Commons gallery, 1951

122 EDWARD II signed pen and ink with bodycolour 12 x 4 1⁄2 inches

123 HENRY VIII pen and ink with bodycolour 11 3⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 inches

THE FIFTIES 1950-1959 | 61

125-128 are all designs for a mural for the British Government Pavilion, Expo ’58, Brussels, 1958

124 ELIZABETH I pen and ink with bodycolour 11 3⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 inches

125 CABOT signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour 9 1⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 inches

126 DRAKE signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour 9 1⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 inches

127 COOK signed ‘eric f’ pen ink and bodycolour 9 1⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 inches

128 FRANKLIN signed ‘eric f’ pen ink and bodycolour 9 1⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 inches

62 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

1952-1958 Book illustrations 129-133 are all illustrated in Cornelius Tacitus, translated by G G Ramsay, The Reign of Nero, London: The Folio Society, 1952

The Reign of Nero 1952

The Reign of Nero In 1952, Eric Fraser received his first commission from the Folio Society, to illustrate The Reign of Nero, a translation by George Gilbert Ramsay (1839-1921) of excerpts of the Annals, the final work of the Roman historian, Cornelius Tacitus (56-117 AD). The Annals provides one of the major sources for our knowledge of the Emperor Nero, who reigned between 54 and 68 AD, and has contributed to the popular view of his behaviour as tyrannical.

129 THE FIRE OF ROME signed pen and ink with bodycolour 8 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: frontispiece

130 NERO pen and ink with bodycolour 2 1⁄4 x 9 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: binding design

131 THE PRAETOR ANTISTIUS WROTE SOME LIBELLOUS VERSES UPON THE EMPEROR WHICH HE READ ALOUD AT A LARGE BANQUET IN THE HOUSE OF OSTORIUS SCAPULA signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 1⁄4 x 9 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: page 73, ‘A Case of Forgery and the Murder of Pedanius Secundus’

THE FIFTIES 1950-1959 | 63

132 A BANQUET WAS SET OUT IN AGRIPPA’S BASIN UPON A BARGE signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 8 inches Illustrated: page 101, ‘The Fire of Rome’

133 ON THE ONE SIDE WAS THE AGED FATHER; ON THE OTHER, NOT YET IN HER TWENTIETH YEAR, THE DESOLATE WIDOWED DAUGHTER signed pen and ink with bodycolour 4 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 139, ‘Accusation of Thrasea: His Suicide’ Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 83

64 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959

134 SHE LAY TWISTING ABOUT, WITH HER LEGS WAVING IN THE AIR ... pen and ink with bodycolour 7 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, rendered into English from the literal and complete French translation of Dr J C Mardrus by Powys Mathers, London: The Folio Society, 1958, 4 vols: vol 1, facing page 355, ‘The Tale of King Umar Al-Numa¯n and his Two Remarkable Sons, Sharka¯n and Du¯ Al-Maka¯n’

06 The Sixties 1960-1969

66 | THE SIXTIES 1960-1969

06 The Sixties 1960-1969

During the 1960s, Eric Fraser consolidated his reputation as a book illustrator with a wide variety of work. In the space of just three or four years, he produced charming mediaevalising images for the ‘Children’s Illustrated Classic’, Sir William and the Wolf (1960) [135-138] and dark Baroque compositions for a volume of gruesome Spanish short stories, A Shameful Revenge (1963) [139-146]. His many cover designs show an even greater talent for adapting his style to subjects ranging from popular science [161-162] to the novels of Sir Walter Scott [180-182]. Because of his astonishing adaptability, it is easy to overlook the fact that Fraser significantly changed his approach during the decade.This change is most clearly seen in his work for Radio Times, and can be generally characterised as a turn towards a simpler, sparer naturalism.

All the works in this section are: Provenance: The Artist’s Family, except Nos 135-138, 165, 167, 169, 173, 175, 177-179, 181

1960-1969: Book Illustrations Nos 135-138 are all illustrated in John Hampden (reteller), Sir William and the Wolf and Other Stories from the Days of Chivalry, London: J M Dent & Sons [The Children’s Illustrated Classics], 1960

‘The stories in this book, as lively as they are varied, have all been taken direct from the verse romances, English and Scottish, which were the “thrillers”, love-stories, travel-books, and science fiction of the Middle Ages.They are full of strange and daring adventures, battles and tournaments, brave knights, fair ladies, and faithful squires, with occasionally a dragon, a giant, or a wolf for good measure …

Most of the stories, including some of the best, such as “Sir William and the Wolf”, are unfamiliar nowadays and welcome additions to the children’s bookshelf. John Hampden [1898-1974] has told them all in a simple, straightforward way which young readers will enjoy.’ (dust jacket to Sir William Wolf and Other Stories from the Days of Chivalry, London: J M Dent & Sons, 1960)

135 WITH A QUICK MOVEMENT HE SEIZED THE PESTLE AND ATTACKED THEM ALL SO FIERCELY THAT THEY RAN FOR THEIR LIVES signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour 9 1⁄2 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 108, ‘The Tale of Gamelin’ The Tale of Gamelin Gamelin must overcome various obstacles in order to retrieve his rightful inheritance from his older brother.

John Hampden’s version of the tale is based on ‘Gamelyn’, as it appears in Middle English Metrical Romances, edited by W H French and C B Hale, and published by Prentice-Hall of New York in 1940.

136 IN A FLASH THE WOLF WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A HANDSOME YOUNG PRINCE signed with initials inscribed with book title and ‘page 38’ below mount pen and ink with bodycolour 4 3⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 37, ‘Sir William and the Wolf’ Sir William and the Wolf The foundling William grows up at the court of the Emperor of Rome. When he flees to the woods with Melior, the Emperor’s daughter, a benevolent werewolf gives them protection.

The wolf is actually Alphonso, William’s cousin and a Spanish prince, who has been transformed by the enchantments of his stepmother, Queen Felice. William eventually forces Felice to restore Alphonso to human form, and in so doing discovers that she is actually his own mother.

John Hampden’s version of the tale is based on The Romance of William of Palerne, edited by W W Skeat, and published by the Early English Text Society in 1867.

THE SIXTIES 1960-1969 | 67

137 THE COURT BARBER CUT OFF HIS LONG CURLS, LEAVING HIM NO MORE HAIR THAN A FRIAR HAS signed with initials inscribed with story title and ‘page 4’ below mount pen and ink with bodycolour 5 1⁄2 x 10 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 172, ‘King Robert of Sicily’ King Robert of Sicily King Robert of Sicily is so proud that he does not believe that God can bring him low. In order to teach him a lesson, an angel impersonates him so convincingly that Robert himself is not recognised at court. The angel makes him his fool, and orders that his hair is cut short. Only when Robert is humbled, accepting that he is ‘God’s fool’, is he restored to his position as ruler.

John Hampden’s version of the tale is based on ‘Roberd of Cisyle’, in The Age of Chaucer, edited by Boris Ford, and published by Penguin Books in 1954.

Sir William and the Wolf and Other Stories from the Days of Chivalry 1960 The Well and the Stone At the court of King Arthur, Sir Colgrevance tells Sir Ywain of his defeat by a gigantic golden knight (whom he has summoned up by pouring water from a well onto a stone). Ywain then takes his revenge on that knight, killing him and marrying his widow, Lady Alundyne. However, Sir Gawain then encourages Ywain to set out on adventures. Only eventually are Ywain and Alundyne reconciled.

John Hampden’s version of the tale is based on ‘Ywain and Gawain’, in Ancient English Metrical Romances, edited by Joseph Ritson in 1802.

138 INSTANTLY THE WHOLE SKY TURNED BLACK AS MIDNIGHT signed watercolour and bodycolour 9 x 6 inches Illustrated: facing page 66, ‘The Well and the Stone’ Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 87

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Nos 139-146 are all illustrated in Maria de Zayas y Sotomayor, translated with an introduction by John Sturrock, A Shameful Revenge and Other Stories, London: The Folio Society, 1963

A Shameful Revenge and Other Stories 1963

Acknowledgement should be made of Margaret Rich Geer’s Maria de Zayas Tells Baroque Tales of Love and the Cruelty of Men, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010, which was used in preparation of these summaries.

139 THE RAVAGES OF VICE signed pen and ink on scraperboard 9 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 7, ‘The Ravages of Vice’

140 AN INNOCENT PUNISHED signed pen and ink on scraperboard 9 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 39, ‘An Innocent Punished’

The Ravages of Vice At the heart of this story lies the confession of Florentina to her beloved Don Gaspar:

An Innocent Punished Don Diego courts Ines, the unsuspecting wife of Don Alonso. He gains power over her with the aid of a Moorish magician, who creates a lifelike candle image of her nude body. Each time Diego lights the candle, Ines responds to his demands. When these nocturnal activities are discovered, Ines is shown to be innocent, but her family still decides to punish her.

On moving to Seville, they wall her up, and she remains there for over six years, slowly wasting away. Eventually rescued by a neighbour, she enters a convent, to live a long and saintly life, while her family is brought to justice.

Florentina was involved in an affair with Don Dionis, the husband of her sister, Magdalena. She decided to accuse Magdalena of adultery in the belief that Dionis would kill her and be free to marry. However, when he was told, he went on a rampage and stabbed not only Magdalena, but also other members of his family, including Florentina, and then finally himself.

Though badly wounded, Florentina survived and inherited the estates of Dionis and Magdalena.

Don Gaspar advises her to enter a convent, which she does.

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‘For anyone reading them today the principal attraction of Maria de Zayas’ stories surely lies in their improbable mixture of gothic extravagance and practical feminism. She is a woman before she is a story-teller.The moment before the ruthless husband slices off his innocent wife’s head they sit down to a meat pie together; another unhappy wife, having discovered her husband indulging in unnatural practices with his favourite page, has the offending bed carried out into the fresh air and burned. Maria de Zayas [Spanish, 1590-1661] is not to be contained within the conventions of the literary form in which she wrote, the exemplary novella. Unlike the great master of the genre, Boccaccio, she is not primarily an entertainer, but a standard-bearer for her whole down-trodden sex. Her aim in writing, as she never tired of emphasizing, was to defend women from all the unthinking prejudice and unmerited slander which they were forced to endure in a society ruled by men.’

(John Sturrock, in the introduction to A Shameful Revenge and Other Stories, London: The Folio Society, 1963)

141 A SHAMEFUL REVENGE signed pen and ink on scraperboard 9 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 67, ‘A Shameful Revenge’

142 FOREWARNED BUT FORESTALLED signed pen and ink on scraperboard 9 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 83, ‘Forewarned but Forestalled’

A Shameful Revenge Though he has promised himself to Octavia, the sister of Don Juan, Don Carlos marries Camilla. In order to revenge his abandoned sister, Juan disguises himself as a woman, gains access to Camilla and rapes her.

When Carlos discovers that his wife has dishonoured him, he chooses to poison her.

Forewarned but Forestalled A rich young gentleman, Don Fadrique, goes in search of a wife. His first relationship is with a young woman called Serafina, who has a child by another man, and becomes a nun. His second relationship is with the widowed Beatriz, who says that she is in mourning for her husband, but has been sexually exploiting a black slave. His third relationship is with the experienced and unfaithful Violante. After these failures, he decides to marry a simple woman, and chooses Serafina’s daughter, Gracia, who has been raised in a convent. However, he is so over protective of her that, when he goes away on a trip, she turns for relief to a young man, and has a liaison with him. Resigned to a single life, he agrees to leave his fortune to her on condition that she become a nun. So she joins her mother, and funds the building of a convent.

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143 A TRAITOR TO HIS OWN FLESH AND BLOOD signed with initials pen and ink on scraperboard 9 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 123, ‘A Traitor to his Own Flesh and Blood’ Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 27

144 NO GOOD COMES FROM MARRYING FOREIGNERS signed pen and ink on scraperboard 9 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 143, ‘No good comes from marrying foreigners’ Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 91

A Traitor to his Own Flesh and Blood Don Pedro wants to keep all his wealth for his son, Don Alonso, and so tries to make his daughter, Mencia, become a nun. She enters into a secret marriage with Don Enrique, but when Alonso discovers this, he kills his sister and almost kills her husband. In turn, Alonso weds Ana for love and has a son with her. However, when his father disinherits him for having married a poor woman, he beheads her. Eventually, Alonso is garrotted for his crime, and his son inherits the estate of his avaricious grandfather.

No good comes from marrying foreigners Following the death of their parents, four young noblewomen are left in the care of their brother. The first sister, Mayor, marries a man in Portugal, but he soon kills her. As a result, her youngest sister, Maria, who is living with her, fears for her safety; so she jumps from a window and breaks both her legs, with the consequences that she is permanently confined to her bed. The second sister, Leonor, marries a man in Italy, but he proves so jealous as to strangle her.

The third sister, Blanca, hears about her sisters’ deaths before her marriage in Spain to a Flemish prince. Following their move to Flanders, the prince mistreats her, and his father expresses his hatred of Spanish women. When her one woman-friend is murdered, Blanca realises that her own life is likely to be in danger, and when she discovers her husband in bed with his favourite page, her fate is sealed. Though her husband protests, his father and the page bleed her to death. When her brother finds out what has happened, he and his troops wreak revenge.

THE SIXTIES 1960-1969 | 71

145 THERE ALWAYS COMES THE RECKONING signed pen and ink on scraperboard 9 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 159, ‘There always comes the reckoning’

146 A MISTAKE DISCOVERED TOO LATE signed pen and ink on scraperboard 9 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: page 181, ‘A Mistake Discovered too Late’

There always comes the reckoning One night, Don Garcia sees a young woman, Hipolita, thrown out of a house, and so takes her in. She recounts her story to him:

A Mistake Discovered too late Don Jaime of Aragon recounts his romances to two guests to his castle in Gran Canaria:

Though married to Don Pedro, she had to reject the persistent attentions of his younger brother, Don Luis, in order to remain faithful. Then, after eight years of marriage, she became enamoured of Don Gaspar, a Portuguese soldier, and resigned herself to infidelity. However, each of her attempts to meet Gaspar ended in disaster. These eventually drew the attention of Luis, who raped her, and was in turn stabbed by Hipolita.

Gaspar then rejected her, while Pedro was arrested for his brother’s murder.

While living in Flanders, he embarked on a curious affair, in which a servant took him each night to sleep with a woman that he was forbidden to see or talk of. Eventually, he persuaded her to show herself, and she did, revealing herself to be the extremely beautiful Lucrezia, Princess of Erne. However, once he had that knowledge, he could not resist sharing it, and so incited Lucrezia, who planned to have him killed.

Following her confession to Garcia, Hipolita receives both a pardon from the king and the forgiveness of Pedro, who is released from prison. She enters a convent, where she receives visits from Pedro and Garcia.

Following the death of her husband, she inherits his fortune, and then marries Garcia, to whom she bears sons.

On returning to his homeland, he met and married Elena, a poor and virtuous well-born woman, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Lucrezia.

However, a black female slave in his possession told him that Elena was engaged in an affair with her cousin, and this poisoned him against her. He had the cousin burned alive, moved to his present home, and reversed the roles of his slave and his wife.

It is while the guests are still staying at the castle that the slave recants.

However, Elena is discovered to have died.

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147-159 are all illustrated in Alessandro Manzoni, translated with a preface by Archibald Colquhoun, The Betrothed [I Promessi Sposi], London: The Folio Society, 1969.

The Betrothed A young couple, Renzo and Lucia, are preparing to marry in their Lombardy village on 8 November 1628. However, the officiating priest, Don Abbondio, is warned off by the henchmen of the local baron, Don Rodrigo, and tells Renzo that the ceremony has to be postponed.

Eventually, he reveals Rodrigo’s name. In fact, Rodrigo would like Lucia for himself.

Lucia seeks the advice of the respected Capuchin, Fra Cristoforo, of the monastery of Pescarenico, and he goes to visit Rodrigo, who explodes with anger. Lucia’s mother, Agnese, plans to force Don Abbondio to marry the couple in front of witnesses, at the same time that Rodrigo’s henchmen aim to abduct Lucia. When a messenger from Fra Cristoforo discovers Rodrigo’s plot, Agnese, Lucia and Renzo go into hiding – the women to the convent of Monza, Renzo to a monastery in Milan.

A police agent attempts to make a scapegoat of him, but he escapes and flees towards the safety of the Venetian city of Bergamo, in order to stay with his cousin, Bortolo.

Meanwhile, Rodrigo has engineered the removal of Fra Cristoforo and plans to kidnap Lucia, with the aid of a robber baron, known as the Unnamed.

But, soon after he takes possession of Lucia, the Unnamed undergoes a religious conversion and returns her safely to her home country. This creates a new atmosphere in which Rodrigo can be openly defied. Yet Lucia is tortured by her decision to renounce Renzo and by the news that he has become the subject of a diplomatic dispute between Milan and Bergamo.

The novel culminates in the historic events of 1630 – famine, plague and war – with Lucia becoming a plague victim, and Rodrigo dying. Fra Cristoforo reunites and reconciles Lucia and Renzo, and Don Abbondio marries them.

However, when Renzo arrives in Milan, he finds a population stricken by famine and beginning to riot.

147 LUCIA SAW A TRAVELLING COACH WITH TWO TRAVELLERS BY THE OPEN DOOR signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: frontispiece

148 OPPOSITE EACH OTHER WERE TWO MEN OF THE CLASS OF BRAVOES signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 35

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‘Few novelists have tried to concentrate as much into one book as Manzoni has in I Promessi Sposi. It is not only the first modern Italian novel; for Italy it is all Scott, Dickens, and Thackeray rolled into one volume; though it does not quite correspond to any of these, and its spirit is perhaps nearer Tolstoy. It has had great influence, but never founded a school – unless the romantic novelists of the Risorgimento are considered so. It has gone into over 500 editions, and has been translated into every major language, including Chinese; two operas, three films, a ballet, and at least seven plays have been based on it; commentaries on it make up a good-sized library at the Centre of Manzoni Studies, the Casa del Manzoni, his old home in Milan. Manzoni never wrote another novel, and he rewrote this three times, spending two years on the first version, three on the second, and no less than twelve on the definitive edition of 1840.’

The Betrothed [I Promessi Sposi] 1969

(Archibald Colquhoun, in the preface to The Betrothed [I Promessi Sposi], London: The Folio Society, 1969)

149 WHILE THE DOCTOR WAS BRINGING ALL THIS OUT, RENZO WAS GAZING AT HIM WITH RAPT ATTENTION signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 71

150 FRA CRISTOFORO FIXED ON HIM A PAIR OF BLAZING EYES signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 107

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151 DON ABBONDIO FLUNG BOOKS, PAPERS, INK-POT, AND SAND-BOX TO THE FLOOR signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 139

152 BEHIND THESE GRATINGS WAS STANDING A NUN signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 161

153 RENZO WOKE AND SAW A MAN IN BLACK STANDING AT THE FOOT OF HIS BED signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 263

154 RENZO REACHED THE EDGE OF THE BANK AND LOOKED DOWN signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 293

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155 THE NOBLEMAN SAW LUCIA HUDDLED STILL AND QUIET IN HER CORNER signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 355

156 THE LITTER MOVED OFF AND THE CONVOY GOT UNDER WAY signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 379

157 TO THE HUNGRY THEY DISPENSED SOUP, EGGS, BREAD AND WINE signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 454

158 DON RODRIGO PULLED OUT A PISTOL FROM UNDER THE PILLOW signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 531

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The Betrothed [I Promessi Sposi] 1969

159 ‘I DECLARE YOU ABSOLVED FROM THE VOW OF VIRGINITY’ signed pen and ink on scraperboard 10 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 591

160 IN COURT signed pen and ink with bodycolour 9 x 6 1⁄4 inches

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1960-1969: Dust Jackets and Covers We Live by the Sun We Live by the Sun (1957) is one of a number of books of popular science written by Dr James Gordon Cook (born 1916). It is a study of light, both natural and artificial, and how it affects life and growth. Eric Fraser’s jacket design – at least one of three that he made for this author – encapsulates the relationship between light and life.

161 WE LIVE BY THE SUN bodycolour 8 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄4 inches Design for J Gordon Cook, We Live by the Sun, London: The Scientific Book Club, 1960, dust jacket

Man Against Aging This is the second dust jacket that Eric Fraser designed for a book by the biochemist, Robert S de Ropp, the first having been Drugs and the Mind in 1957 [88-89].

De Ropp was still working at Lederle Laboratories, in the state of New York, when he wrote Man Against Aging (1960). Writing in New Scientist in 1961, A T Welford described the aim of the book as ‘to bring to the general reader the results of the considerable body of experimental biological research which has been done on ageing since the beginning of the century, and especially during the last thirty years’. However, while he thought the result ‘concise and readable’, he criticised it for ‘loose thinking’.

162 MAN AGAINST AGING signed pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 8 x 6 1⁄4 inches Design for Robert S De Ropp, Man Against Aging, London: The Scientific Book Club, 1960, dust jacket

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The Mirror and the Cross The Scottish dramatist, novelist and journalist, George ScottMoncrieff (1910-1974), came from a devout Protestant family: his ancestors were Covenanters, his grandparents Presbyterians, and his father a minister in the Church of Scotland. However, like his more famous cousin, the translator, C K Scott-Moncrieff, he converted to Roman Catholicism. His own experience informed The Mirror and the Cross (1960), which, as the subtitle explains, is a study of ‘Scotland and the Catholic Faith’. Eric Fraser’s jacket design playfully combines the elements of the title with the Scottish royal emblem of the lion rampant.

163 THE MIRROR AND THE CROSS signed bodycolour on tinted paper 8 1⁄4 x 6 3⁄4 inches Design for George Scott-Moncrieff, The Mirror and the Cross: Scotland and the Catholic Faith, London: Burns and Oates, 1960, dust jacket

Goodbye Jimmy Goodbye Written by Kate Christie (born 1917), the novel, Goodbye Jimmy Goodbye (1961), concerns the love of teenager, Clara Winstanley, for doomed alcoholic, Jimmy Lowden, who has returned to live in a crumbling house in the Cumberland valley. The disturbing nature of their relationship is suggested by the surreal motif of Eric Fraser’s jacket design.

164 GOODBYE JIMMY GOODBYE signed pen ink and watercolour 8 x 6 inches Unpublished design for Kate Christie, Goodbye Jimmy Goodbye, London: Macmillan, 1961, dust jacket

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A Doll’s House Eric Fraser’s cover design for a collection of plays by Henrik Ibsen, published

by Dent as an Everyman Paperback, illustrates A Doll’s House (1879). That play’s title has suggested the image, in which the heroine, Nora, dwarfs her husband, Torvald, and other characters, as if she were a girl playing with her dolls. Initially controversial for its critique of the norms of marriage, the play is often considered a landmark in the history of feminism, but its purpose is as likely to have been the promotion of the individual fulfilment of all people, male and female.

165 A DOLL’S HOUSE signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour 9 3⁄4 x 6 1⁄4 inches Design for Henrik Ibsen (tr Eleanor Marx-Aveling, Robert Farquharson Sharp, Linda Hannas), A Doll’s House. The Lady From The Sea. The Wild Duck, London: J M Dent [an Everyman Paperback, no 1494], 1961, front cover Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 89

The Twelve Days of Christmas Writer and publisher, John Hadfield (1907-1999), is perhaps best remembered as the editor of the eccentric and engrossing annual, The Saturday Book. His brother, Miles Hadfield (1903-1982), was a distinguished garden historian. They collaborated together on The Twelve Days of Christmas (1961), a comprehensive book of Christmas lore, and Gardens of Delight (1964), both published by Cassell.

166 THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour and pencil 10 1⁄4 x 7 inches Design for Miles & John Hadfield, The Twelve Days of Christmas, London: Cassell, 1962, dust jacket

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167 PILGRIM’S PROGRESS signed pen ink and watercolour with collage 7 1⁄4 x 9 3⁄4 inches Design for John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, London: J M Dent [an Everyman Paperback], 1962, cover Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 90 The Pilgrim’s Progress Eric Fraser’s striking cover design for an Everyman Paperback edition of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) demonstrates his assured approach: the portrait of the protagonist, Christian, looms large against a shocking pink background, while a raised hand signalling astonishment unites front and back.

The Firmament of Time In The Firmament of Time (1960), the distinguished anthropologist, Loren Eiseley (1907-1977), examined what the human species had become in the late 20th century. A review in The Chicago Tribune stated that the book ‘has a warm feeling for all natural phenomena; it has a rapport with man and his world and his problems; … it has hope and belief. And it has the beauty of prose that characterizes Eiseley’s philosophical moods’. In designing the cover, Eric Fraser created an image that summarised man’s evolutionary trajectory.

168 THE FIRMAMENT OF TIME signed pen ink, watercolour and bodycolour 8 x 6 inches Design for Loren Eiseley, The Firmament of Time, London: Foyle’s Book Club, 1962 Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 56, dust jacket

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169 FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON signed pen and ink on board 7 x 6 inches Design for Jules Verne, Five Weeks in a Balloon and Around the World in Eighty Days, London: J M Dent [Everyman’s Library], 1962, dust jacket Five Weeks in a Balloon The French ‘father of Science Fiction’, Jules Verne (1828-1905), established himself with Cinq semaines en ballon (1863). William Lackland produced the first English translation, as Five Weeks in a Balloon, in 1869. The Everyman edition, with a design by Eric Fraser, made use of a translation by Arthur Chambers. Fraser’s image employs a visual language that is reminiscent of Victorian engravings.

An Error of Judgement An Error of Judgement (1962) is a novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson (1912-1981). When it appeared as a Penguin paperback, in 1965, it was described on the cover in the following terms: ‘It is a strange and disturbing story of modern marriage and a doctor’s dilemma. Setter, an eminent Harley Street consultant, is trusted and admired by his large circle. Deep within himself Setter recognizes a latent streak of sadistic cruelty and this enables him to perceive the truth about a delinquent youth whom he suspects of having taken part in a particularly bestial and senseless crime.’ The disturbing nature of the book may have led Eric Fraser to produce a jacket design that consists purely of lettering, be it highly distinctive lettering on a fiery red background.

Inventing the Future Dennis Gabor (1900-1979) was a Hungarian-British electrical engineer and physicist, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971, for his invention of holography. In 1963, he published the popular and successful book, Inventing the Future, in which ‘he applies an objective mind to social and political problems and relates them to the science which is helping to produce them’ (as Ritchie Calder explained at the time).

Eric Fraser’s jacket design cleverly combines a group of small images suggestive of man’s relation to space and time. These include a core of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that is, at the same time, an all-seeing eye.

171 INVENTING THE FUTURE signed pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 8 x 6 1⁄4 inches Design for Dennis Gabor, Inventing the Future, London: Secker & Warburg, 1963, dust jacket

170 AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT pen ink and bodycolour 8 1⁄4 x 6 3⁄4 inches Design for Pamela Hansford Johnson, An Error of Judgement, London: Macmillan, 1962, dust jacket

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The Saga of Gisli Eric Fraser designed the dust jacket for a translation of the 13th century Icelandic prose saga, The Saga of Gísli Súrsson, in a translation by the Canadian poet and translator, George Johnston (1913-2004). The saga concerns Gísli, who must kill one brother-in-law in order to avenge another. As a result of his actions, he goes on the run for 13 years until finally hunted down and killed. The published version of Fraser’s design is suitably stark and chill.

172 THE SAGA OF GISLI [I] signed pen ink and watercolour with pencil on paper laid on board 5 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄2 inches Preliminary design for George Johnston, The Saga of Gisli, London: Dent, 1963, dust jacket

173 THE SAGA OF GISLI [II] signed pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 10 1⁄2 x 15 inches Design for George Johnston, The Saga of Gisli, London: Dent, 1963, dust jacket

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The Girls of Slender Means The Girls of Slender Means (1963) is a novella by the Scottish author Muriel Spark (1918-2006). It concerns the lives and loves of the members of the May of Teck Club ‘for the Pecuniary Convenience and Social Protection of Ladies of Slender Means below the age of Thirty Years, who are obliged to reside apart from their Families in order to follow an Occupation in London’.

Eric Fraser’s jacket design illustrates the episode in which some of the girls attempt to ‘climb upon the lavatory seat’ in order to get out onto the roof of the club.

174 THE GIRLS OF SLENDER MEANS signed ink, watercolour and bodycolour 7 1⁄2 x 6 inches Unpublished design for Muriel Spark, The Girls of Slender Means, London: Macmillan, 1963, dust jacket Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 58

Timaeus Eric Fraser’s dust jacket design represents the elemental nature of Plato’s Timaeus (circa 360 BC), a philosophical dialogue that speculates on the nature of the physical world and human beings.

175 TIMAEUS signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour 5 x 6 3⁄4 inches Design for Plato, Timaeus, London: J M Dent [Everyman’s Library no 493], 1964, dust jacket

The Saga of Grettir the Strong Eric Fraser designed the dust jacket for a translation of the 14th century Icelandic prose saga, The Saga of Grettir the Strong, in a 1913 translation by George Ainslie Hight (born 1851). It concerns the ill-tempered and unlucky outlaw, Grettir.

176 THE SAGA OF GRETTIR THE STRONG signed with initials and inscribed with instructions to publisher below mount pen ink and watercolour 5 x 4 1⁄4 inches Preliminary design for Peter Foote (ed) & G A Hight (tr), The Saga of Grettir the Strong, London: Dent [Everyman’s Library no 699], 1965, dust jacket

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177 ADDISON signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 3⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches oval Unpublished design for Addison and Steele, The Spectator, London: J M Dent [Everyman’s Library], 1966, dust jacket

178 STEELE signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 3⁄4 x 8 inches oval Unpublished design for Addison and Steele, The Spectator, London: J M Dent [Everyman’s Library], 1966, dust jacket

Addison and Steele Joseph Addison and Richard Steele founded the influential daily journal, The Spectator, in 1711. It lasted a year, but was revived by Addison in 1714 for a further six months. A fictional narrator, Mr Spectator, and his close friends, comprising the ‘Spectator Club’, provided a link for a wide variety of essays.

Eric Fraser based his images of Addison and Steele on portraits by Godfrey Kneller that are held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery.

Sir Thomas Browne Sir Thomas Browne’s most famous books are Religio Medici (1643) and the linked works, Urne-Burial and The Garden of Cyrus (1658).

Written in a rich, distinctive style, they weave together a variety of subjects, notably, religion, science and the esoteric. Eric Fraser similarly weaves these subjects in his image of the writer.

179 SIR THOMAS BROWNE signed pen and ink with bodycolour 7 1⁄2 x 6 3⁄4 inches Design for Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici and Other Writings, London: J M Dent [Everyman’s Library], 1969, dust jacket

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180 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL [I] pencil, watercolour and bodycolour 4 x 5 3⁄4 inches Preliminary drawing for Sir Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, London: J M Dent [Everyman’s Library], 1969, dust jacket

The Fortunes of Nigel and Woodstock In 1969, Eric Fraser designed the dust jackets for two of Walter Scott’s ‘Waverley’ novels, both of which are set in the 17th century.

The Fortunes of Nigel (1822) concerns the experiences of a young Scottish nobleman, Nigel Olifaunt, Lord Gelnvarloch, at the court of King Charles I. Woodstock (1826) deals with the escape of Charles II in 1652, soon after the end of the English Civil War, and his triumphant return to London in 1660. Eric Fraser’s two drawings for the former demonstrate his creative process from the loose, lively study in watercolour and bodycolour, to the tight, finished design in black and white.

182 WOODSTOCK watercolour, bodycolour and pencil 5 1⁄2 x 6 inches Preliminary drawing for Sir Walter Scott, Woodstock, London: Dent [Everyman’s Library, no 72], 1969, dust jacket

181 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL [II] signed with initials inscribed with title below mount pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 3⁄4 x 7 inches oval Design for Sir Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, London: J M Dent [Everyman’s Library], 1969, dust jacket

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1960-1969: Radio Times

For details of the BBC programmes, as listed in Radio Times, please refer to the Appendix.

The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867) is an opéra bouffe written during the height of Jacques Offenbach’s career in Paris. The work is a satire on militarism, with the autocratic central character a parody of the 18th-century Russian empress, Catherine the Great.

On the BBC Home Service, the music and theatre critic, Philip Hope-Wallace (1911-1979), introduced selections from the 1958 recording conducted by Rene Leibowitz.

183 THE GRAND DUCHESS OF GEROLSTEIN signed pen and ink 6 1⁄4 x 6 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 5 February 1960, page 46, for broadcast on the Home Service on Friday 12 February 1960 at 8.0pm Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 79

The Rape of Lucretia Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera, The Rape of Lucretia, tells of the rape of the wife of a general by Tarquinius, the youngest son of the ruler of Rome, and of her subsequent suicide. Based on a play by André Obey [36], the opera was first performed at Glyndebourne in 1946, and revived by Britten’s company, the English Opera Group, at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1959. When the latter was broadcast on the Third Programme in 1960, Eric Fraser illustrated the details in Radio Times with a suitably concentrated classical image.

184 THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA signed pen and ink on board 4 3⁄4 x 4 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 19 February 1960, page 27, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Sunday 21 February 1960 at 7.30pm

185 SONGS OF THE TIMES signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 3⁄4 x 4 3⁄4 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Radio Times

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Hurricane This atmospheric image is an early, and rare example of an illustration by Eric Fraser for the details of a television programme in Radio Times. From the outset, television programmes tended to be represented by stills photography rather than drawing. It was therefore inevitable that the rise of television would weaken the role of Radio Times as a patron of illustrators.

The action adventure serial, Hurricane, concerns two newly qualified nurses who take up work in the West Indies as a hurricane is sweeping through the area. Its writer was Cecil Edwin Webber, who is remembered for his contribution to the development of Doctor Who.

186 HURRICANE signed pen ink and bodycolour on board 5 x 8 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 29 June 1961, page 14, for broadcast on BBC Television on Sunday 2 July 1961 at 5.0pm Literature: David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 138

187 RICHARD III signed pen and ink on board 6 x 3 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 19 October 1961, page 57, for broadcast on BBC Television on Friday 27 October 1961 at 9.25pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser.

Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 134 Richard III Eric Fraser’s portrait of Richard III accompanied the Radio Times listing of a BBC television broadcast of Laurence Olivier’s famous 1955 film version of Shakespeare’s history play.

188 THE BEAUX’ STRATAGEM signed pen and ink on board 2 3⁄4 x 3 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 21 September 1961, page 61, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Friday 29 September 1961 at 8.20pm; Radio Times, 19 July 1962, page 43, for repeat of production broadcast on the Third Programme on Wednesday 25 July 1962 at 8.30pm; Radio Times, 7 March 1963, page 22, for repeat of production broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 11 March 1963 at 8.30pm

The Beaux’ Stratagem George Farquhar’s Beaux’ Stratagem (1707) is a late example of the Restoration comedy of manners. It concerns the plan of two impecunious young gentlemen to entrap young provincial heiresses, steal their money and move on. However, at their first stop, in Lichfield, one of the two young men truly falls in love …

The production broadcast on the Third Programme in 1961 was sufficiently successful for it to be repeated at least two times, each repeat being listed in Radio Times with Eric Fraser’s illustration.

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189 SAINT’S DAY signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 6 x 10 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 12 October 1961, page 54, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Friday 20 October 1961 at 8.0pm Literature: David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 143

Saint’s Day This early play by John Whiting (1917-1963) explores the isolation of the artist (as represented by an elderly poet) in a violently disintegrating society, so capturing the philosophical pessimism of the time. It divided audiences, being attacked by critics but championed by progressive theatrical practitioners. However, it made the writer’s name when it won the 1951 Festival of Britain Play Competition, and came to be considered a landmark in the history of post-war drama. The production on the BBC Third Programme marked its 10th anniversary.

A Tinkle of Tiny Bells A Tinkle of Tiny Bells (1962) is a short play for radio by the prolific dramatist, David Campton (1924-2006). In Anger and After (1962), John Russell Taylor described it as ‘a mixture of science fiction and North Country comedy’.

190 A TINKLE OF TINY BELLS signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 x 7 1⁄4 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Radio Times, 8 March 1962

The Heretic The Heretic (1962), set in the reign of Mary Tudor, was one of many radio plays by Jean Morris. The image that accompanies the Radio Times listing is one of Eric Fraser’s more experimental illustrations as it has sandpaper as its support.

191 THE HERETIC signed ink and bodycolour on sandpaper laid on board 6 3⁄4 x 5 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 29 November 1962, page 24, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 3 December 1962 at 8.30pm

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Valentinian Valentinian (circa 1610-14) is a Jacobean revenge tragedy by John Fletcher, based in part on an episode from Honoré d’Urfé’s pastoral novel, Astrée (1607-27). It dramatises the rape of Lucina, the wife of a soldier, by the Roman emperor, Valentinian III – a similar story to that of The Rape of Lucretia [see 184].

192 VALENTINIAN signed pen and ink 5 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 June 1962, page 24, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 18 June 1962 at 8.30pm

Perspective on Handwriting Eric Fraser’s confident hand and strong sense of design made him the ideal choice to illustrate the Radio Times listing of a BBC television programme on handwriting.

193 OUT OF SCHOOL signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 3⁄4 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 11 April 1963, page 31 for broadcast on BBC TV on Wednesday 17 April 1963 at 12.15pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser.

Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 131

194 PERSPECTIVE ON HANDWRITING signed ‘eric f’ pen ink and bodycolour on board 5 1⁄2 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 28 March 1963, page 44, for broadcast on BBC Television on Thursday 4 April 1963 at 1.30pm Literature: David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 146

Out of School Eric Fraser gave a humorous twist to his mediaeval woodcut style in illustrating a Radio Times listing of a BBC television programme for children on 15th century soldiers.

A Real Lifer In A Real Lifer on the BBC Home Service, the writer, Giles Playfair (1910-1996), talked to an American man who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1916. Reviewing the programme in the Catholic Herald, on 28 June 1963, Eve McAdam described it as ‘a remarkable human document: a psychological thriller in the best sense. It was all this and more’. Eric Fraser’s illustration to the listing in Radio Times is remarkable for the way in which it conveys the prisoner’s sense of confinement.

195 A REAL LIFER signed pen and ink on board 3 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 20 June 1963, page 18, for broadcast on the Home Service on Sunday 23 June 1963 at 10.10pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 128

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Then Went the Devils Out Writer and theatre director, David Tutaev, made a BBC radio adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1872 novel, known variously in English as The Demons, The Devils or The Possessed. ‘The Devils’ is a term used by Dostoevsky for the left-wing idealists who were then on the rise in Imperial Russia.

196 THEN WENT THE DEVILS OUT signed ‘eric f’ pen ink and bodycolour 5 1⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 13 June 1963, page 29, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Tuesday 18 June 1963 at 8.0pm

197 L’ARLESIENNE [I] signed pen and ink 5 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 12 September 1963, page 21, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 16 September 1963 at 8.30pm

198 L’ARLESIENNE [II] signed pen and ink 3 x 3 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 12 September 1963, page 24, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 16 September 1963 at 8.30pm

L’Arlesienne As part of its ‘World Theatre’ season in 1963, the BBC Home Service presented Alphonse Daudet’s play, L’Arlesienne, in an English translation by Edward Sackville-West (1901-1965). It made use of the incidental music that Georges Bizet wrote for the original production in Paris in 1872.

‘L’Arlesienne’ is a girl from Arles, loved by the peasant, Fréderi. Before their wedding, he discovers that she has been unfaithful, and this drives him towards insanity, and eventually suicide. The girl herself never appears on stage.

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In Camera Huis Clos (1944) is the best-known play by the French existentialist writer and philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980).

It has been given a variety of titles by English translators, the most memorable of which are In Camera and No Exit. The production on the BBC Home Service in 1963 made use of a translation by Stuart Gilbert (1883-1969).

The source of the famous quotation, ‘Hell is other people’ (l’enfer, c’est les autres), the play concerns three damned souls who are locked in a room together for eternity. In illustrating the listing in Radio Times, Eric Fraser cleverly represents the perpetual, claustrophobic relationship between the characters by linking their bodies and especially their eyes.

199 IN CAMERA signed pen and ink on board 5 1⁄2 x 9 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 19 September 1963, page 22, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 23 September 1963 at 8.30pm Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 77

200 SCOOP [I] signed pen and ink on board 4 x 6 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 November 1963, page 21, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 18 November 1963 at 8.30pm Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 32

Scoop In 1963, Laurence Sieveking adapted the novel, Scoop (1938), by Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), into a play for the BBC Home Service. A satire on journalism, it tells of William Boot, who writes the nature notes for the Daily Beast, but is mistakenly sent to the African state of ‘Ishmaelia’, to cover a civil war. It is based in part on Waugh’s own experiences covering Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia for the Daily Mail.

201 SCOOP [II] signed pen and ink 5 1⁄2 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 November 1963, page 24, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 18 November 1963 at 8.30pm Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 143

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The Killer and The Photo of the Colonel The Photo of the Colonel is a ‘radio opera’ by the English composer, Humphrey Searle (1915-1982), based on Tueur sans gages (1958), by the Romanian born absurdist playwright, Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994). The first in a series to include the protagonist Bérenger, Tueur sans gages (or Killer without Cause) concerns a murderer who lures victims to a drowning pool by offering to show them a ‘photo of the colonel’.

The BBC Third Programme broadcast a production of the play, translated by Donald Watson (1920-2002) as The Killer, on Friday 6 March 1964, and followed it with the premiere of the opera on Sunday 8 March. These were listed in separate issues of Radio Times, so affording Eric Fraser the opportunity to provide two separate but linked illustrations, each containing ‘the killer’ in a slouch hat and creased raincoat.

202 THE KILLER signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 3 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 27 February 1964, page 49, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Friday 6 March 1964 at 8pm; Radio Times, 10 September 1964, page 33, for repeat of production broadcast on the Third Programme on Monday 14 September 1964 at 8pm

203 THE PHOTO OF THE COLONEL signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 5 March 1964, page 16, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Sunday 8 March 1964 at 8.45pm Literature: David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 142

Don Juan In 1965, the BBC Third Programme broadcast the play, Don Juan, oder Liebe zur Geometrie (1953) by the Swiss writer, Max Frisch (19111991), in a version by his official English translator, Michael Bullock (1918-2008). It is a parody of the Don Juan story, in which the protagonist is more in love with geometry than with women.

204 DON JUAN signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 January 1965, page 50 for broadcast on the Third Programme on Thursday 21 January 1965 at 8.30pm Literature: David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 138

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Boris Godunov Eric Fraser produced an image that is dominated by the onion domes of St Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow, in order to illustrate a listing in Radio Times of a broadcast of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. The Bolshoi Theatre Company performed this great operatic version of Pushkin’s play with the revisions by Nikolai RimskyKorsakov (1896 and 1908) and Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (1926).

205 BORIS GODUNOV signed with initials pen ink and bodycolour on board 3 3⁄4 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 21 January 1965, page 18, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Sunday 24 January 1965 at 5pm

The Science of Man To illustrate the listing of an episode on ‘Heredity and Evolution’ in the BBC1 series, The Science of Man, Eric Fraser drew on his experience of designing dust jackets for books of popular science. The human body is presented in stylised cross-section.

206 THE SCIENCE OF MAN signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 x 3 1⁄2 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Radio Times, 21 January 1965 Literature: Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition), page 75; Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 132

The War of the Roses In 1963, John Barton (born 1928) adapted Shakespeare’s first historical tetralogy – Henry VI, parts 1-3, and Richard III – into a trilogy for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Directed by Peter Hall and Barton himself, it starred David Warner as Henry VI and Ian Holm as Richard III. In 1965, the television directors, Robin Midgley and Michael Hayes recreated the production of all three plays for BBC1.

207 THE WARS OF THE ROSES signed with intials pen and ink with bodycolour 2 1⁄2 x 3 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 1 April 1965, page 46 (top half of image only used), for broadcast on BBC1 on Thursday 8 April 1965 at 8pm; Radio Times, 20 January 1966, page 51, for repeat of production broadcast on BBC2 on Thursday 27 January 1966 at 8pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 134

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The Spire In 1965, the writer-director, Nesta Pain (1905-1995), adapted the novel, The Spire (1964), by William Golding (1911-1993), into a play for the BBC Third Programme. It deals with the construction of the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, which was completed in 1320.

Golding taught at Bishop Wordsworth’s School, almost in the shadow of the spire, in 1939 and between 1945 and 1962.

Armstrong’s Last Goodnight In June 1965, the Third Programme broadcast a production of Armstrong’s Last Goodnight, a play by John Arden (1930-2012). It had premiered at the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre in 1964, and would be performed by the National Theatre Company at the Chichester Festival in July 1965.

A historical drama set in the 16th century, and written in Scots dialect prose, it concerns John Armstrong of Gilnockie and the political implications of his cattle raids across the border into England. As is suggested by Eric Fraser’s image, he was eventually hanged.

209 ARMSTRONG’S LAST GOODNIGHT signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 1⁄4 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 10 June 1965, page 19, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Sunday 13 June 1965 at 8.50pm; Radio Times, 1 July 1965, page 40, for repeat broadcast on the Third Programme on Thursday 8 July 1965 at 7.30pm

208 THE SPIRE signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 6 1⁄4 x 2 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 6 May 1965, page 46, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Wednesday 12 May 1965 at 8.35pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 131

210 THE BETROTHED signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 2 1⁄4 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 9 September 1965

211 RICHARD III signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 2 3⁄4 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 1 July 1965 Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 134

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212 1940 signed pen and ink with bodycolour and pencil on board 8 3⁄4 x 8 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 9 September 1965, front cover Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 133; David Driver, The Art of Radio Times.

The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 133 Henry V In 1965, the BBC Home Service broadcast R D Smith’s production of Shakespeare’s Henry V, with John Neville in the title role. Eric Fraser’s image illustrated an introduction to the play in Radio Times by the drama critic, John Courtenay Trewin (1908-1990).

213 HENRY V signed pen and ink 3 1⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 21 October 1965, page 27, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 25 October 1965 at 8pm

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214 TWO STUDIES

BY CHEKHOV signed pen and ink 1 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 11 November 1965

Home Sweet Honeycombe Home Sweet Honeycombe is a 90-minute television drama by Bernard Kops (born 1926). It was directed by Alan Gibson (1938-1987), and first broadcast in the BBC2 series, ‘Theatre 625’, on 13 May 1968.

215 HOME SWEET HONEYCOMBE signed with initials pen and ink on board 3 3⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Radio Times, April 1965 Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 132

The Road to Rome In 1966, the BBC Home Service broadcast a production of The Road to Rome (1927), the first play by the American playwright, Robert Emmet Sherwood (18961955). It is a comedy about Hannibal’s attempted invasion of Rome. Eric Fraser’s image illustrated an introduction to the play in Radio Times by the producer, Archie Campbell (born 1905).

216 THE ROAD TO ROME signed pen and ink 4 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 April 1966, page 13, for broadcast on the Home Service on Saturday 16 April 1966 at 8.30pm

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Pompey the Great Though best known for his poetry and children’s novels, John Masefield (1878-1967) was a wide-ranging writer, who produced a number of plays. The historical drama, The Tragedy of Pompey the Great, premiered at the Aldwych Theatre in 1910, and was revived by BBC television in 1950 for the series, ‘Sunday Night Theatre’. Eric Fraser’s image illustrated an article, by J C Trewin, in Radio Times, which introduced a 1966 radio production in the Home Service series, ‘Saturday-Night Theatre’.

217 POMPEY THE GREAT signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 7 July 1966, page 21, for broadcast on the Home Service on Saturday 9 July 1966 at 8.30pm

Henry of Navarre The playwright, Norman Charles Hunter (1908-1971), has been described as writing ‘sad bourgeois comedies’ with ‘strong roles’ for leading actresses (by Tony Howard, in Colin Chambers (ed), The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre, London: Continuum, 2002, page 370). He adapted his historical radio drama, Henry of Navarre, from the 1963 biography by Hesketh Pearson. King of France from 1589, Henry IV (1553-1610) showed care for the welfare of his subjects and gave religious liberty to Protestants, which led to his assassination by a fanatical Catholic.

218 HENRY OF NAVARRE signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 20 October 1966, page 29, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 24 October 1966 at 8.30pm Literature: David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981, page 138

The Door The Door by Timothy Holme (1928-1987) premiered at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford in March 1966, and was adapted for the BBC Home Service later in the year by Wendy Blair. It concerns the decision of Chiara degli Scifi (circa 1193-1253), known as Clare in English, to follow St Francis of Assisi.

219 THE DOOR signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 x 6 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 3 November 1966, page 25, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 7 November 1966 at 8.30pm

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220 CALIGULA signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 3⁄4 x 8 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 26 January 1967, page 23 (Welsh Edition)

Adventure Story Adventure Story is one of the lesser-known plays of Sir Terence Rattigan (1911-1977). Written between The Browning Version (1948) and The Deep Blue Sea (1952), it premiered at the Theatre Royal Brighton on 11 January 1949, and then at the St James’s Theatre, London, on 17 March.

Concerning the conquests of Alexander the Great, the play starred Paul Scofield as Alexander and Gwen Ffrancgon-Davies as the Queen Mother of Persia. John Powell’s BBC radio production was broadcast on Radio 4 in 1967, with Paul Daneman and Margaret Rawlings in those roles.

221 ADVENTURE STORY signed pen and ink with bodycolour 7 x 5 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 28 September 1967, page 8, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Saturday 30 September 1967 at 8.30pm

The Last Expedition The Last Expedition is a radio play by Simon Raven (1927-2001) on the subject of the Athenian expedition to Sicily between 415 BC and 413 BC. Archie Campbell’s production of it was broadcast on the Home Service in 1967.

222 THE LAST EXPEDITION signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 x 7 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 September 1967, page 29, for broadcast on the Home Service on Monday 18 September 1967 at 8.30

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223 EDWARD II signed pen and ink on board 5 3⁄4 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 9 March 1967, page 58, for broadcast on the Third Programme on Friday 17 March 1967 at 7.55 pm

224 SHE RODE ON A HORSE, NAKED signed pen and ink with bodycolour 6 1⁄2 x 4 3⁄4 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Radio Times, 19 October 1967

Edward II In 1967, the BBC Third Programme broadcast John Tydeman’s production of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II, with Alec McCowen in the title role.

She Rode on a Horse, Naked Though drawn for Radio Times in 1967, this illustration of Lady Godiva seems to have been used instead to advertise Mond Nickel. Eric Fraser produced a number of images for the company, and illustrated The Story of Mond Nickel in 1951.

Potent Ash Potent Ash is a volume of short stories by the Kenyan brothers, Leonard Kibera (1942-1983) and Samuel Kahiga (born 1946), originally published in 1966. Eric Fraser’s drawing was probably intended to illustrate details in Radio Times of a reading or dramatisation.

225 POTENT ASH signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 1⁄4 x 4 1⁄4 inches Drawn for but not illustrated in Radio Times, 1967

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The Witch,The Wife and the Other Woman The Witch, The Wife and the Other Woman is a set of short plays by Liane Aukin (born 1936).

It is based on Constance Garnett’s translations of three of Anton Chekhov’s short stories about women: ‘The Witch’ (1886), ‘The Chorus Girl’ (1886) and ‘The Daughter of Albion’ (1883). An actress as well as a writer and director, Liane Aukin starred in ‘The Witch’, in the 1968 production for BBC Radio 4 by David Davis (1908-1996). It is that play that Eric Fraser illustrates.

226 THE WITCH, THE WIFE AND THE OTHER WOMAN signed pen and ink 3 3⁄4 x 7 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 25 January 1968, page 20 for broadcast on Radio 4 on Monday 29 January 1968 at 8.30pm

The Tower of London In 1968, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a serial dramatisation of Harrison Ainsworth’s novel, The Tower of London (1840), adapted by the writer and broadcaster, Tony Van den Bergh (1916-2000), and produced by R D Smith.

This historical romance traced the history of Lady Jane Grey, with Gudrun Ure taking the central role.

227 THE TOWER OF LONDON signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 7 March 1968, page 44 for broadcast on Radio 4 on Wednesday 13 March 1968 at 5.25pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 135

Hero of a Hundred Fights In January 1968, Perth Theatre Company presented the premiere of Hero of a Hundred Fights or Jack o’ the Cudgel, the life of William McGonagall, devised by Clifford Hanley (1922-1999). John Laurie played the poet, McGonagall.

228 HERO OF A HUNDRED FIGHTS signed pen and ink on board 4 1⁄2 x 8 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 March 1968, page 2 (Scottish Edition)

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Cymbeline In 1968, Radio 3 broadcast ‘a historic performance’ of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline: the 1957 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company’s production, directed by Peter Hall, with Robert Harris in the title role. Victor Menzies (19252002) adapted and produced it for radio.

229 CYMBELINE signed pen and ink on board 3 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 11 April 1968, page 38, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Friday 19 April 1968 at 8.05pm

The Prisoners in the Cave A sequel to the radio play, The Last Expedition (1967) [222], Simon Raven’s The Prisoners in the Cave (1968) concerns the aftermath of the Athenians’ failed attack on Sicily. It involved the same producer, Archie Campbell, and key cast members.

230 PRISONERS IN THE CAVE signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 x 5 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 6 June 1968, page 36, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Monday 10 June 1968 at 8.30pm

Peribáñez and the Comendador of Ocaña Peribáñez y el Comendador de Ocaña is a tragicomedy by Lope de Vega, from the early 17th century golden age of Spanish theatre. Peribáñez has to go to extremes to protect his wife, Casilda, from the advances of a knight commander. Margaret Etall translated and adapted the play for the 1968 Radio 4 production starring Trader Faulkner, Rosalind Shanks and Francis de Wolff.

231 PERIBANEZ AND THE COMENDADOR OF OCANA signed pen and ink 5 1⁄2 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 1 August 1968, page 32, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Saturday 3 August 1968 at 1.45pm

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Hark the Glad Sound In this image from 1968, Eric Fraser attempted to summarise an entire musical tradition in order to illustrate an article in Radio Times that introduces a programme of favourite church music.

232 HARK THE GLAD SOUND signed pen and ink with bodycolour 7 x 4 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 5 December 1968, page 45, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Thursday 12 December 1968 at 9.05am

‘Among the plays of Christopher Fry the text of The Firstborn has a more complicated derivation than most. Begun in 1938, it was finished – after a long gap – in 1945, staged at the Edinburgh Festival three years later, revised, and then revised again for London production at Winter Garden Theatre in 1952. Some have found it to be Fry’s boldest and most exciting work: honour indeed to a play in which the dramatist has been brave enough to take as principal character Moses, torn between upbringing and ancestry, who is destined to be the great leader, mouthpiece of the Lord God of Israel.

The year is the summer of 1200 BC; the settings are the palace of the Pharoah Seti the Second at Tanis, and the tent of Moses’s sister, Miriam.

The matter is the prelude to the Deliverance: the plagues of Egypt, the death of the firstborn.This is an Old Testament narrative, threaded eloquently by the gold of Fry’s imagination, that never trails off on a cloud of pseudo-Biblical idiom.

The drama of character and action is unfaltering, and it is suited especially to radio where we can concentrate on the language, such lines as the doom of the firstborn, “mortality lunging in the midnight fields and briding in the beds.”

The figures of Moses, his fosterbrother the Pharoah, and the boy Ramases, are among Fry’s major creations.’

(J C Trewin, ‘The Firstborn’, Radio Times, 3 April 1969, page 40)

The Firstborn Eric Fraser’s image illustrates an article by J C Trewin, in Radio Times in 1969, introducing a production of The Firstborn (1948) by Christopher Fry (1907-2005).

233 THE FIRSTBORN signed pen and ink on board 5 1⁄4 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 3 April 1969, page 40, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Easter Monday 7 April 1969 at 8.30pm

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Libuše Eric Fraser’s image illustrates the Radio Times listing of the 1969 Radio 3 broadcast of a recording of Libuše (1872), a nationalist ‘festival opera’ by the Czech composer, Bedrich Smetana. In Czech myth, Queen Libuše prophesied the founding of Prague. On the recording Nadezda Kniplova is conducted in the title role by Jaroslav Krombholc.

234 LIBUSE signed with initials pen and ink on board 4 x 6 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 17 April 1969, page 43, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Saturday 19 April 1969 at 6.45pm

1969: Punch

Waltz of Death This image is one of a number of illustrations that Eric Fraser contributed to Punch during the 1960s. It accompanied a positive review by R G G Price (1910-1989) of The Habsburg Empire 1790-1918 (1968) by the historian, Carlile Aylmer Macartney (1895-1978). The image responds in particular to the following passage:

While the Merry Widow danced the Blue Danube in pastrycook palaces, prior to spending the warm southern nights in the arms of officers of the Imperial Guard, closely observed by Tzigane orchestras, it was deep winter for the peasants, some of whom had not even homes and slept roosting in trees.

235 WALTZ OF DEATH signed signed with initials and inscribed ‘For first books article – early pages March 19th issue “Waltz of Death” by R G G Price’ by William Hewison (art editor of Punch) below mount pen and ink on board 4 1⁄2 x 6 3⁄4 inches

Illustrated: Punch, 19 March 1969, page 433, ‘Waltz of Death’ by R G G Price Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser.

Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 82, as ‘Waltz of Death – The Hapsburgs’

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Circa 1960-1968: Various Designs 236 MADONNA AND CHILD signed watercolour and pencil, with pen and ink 5 3⁄4 x 4 inches Design for a Christmas card for Medici, 1968

237 THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS watercolour and bodycolour with pencil 4 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄2 inches

239 NORTH BRITISH HOTEL EDINBURGH watercolour, bodycolour and pencil 7 1⁄4 x 3 inches

North British Hotel Edinburgh From the mid 1950s to 1960s, Eric Fraser received a number of commissions from British Transport Hotels for calendars and other graphic projects.

238 ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON Inscribed ‘Sword’, ‘Vizor down’, ‘Shield more like original especially on position’, ‘Mane to retain little more character of original’, ‘More as style of tail’, ‘See original for bit’, ‘Stirrup more as original print’ pencil 7 x 10 1⁄2 inches

07 The Seventies 1970-1979

106 | THE SEVENTIES 1970-1979

07 The Seventies 1970-1979 1970-1979: Radio Times

From the 1970s, Radio Times commissioned far fewer drawn illustrations, either from Eric Fraser or any other artist, increasingly favouring photographers instead. Nevertheless, the drawings that Fraser did make, for Radio Times and elsewhere, displayed his consistent high standards and range of mood and style. Such ambitious BBC projects as Michael Bakewell’s dramatisation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace [240-241, 243-244] and broadcasts of Wagner’s Ring from the Bayreuth Festival [258-261] proved particularly pleasurable challenges. Continuing to use the simpler, sparer approach that he had developed during the mid 1960s, he combined it with bright, flat colour washes in order to provide suitable illustrations to children’s books [278-283].

All the works in this section are: Provenance: The Artist’s Family, except Nos 272-274

For details of the BBC programmes, as listed in Radio Times, please refer to the Appendix.

War and Peace In 1970, BBC Radio 4 broadcast an epic 20-part dramatisation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace (1869), based on the translation

by Aylmer Maude (1858-1938) and his wife, Louise (18551939). Ronald Mason (1926-1997) was the executive producer and Michael Bakewell (born 1931) the editor.

The episodes were adapted and directed by a variety of individuals. The cast included Martin Jarvis as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, with Denys Hawthorne, as Tolstoy, providing the narration.

Eric Fraser illustrated the Radio Times listings for a number of episodes, as is suggested by the four drawings included here.

240 WAR AND PEACE: AUSTERLITZ, NOV 1805 signed with initials pen and ink 3 1⁄2 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 22 January 1970, page 31, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday 27 January 1970 at 7.0pm

241 WAR AND PEACE: BETRAYAL AND LOSS signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 1⁄4 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 26 March 1970, page 35, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday 31 March 1970 at 7.0pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 139

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The Skins In 1970, Radio 3 broadcast the radio play, Ku˚ že (literally ‘skin’) by the Czech writer, Ludvík Aškenazy (1921-1986). A black comedy, it concerns the resistance movement during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.

The production by Charles Lefeaux (1909-1979) used a version by the Czech-born translator, Vera Blackwell (1924-1995), best known for her work with Vaclav Havel.

242 THE SKINS signed signed on reverse pen ink and bodycolour on board 5 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 4 June 1970, page 50, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Friday 12 June 1970 at 8.45pm

243 WAR AND PEACE: PATIENCE AND TIME signed pen and ink with bodycolour on paper laid on board 3 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 16 April 1970, page 35, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday 21 April 1970 at 7.0pm

244 WAR AND PEACE: AN EPILOGUE signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 1⁄4 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 7 May 1970, page 32, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday 12 May 1950 at 7.0pm

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Suzanna Andler Suzanna Andler by Marguerite Duras (1914-1996) premiered at Théâtre des Mathurins, in Paris, in 1969. In the following year, it made its first appearance in English, in a translation by Barbara Bray (1924-2010), in Archie Campbell’s production for Radio 3, with Vivienne Merchant in the title role. The same translation was used for the first English stage production, by Howard Sackler for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which opened at the Theatre Royal Brighton in September 1972, and at the Aldwych Theatre, London, in March 1973. Eileen Atkins played Suzanna.

Eric Fraser’s illustration conveys a strong sense of what the Radio Times listing called a ‘beautiful woman poised on the brink of emotional crisis’.

245 SUZANNA ANDLER signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 11 June 1970, page 33, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 14 June 1970 at 7.30pm

The Conversation La Conversation by Claude Mauriac (1914-1996) premiered at Théâtre de Lutèce, in Paris, in 1966. Four years later, Radio 3 broadcast John Powell’s production of the play, in a translation by Barbara Bray – possibly as the English language premiere.

The listing in Radio Times – illustrated by Eric Fraser’s charming drawing – described The Conversation in the following terms: The first part presents a speeded-up version of the dialogue between a man and a woman, from their marriage in the early 1900s to the woman’s death over 60 years later. The second part reverses the process and represents in slow motion and expanded form, a dialogue which occurs briefly towards the end of the first part, between the woman and her husband’s best friend.

246 THE CONVERSATION signed pen and ink on paper laid on board 3 1⁄2 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 23 July 1970, page 23, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 26 July 1970 at 8.45pm

The Morte Darthur Completed in 1470 and first published in 1485, Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur is the best-known work of Arthurian literature in English.

In 1971, the Mediaeval scholar, Derek Brewer (1923-2008), made a selection of 12 dramatised readings from Malory, and prefaced them with an introduction. Eric Fraser’s drawing, showing Queen Guinevere and King Arthur in the style of a woodcut, illustrated the Radio Times listing of the introduction. The figure of King Arthur was then used to illustrate details of a further 7 episodes of the 13 part series.

247 THE MORTE D’ARTHUR signed with initials signed on reverse pen and ink 3 1⁄2 x 4 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 7 January 1971, page 28, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 10 January 1971 at 5.20pm; the right hand half was used to illustrate a further 7 episodes of the 13 part series, between 17 January and 4 April 1971

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The Constant Couple Though now one of the lesser-known comedies of the Restoration playwright, George Farquhar, The Constant Couple proved a great success when it appeared at Drury Lane in 1700. This was due in great part to the portrayal of Sir Harry Wildair by Farquhar’s friend, Robert Wilks. Indeed, the popularity of his performance led to Farquhar writing a sequel, called Sir Harry Wildair (1701). In Raymond Raikes’ 1971 Radio 4 production, Alec Clunes played Wildair.

For an illustration by Eric Fraser of a better-known play by George Farquhar, please see The Beaux’ Strategem [188].

248 THE CONSTANT COUPLE signed pen and ink on board 3 x 4 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 18 February 1971, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 21 February 1971 at 2.30pm

Il Corsaro Verdi’s opera, Il Corsaro – based on Byron’s poem, The Corsair (1814) – proved a rare flop in his career, when it premiered at the Teatro Grande in Trieste on 25 October 1848. Failing to secure a place in the repertory, it was not performed in Britain until 1966. So it is perhaps no surprise that the first broadcast performance of the opera in this country was on Radio 3 in 1971. Recorded at the Camden Theatre, and conducted by Marcus Dods, it included Keith Erwen as Corrado, the corsair captain. The first commercial recording – of a production at the Frankfurt Opera – appeared in the same year.

249 IL CORSARO signed pen ink and bodycolour on board 4 1⁄2 x 5 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 25 February 1971, page 20, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Saturday 27 February 1971 at 7.50pm

250 HENRY VI signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 4 March 1971, page 24, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 7 March 1971 at 6.30pm; Radio Times, 11 March 1971, page 24, for broadcast of the second part on Radio 3 on Sunday 14 March 1971 at 7.30pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 138

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‘Volpone, childless, rich, feigns sick, despairs, Offers his state to hopes of several heirs, Lies languishing: his parasite receives Presents of us all, assures, deludes; then weaves Other cross plots, which ape themselves, are told.

New tricks for safety are sought; they thrive when bold Each tempts the other again, and all are sold.’

(Ben Jonson, Volpone, ‘The Argument’)

251 VOLPONE signed pen and ink with bodycolour 3 x 3 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 6 May 1971, page 25, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 9 May 1971 at 7.45pm

The Lollard Trilogy:The Great Society The Lollard Trilogy by Ian Rodger (1926-1984) comprises three plays that concern the nature of dissent between the years 1377-1417, while bearing parallels with contemporary England.

Each produced by John Tydeman, the plays appeared in the Radio 4 series, ‘The Sunday Play’, with a cast that included Colin Douglas (as John Wyclif ), David Spenser (as Richard II), Mary Wimbush (as Princess Joan) and Anthony Jackson (as Wat Tyler).

The second play, The Great Society, concerns the Peasants Revolt, and includes the character of the Lollard priest, John Ball (played on radio

by Clive Swift). In his illustration to the Radio Times listing, Eric Fraser depicts John Ball, in suitably Mediaeval fashion, presenting the opening lines of his famous revolutionary sermon, ‘When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?’ It continues: ‘From the beginning all men by nature were created alike, and our bondage or servitude came in by the unjust oppression of naughty men’.

252 THE LOLLARD TRILOGY: THE GREAT SOCIETY signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour, 3 x 4 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 17 June 1971, page 27, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Sunday 20 June 1971 at 2.30pm

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Ernani In contrast to Il Corsaro [249], Ernani has proved one of the more successful of Verdi’s early operas (1844). Indeed it was the first opera by any composer to be recorded complete, by His Master’s Voice in 1904, on 40 single-sided discs. Based on Victor Hugo’s key Romantic drama, Hernani – which had a riotous premiere in Paris in 1830 – it concerns a rebel nobleman, living as a bandit, and his involvement in the intrigues of the 16th century Spanish court.

Eric Fraser’s image illustrates the Radio Times listing for a Radio 3 broadcast of the 1967 Sadler’s Wells production, conducted by Bryan Balkwill, with Donald Smith in the title role.

253 ERNANI signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 x 3 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 22 July 1971, page 42, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Thursday 29 July 1971 at 1.50pm Literature: Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998, page 138

The Well of the Saints John Millington Synge (1871-1909) wrote The Well of the Saints two years before his best remembered play, The Playboy of the Western World. First performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 4 February 1905, it concerns the experiences of two beggars who are cured of blindness by a holy man.

The BBC ‘World Theatre’ production, broadcast on Radio 4 in 1971, marked the 100th anniversary of Synge’s birth.

254 THE WELL OF THE SAINTS signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 9 September 1971, page 29, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Monday 13 September 1971 at 8.30pm

A Piece of Madness The writer and gallery owner, Joan Drury (1899-1996), became Joan Osiakowski on her marriage, but is best remembered as Joan O’Connor, the name that she adopted in 1950, when she became a scriptwriter and producer for the BBC. While she adapted many literary classics, A Piece of Madness is an original play for radio, based on historical events in mid 19th century Germany.

David H Godfrey produced it for Radio 4 in 1971.

255 A PIECE OF MADNESS signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 4 1⁄2 x 6 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14 October 1971, page 35, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Monday 18 October 1971 at 8.30pm

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Eric Fraser and Richard Wagner Not only did Eric Fraser contribute drawings of Wagner’s operas to Radio Times; he also produced an impressive set of illustrations to a limited edition of Andrew Porter’s translation of Wagner’s libretti for The Ring (Folkestone: Dawson, 1976).

256 THE DAYS OF THE COMMUNE signed signed on reverse pen and ink 6 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 11 November 1971, page 36, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 14 November 1971 at 6.50pm The Days of the Commune The influential German writer, Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) based Die Tage der Commune on the 1937 play, Nederlaget (‘The Defeat’), by the Norwegian, Nordahl Grieg (1902-1943). However, though his collaborator, Margarete Steffin (1908-1941), translated it into German in 1938, Brecht did not adapt it until the period 1947-49. Brecht’s own company, the Berliner Ensemble, eventually produced the resulting play in the following decade, in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) in 1956.

It concerns the Socialist government that ran Paris during spring 1871, and explores it as a community rather than individualising the members as heroes and heroines.

257 DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NURNBERG signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 3 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 3 February 1972, page 18, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Saturday 5 February 1972 at 6.30pm

In order to commemorate the centenary of the Paris Commune in 1971, Radio 3 presented the first professional English production of the play, by Richard Wortley, in a translation by Richard Beckley.

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg In 1972, Radio 3 broadcast Herbert von Karajan’s second recording of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which was released in 1970.

Eric Fraser’s illustration to the Radio Times listing emphasises the commune as a group. An example of his interest in experimenting with media, it is drawn on textured Snolin paper, a non-woven bookbinding material for soft cover books

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg premiered at Königliches Hof-und Nationaltheater, in Munich, on 21 June 1868. It is atypical of Wagner’s oeuvre in many ways. Among his mature operas, it is the only one that is a comedy, that tells a completely original story, and that is set in a clearly defined time and place – Nuremberg in the 16th century – rather than in the magical world of myth and legend. It also contains many of the conventions of opera that Wagner had elsewhere criticised in his writings and avoided in his compositions.

The opera tells the story of the attempt and success of the young knight, Walther von Stolzing, to join the guild of mastersingers and win both its song contest and the hand of his beloved Eva, daughter of the goldsmith and mastersinger, Veit Pogner.

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Die Walküre Die Walküre premiered at the Königliches Hofund Nationaltheater, in Munich, on 26 June 1870. The second part of Der Ring des Nibelungen, it was then performed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 14 August 1876, during the first complete cycle, which also inaugurated the building that was intentionally designed for Wagner’s operas.

A fusion of German and Scandinavian myths, Der Ring des Nibelungen concerns a powerful magic ring that bestows the wearer with world domination. For much of the action the chief god, Wotan [see 259], attempts to regain the ring and, as he intended, his mortal grandson, Siegfried, does win it. However, Siegfried is eventually betrayed and killed, and Brünnhilde, his lover and Wotan’s estranged daughter, returns the ring to the Rhine maidens. The cycle ends with the destruction of the gods and their home, Valhalla.

258 DIE WALKURE signed with initials pen and ink on board 3 1⁄4 x 3 1⁄4 inches Drawn for Radio Times

Siegfried Siegfried premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 16 August 1876, as the third part of the first complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen.

In 1972, Radio 3 broadcast a Bavarian Radio recording of Wagner’s Siegfried from that year’s Bayreuth Festival. Eric Fraser’s drawing [260] for the Radio Times listing cleverly illustrates the briefest of summaries: ‘after forging the sword Nothung and overcoming fearful dangers, Siegfried awakens Brünnhilde, and claims her as his bride’.

260 SIEGFRIED [II] signed with initials signed on reverse pen and ink on board 1 3⁄4 x 4 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 7 December 1972, page 36, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 10 December 1972 at 2.40pm

Götterdämmerung Götterdämmerung premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 17 August 1876, as the fourth part of the first complete performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen.

In 1971, Radio 3 broadcast a Bavarian Radio recording of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung from that year’s Bayreuth Festival.

261 GOTTERDAMERUNG signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 18 November 1971, page 34, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 21 November 1971 at 1.15pm

259 SIEGFRIED [I] signed with initials pen and ink on board 3 1⁄4 x 3 1⁄4 inches Drawn for Radio Times Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 101

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The Duenna Like Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery (1941), La Dueña (194547), by the Catalan Spanish composer, Roberto Gerhard (1896-1970), makes use of the libretto by the 18th century playwright, Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Originally set by his brother-in-law, Thomas Linley the younger, in 1775, The Duenna is a comedy of elopement and disguise that takes place in and around Seville.

Gerhard’s opera is the culminating achievement of the time that he spent in England during the Second World War, and a masterpiece of his early musical style – a Stravinsky-like mixture of neo-classicism and folkloric colour. BBC broadcasts of the opera, from 1949, popularised the composer’s reputation in Britain.

262 THE DUENNA signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 27 April 1972, page 20, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Saturday 29 April 1972 at 7.20pm

A confection of Commedia dell’arte characters and Baroque curls, Eric Fraser’s illustration accompanied the Radio Times listing in 1972 of a performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Atherton, a champion of the work of Gerhard.

The Dance of Death Dödsdansen (1900) by August Strindberg (1849-1912) is a black comedy about a dysfunctional marriage. The two parts premiered at the Altes Stadttheater, Cologne, on 29 and 30 September 1905, and first appeared on the stage of Strindberg’s native Stockholm on 8 September and 1 October 1909, at the Intima Teater, which the writer helped to run. The first London performances had to wait until 1924, when The Sunday Players gave each part once at the St George’s Hall. However, Duckworth had published both parts in English as early as 1912, in a translation by Edwin Björkman (1866-1951).

In 1972, Radio 4 broadcast The Dance of Death in a production by Christopher Venning that used a translation

by Elizabeth Sprigge (1900-1974). A novelist and biographer, as well as translator, Sprigge wrote The Strange Life of August Strindberg, which was published in the centenary of his birth in 1949.

Eric Fraser’s cleverly concise illustration to the Radio Times listing at once suggests claustrophobia and discord. Alice (played by Jill Bennett) and Edgar (John Moffatt) sit apart from each other, and at the edges of the image, one holding cards and the other alcohol, indicators of their attempts to pass the time. A barometer and a telegraph machine – both specified by Strindberg – divide them, the former symbolising the unstable emotional atmosphere, the latter the fitful communication.

263 THE DANCE OF DEATH signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 1⁄2 x 2 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 1 June 1972, page 29, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Monday 5 June 1972 at 8.30pm

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Tamerlano Between 1711 and 1739, the King’s Theatre, London (now Her Majesty’s), played host to more than 25 of Handel’s operas. An opera seria with an Italian libretto by Nicola Haym, Tamerlano premiered there on 31 October 1724, in the first of twelve performances by the opera company known as the Royal Academy of Music.

The listing in Radio Times, for 12 March 1977, described it as: the story of Tamburlaine’s love for Asteria, daughter of his captive, Bazajeth, former Emperor of the Turks. Asteria’s courageous defiance of Tamburlaine, supported by her father, culminates eventually in Bazajeth’s suicide, in one of the most powerful operatic scenes Handel ever wrote.

On that date, Radio 3 broadcast the first, and at that time the only, recording of the opera, performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Copenhagen, conducted by John Moriarty, with Gwendolyn Killebrew in the title role. At the time of its release, Bernard Jacobson described it in Stereo Review as ‘the best Handel opera recording I have ever heard’.

264 TAMERLANO signed with initials signed on reverse pen and ink with bodycolour on board 3 3⁄4 x 2 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 12-18 March 1977, page 23, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Saturday 12 March 1977 at 7.20pm

265 A GENTLE SPIRIT signed pen and ink on board 4 x 5 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 14-20 January 1978, page 24, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Saturday 14 January 1978 at 7.5pm

A Gentle Spirit As John Tavener (born 1944) remembers, it was the playwright, Gerard McLarnon (1915-1997), who suggested that he read Dostoevsky’s short story, ‘A Gentle Creature’ (1876): The dark, brooding character of this extraordinary drama [in which a pawnbroker ponders his young wife’s suicide] immediately suggested musical ideas, and we constructed a highly ritualistic and condensed opera from the somewhat rambling character of the original The Bath Festival commissioned the work for the Nash Ensemble, which performed it for the first time at the Theatre Royal Bath on 6 June 1977, in a double bill with Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale (1918). On that occasion Lionel Friend conducted Kenneth Wollam as the husband and Elise Ross as the wife. However, when the double bill was performed at the Cheltenham Festival on 4 July, the conductor was Simon Rattle (who would go on to marry Elise Ross in 1980). It is the Cheltenham Festival performance that was recorded by the BBC and broadcast on Radio 3 on 4 January 1978. Eric Fraser’s image accompanied the Radio Times listing.

266 THE PAWNBROKER AND HIS WIFE pencil 2 1⁄2 x 3 1⁄4 inches Preliminary drawing for Radio Times, 14-20 January 1978, page 24, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Saturday 14 January 1978 at 7.5pm, ‘A Gentle Spirit’ Reverse: Preliminary drawing of Mary Queen of Scots pencil 3 1⁄4 x 3 1⁄4 inches

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The Anathemata The Anathemata (1952) is the second of two long major poems by the painter and writer, David Jones (1895-1974), the first being In Parenthesis (1937). This complex, modernist text parallels Britain and the Middle East in order to explore the ways in which small cultures resist the power of empire. It was informed by Jones’s own background as London-born, Welsh and Roman Catholic (his having converted to Rome in 1921).

A friend of David Jones, the BBC producer, Douglas Cleverdon (1903-1987), gave a new lease of life to both In Parenthesis and The Anathemata by adapting them for radio. The first was recorded in 1948 and the second in 1953. Eric Fraser’s image accompanied the Radio Times listing of a repeat broadcast of Cleverdon’s The Anathemata in 1972.

267 THE ANATHEMATA signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 1⁄2 x 4 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 28 January-3 February 1978, page 42, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Tuesday 31 January 1978 at 9.20pm

Artaxerxes Though now best remembered for his setting of the patriotic song, Rule Britannia! (1740), Thomas Arne (1710-1778) was a major composer of theatre works, including operas, in late 18th century London. As explained in Radio Times, in 1978: Arne wrote Artaxerxes, his operatic masterpiece in 1762, using his own English translation of a Metastasio libretto. It is a unique amalgam of the Italian and English styles; and the most ‘national’ of the tunes were reproduced in numerous barrel-organ rolls.

Set in the Persian court in the 5th century BC, the plot concerns amorous and political intrigue in the days following the assassination of Xerxes the Great. The opera ends happily with the pairing of Xerxes’ son, Artaxerxes, and daughter, Mandane, to the two children of Xerxes’ assassin, Artabanes.

The performance by the New Chamber Soloists, under Maurits Sillem, with Margaret Cable in the title role, was broadcast to commemorate the bicentenary of Arne’s death.

268 ARTAXERXES signed pen and ink with bodycolour on board 5 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 16-22 September 1978, page 34, for broadcast on Radio 3 on Sunday 17 September 1978 at 2.5pm

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Elgar, Saint-Saens and Mozart In this image, Eric Fraser has cleverly presented portraits of composers as stained glass windows in order to illustrate the Radio Times listing of a concert to celebrate the 900th anniversary of Winchester Cathedral in 1979. The concert comprised Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for strings, Mozart’s Symphony No 40 and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No 3, with organ.

269 ELGAR, SAINT-SAENS, MOZART [I] pencil, 4 1⁄4 x 2 3⁄4 inches Preliminary drawing for Radio Times, 30 June - 6 July 1979, page 63, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Thursday 5 July 1979 at 7.30pm. ‘Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’ Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 106

1976: The Listener ‘In “Harvesting the Dead” (Radio 4), Anthony Smith investigated the issues raised by a remarkable new extension of medical science: the power to keep the body “alive” after the brain has died.’

(The Listener, 8 July 1976, page 15)

The Listener Published between 1929 and 1991, The Listener was a weekly magazine that complemented Radio Times. As explained on the cover of its first issue, it aimed to be ‘a medium for intelligent reception of broadcast programmes by way of amplification and explanation of those features which cannot now be dealt with in the editorial columns of the Radio Times’.

271 HARVESTING THE DEAD signed pen and ink, 5 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: The Listener, 8 July 1976, page 15, ‘Life after Brain Death – The Uses of the Neomort’ by Anthony Smith

270 ELGAR, SAINT-SAENS, MOZART [II] signed with initials pen and ink on board 6 x 4 inches Illustrated: Radio Times, 30 June - 6 July 1979, page 63, for broadcast on Radio 4 on Thursday 5 July 1979 at 7.30pm. ‘Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’ Exhibited: ‘The Artists of the Radio Times’, Chris Beetles Ltd, September 2002, no 106

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1971-1975: Dust Jackets and Covers The Odes of Pindar The Victory Odes, written by Pindar in the 5th century BC, celebrated the triumphs of the Pan-Hellenic festivals at Olympia, Delphi, Corinth and Nemea.

It is appropriate that Geoffrey Seymour Conway (born 1897) should have provided the translation for the Everyman edition of 1972, with the cover designed by Eric Fraser, for he first made his mark as a sportsman.

In 1920, while reading for the Classical Tripos at Cambridge University, Conway began to play Rugby Union for England, and continued to do so until 1927. Joining the teaching staff of Rugby School in 1922, he later became a school inspector and then an archaeologist.

Eric Fraser’s cover design is based on Ancient Greek black figure vases, such as the 4th Century BC Panathenaic amphora, excavated in Banghazi, Libya, which is now in the British Museum.

272 THE ODES OF PINDAR signed with initials pen and ink with bodycolour and overlay on board 10 x 5 1⁄2 inches Design for Geoffrey S Conway (tr), The Odes of Pindar, London: J M Dent & Sons [Everyman’s University Library], 1972, front cover

273 THE LEADER pen and ink with overlay 10 1⁄4 x 7 inches Design for Jane F Gardner (ed), Leadership and the Cult of the Personality, London: Dent & Sons [Everyman’s University Library Ancient World Source Books], 1974, front cover

274 DEMOCRACY, IDEAS AND REALITIES signed on the original overlay pen ink and bodycolour on board 10 x 6 1⁄2 inches Design for Cosmo Rodewald (ed), Democracy, Ideas and Realities, London: J M Dent, [Everyman University Paperbacks], 1975, front cover

The Leader During her long service in the Classics Department at the University of Reading, the Roman historian, Jane Gardner produced the innovative and oft-cited sourcebook, Leadership and the Cult of Personality (1974).

Democracy, Ideas and Realities Cosmo Rodewald (1915-2002) was Senior Lecturer in the History Department at Manchester University when he published the pioneering sourcebook, Democracy, Ideas and Realities in 1974. In 2003, the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall was opened in recognition of his generosity to Manchester University, particularly with regard to new developments for Music.

In his final cover design, Eric Fraser surrounds the bust of the leader with an anonymous adoring crowd.

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1973-1978: Book Illustrations Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain 1973

‘The earliest accounts of Godiva’s ride say that she rode through the crowded market-place of Coventry veiled only by her long hair. But later versions claim that everyone stayed indoors behind shuttered windows, and that the one man who peeped, a tailor called Tom, was immediately blinded by the wrath of Heaven.’

(Folklore, Myths and Legends, 1973, page 314) 275 LADY GODIVA signed inscribed with title below mount pencil 6 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄2 inches Preliminary drawing for Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain, London: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1973, page 314

‘The story of Culhwch’s struggle to win the fair Olwen, daughter of the ogre Ysbaddaden, who lived in the strongest fortress in the world, for his bride, is one of the most exciting in the Mabinogion. Here Culhwch is setting out to ask his cousin, King Arthur, for help … “on a steed with light-grey head … with well-knit fork, shellhoofed, and a gold tubular bridle-bit in its mouth. And under him a precious gold saddle, and in his hand two whetted spears of silver. A battle-axe in his hand, the forearm’s length of a full grown man from ridge to edge. It would draw blood from the wind … A goldhilted sword on his thigh, and the blade of it gold …

Never a hair-tip stirred upon him so exceeding light his steed’s canter … to the gate”’ (Folklore, Myths and Legends, 1973, page 391)

Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain In preparing its absorbing and accessible compendium, Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain (1973), Reader’s Digest involved such leading specialists as Katharine Briggs (1898-1980) and Christina Hole (1896-1985), and some fine illustrators, notably Robin Jacques (1920-1995) and Charles Keeping (1924-1988), as well as Eric Fraser. Fraser’s contributions included illustrations to features on ‘The Sacrifice of Lady Godiva’ and the Welsh legends collected as The Mabinogion.

‘Inside its black, embossed covers, was a rich and magical world of Green Men, Stone Circles,Witches, Giants, Haunted Houses and Seasonal Customs. Single-handedly, it engendered my life-long interest in the folklore traditions of these Islands’ (Simon Costin, Director of the Museum of British Folklore)

276 THE GOLDEN WARRIOR [I] inscribed ‘2 Whitled Spears’ below mount pencil 7 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches Preliminary drawing for Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain, London: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1973, pages 390-391

277 THE GOLDEN WARRIOR [II] pencil on tracing paper 7 1⁄4 x 7 1⁄2 inches Preliminary drawing for Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain, London: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1973, pages 390-391

120 | THE SEVENTIES 1970-1979

Nos 278-282 are all illustrated in Patricia Hill, Joan of Arc, Oxford University Press, [Oxford Graded Readers], 1975

278 JOAN SEWED, AND SHE SANG AS SHE SEWED. SHE THOUGHT ABOUT HER YOUNG MAN, AND SHE WAS HAPPY pen ink, watercolour and bodycolour 4 x 3 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: page 7

279 THE ARCHBISHOP ASKED JOAN A LOT OF DIFFICULT QUESTIONS pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 4 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 16

280 IN APRIL, JOAN BEGAN HER JOURNEY TO ORLEANS pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 6 x 6 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: page 17

THE SEVENTIES 1970-1979 | 121

Patricia Hill Joan of Arc 1975

281 SHE WENT TO CHURCH, AND SHE CAME BACK SAFELY pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 6 x 3 3⁄4 inches Illustrated: page 12

282 JOAN WAS PICKING VEGETABLES IN HER FATHER’S GARDEN AND LISTENING TO THE CHURCH BELLS. SUDDENLY SHE HEARD VOICES IN THE MUSIC pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 10 x 6 inches Illustrated: page 5

122 | THE SEVENTIES 1970-1979

283 BROTHER DUSTY-FEET signed pen ink and watercolour with pencil 6 1⁄4 x 4 3⁄4 inches Unpublished design for Rosemary Sutcliffe, Brother Dusty-Feet, Oxford University Press, 1979, dust jacket

284 THE CLERGYMAN signed with initials pen and ink on board 4 x 3 1⁄2 inches

Brother Dusty-Feet Eric Fraser was commissioned to design a dust jacket for the 1979 edition of Brother Dusty-Feet, a children’s novel by Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-1992) set in Elizabethan England. However, the project was eventually given to C Walter Hodges (1909-2004), a specialist in the Elizabethan period, who had illustrated the original edition in 1952.

285 ROMAN SCENE pencil 3 1⁄4 x 3 1⁄4 inches

286 THE SACRIFICE pencil on prepared linen laid on board 9 x 6 3⁄4 inches

08 LateWork 1981-1982

124 | LATE WORK 1981-1982

08 LateWork 1981-1982

Eric Fraser continued to work to commission until the end of his life, a demonstration – if it were needed – of his dedication to his art. When the BBC began to issue archive recordings of classic texts in the form of study tapes, in 1980, who better to ask to design their boxes than Fraser? The results combine much of the best of his illustrations to Radio Times and his designs for book covers.

A devout Christian, Fraser attended services regularly at St Mary’s Hampton, embellished the church with stained glass windows and an altar cloth, and designed its annual church Christmas card and other publicity. As late as 1982, he produced a painted altarpiece for St Stephen’s Ashill [292], where his son, Geoffrey, was vicar.

All the works in this section are: Provenance: The Artist’s Family, except No 291

1980-1981: Designs for BBC Study Tapes Designs for BBC Study Tapes In 1980-81, Eric Fraser designed a number of boxes for a series of BBC study tapes. These included: William Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida (1602), using a BBC Radio 3 production of 1980, with Michael Pennington and Maureen O’Brien; John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (1612-13), using a BBC Third Programme production of 1954, with Peggy Ashcroft and Paul Scofield; and Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies (1930), read by Robert Powell.

287 TROILUS & CRESSIDA signed inscribed with title below mount pen and ink on board 8 x 7 inches Design for box for BBC study tapes

LATE WORK 1981-1982 | 125

288 THE DUCHESS OF MALFI signed pen and ink with bodycolour 6 1⁄4 x 6 3⁄4 inches Design for box for BBC study tapes

289 VILE BODIES [I] inscribed with title and ‘(Rough)’ below mount pen and ink 6 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄2 inches Preliminary design for box for BBC study tapes

290 VILE BODIES [II] signed inscribed with title below mount pen and ink on board 7 x 7 inches Preliminary design for box for BBC study tapes

126 | LATE WORK 1981-1982

1981-1982: Religious Subjects Adoration of the Magi Eric Fraser’s exquisite drawing may date from well before 1981, but was used in that year as the Christmas card of Peter Foster, who ran the private Vine Press with John Peters in the village of Hemingford Grey, near Cambridge.

291 ADORATION OF THE MAGI signed pen and ink with bodycolour 6 1⁄4 x 9 1⁄4 inches Provenance: Peter Foster, Harcourt, Hemingford Grey

292 NATIVITY watercolour and bodycolour with silver paint and pencil 3 x 6 1⁄4 inches

Nativity In 1982, the Church of St Stephen’s Ashill, Devon, celebrated its 100th anniversary. At that time the vicar was Eric Fraser’s son, Geoffrey, and Eric marked the celebration by presenting a reredos painting. This study shows that it is a triptych representing the Annunciation, Nativity and Epiphany. It remained in the church until 2001 when, damaged by bat droppings, it was returned to the Reverend Geoffrey Fraser. It is now in Dubai, where it is planned to be incorporated into the re-ordering of St George’s Church.

Appendix Radio Times: Article and Programme Details

128 | APPENDIX

Radio Times: Article and Programme Details 1930 Issue Dated 24 January 1930 11 [Picture Caption/Article Title, on page 201] Nothing Succeeds on the Wireless – like HOPELESS LOVE [an article by Jonathan Derry on radio drama] Issue Dated 28 November 1930 12 [Cartoon, on page 590, on which ‘Our Music Editor introduces the Music of the Week’] Is that all they do?

1932 Issue Dated 10 June 1932 16 [Picture Caption, on page 661] ‘Miss Primberry,’ I said, leaning slightly in her direction and lowering my voice, ‘I feel that at last the moment is ripe.’

[Illustrating ‘WIRELESS HAS KILLED ENGLISH CROQUET! More of this Lane-Norcott nonsense: … but most listeners seem to like it!’]

Issue Dated 1 July 1932 17 [Picture Caption, on page 7] ‘However, I didn’t wake up next day …’

[Illustrating ‘DOWN A TIN-MINE: AN O.B. THAT FAILED. Maurice Lane-Norcott, with his usual inconsequence, describes a proposed “Surprise liem,” which fortunately came to nothing’] 19 [Picture Caption, on page 7] ‘Suddenly I jumped on a chair …’

[Illustrating ‘DOWN A TIN-MINE: AN O.B. THAT FAILED. Maurice Lane-Norcott, with his usual inconsequence, describes a proposed “Surprise liem,” which fortunately came to nothing’] Issue Dated 29 July 1932 18 [Picture Caption, on page 249] ‘It wasn’t long before we actually came to prefer each other’s mode of living to our own.’

[Illustrating ‘ON RELAYING THE NIGHTINGALE. Maurice Lane-Norcott – very nearly an ornithologist – provides a characteristically high spirited epilogue to those Spring relays of the Pangbourne nightingales.’]

20 [Picture Caption, on page 249] ‘One day I had the misfortune to fall out of a tree.’

[Illustrating ‘ON RELAYING THE

NIGHTINGALE. Maurice Lane-Norcott – very nearly an ornithologist – provides a characteristically high spirited epilogue to those Spring relays of the Pangbourne nightingales.’]

[Illustrating WHERE DO TALKS GO? Maurice Lane-Norcott explains]

1934

Issue Dated 7 October 1932 Issue Dated 18 May 1934 14 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 70] Saturday 15 October 1932, 8.0 pm, The Daventry National Programme 8.0 Songs from the Shows (News Series) Daly’s Theatre (No XIV) Cast: Huntley Wright George Baker Olive Groves The BBC Theatre Orchestra and the Revue Chorus Conducted by Leslie Woodgate At the pianos: Harry S Pepper and Doris Arnold Compèred and produced by John Watt Issue Dated 28 October 1932 15 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 314] Saturday 5 November 1932, 9.50 pm, on The Daventry National Programme 9.50 ‘Fireworks!’

Book by Ashley Sterne and A A Thomson Music by Ashley Sterne Lyrics by A A Thomson The cast will include: George Baker Andrew Churchman John Rorke George Neil Anona Winn Jean Allistone Harman Grisewood Marion Robertson And Lawrence Baskcomb The Revue Chorus The BBC Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Stanford Robinson Produced by Martyn C Webster

1933 Issue Dated 13 January 1933 22 [Picture Caption, on page 67] GERMS AND CORPUSCLES Diagrammatic section of Bill Bloggins, showing the action of corpuscles, as explained by Mr Lane-Norcott in this illuminating article.

[Illustrating ARE MOLECULES WORTH WHILE? The First and Last of a New Series of Science Talks by that fascinating Science Talker, MAURICE LANE-NORCOTT] Issue Dated 8 September 1933 21 [Picture Caption, on page 535] Miss Rigworthy nicks off down the stairs like lightning, the mischievous little thing!

23 [Picture Caption, on page 512] ‘The main thing is to dig a hole deep enough.’

[Illustrating ‘Listeners should LISTEN TO FISH this Whitsun says Maurice Lane-Norcott, our celebrated Chess Editor’]

1937 Issue Dated 23 July 1937 24 [Picture Caption, on page 15] ‘Chancing to see a mirror which my aunt had adorned with a pretty sketch of a stork in flight, Ruskin stared at it for several moments in complete amazement’ [Illustrating MY AUNT KNEW SOME MEN, TOO says our old friend Maurice LaneNorcott, in a passionate defence of his famous aunt, Mrs Molesworthy]

1938 Issue Dated 14 October 1938 32 [Picture Caption, on page 42] THE MODERN MUSE A recital of contemporary poetry tonight at 10.30 [Programme details] Tuesday 18 October 1938, 10.30 pm, National The Modern Muse A Recital of Contemporary Poetry

By W H Auden, Louis MacNeice, Stephen Spender, C Day Lewis, Etc Arranged by Michael Roberts and D G Bridson Including settings by Benjamin Britten and Norman Fulton Compère, Michael Roberts

1939 Issue Dated 30 June 1939 33 [Image Caption, on page 77] ‘ITHURIEL’S HOUR’. Listeners will hear an adaptation of the novel by Joanna Cannan this evening at 7.30. It is the story of how one man’s all-mastering will to reach the goal he has set himself ends in tragedy.

[Programme Details] Saturday 8 July 1939, 7.30 pm, Regional

APPENDIX | 129

Ithuriel’s Hour Adapted for broadcasting from the novel by Joanna Cannan, by E M Delafield Characters: Sir Clement Vyse; David Vyse; Sir Henry Satchwell; John Ullathorne; Pamela Ullathorne; George Nugent-Smith; Douglas Jones; Dr Coles Time: The Present Day Scene 1, The hall at Matchley Court Scene 2, In the Ullathorne’s car, ten minutes later Scene 3, The camp at Sikkim Scene 4, The same – a few days later Scene 5, In Ullathorne’s tent, close to the summit of Chowo-Kangri Scene 6, On the mountain Scene 7, In camp – two days later Scene 8, In London – an evening party The play produced by W Farquharson Small

1939 Issue Dated 1 September 1939 34 [Picture Caption, on page 59] I’m not going to chain smoke thermometers all day for anybody Sidney Tripp should have been dead when his temperature reached 108 degrees, but he most certainly was not. The remarkable adventures of this village schoolmaster with a passion for gasometers are the subject of Further Outlook Warmer, a farcical comedy, this evening at 7.15.

[Programme Details] Friday 8 September 1939, 7.15 pm Further Outlook Warmer A farcical comedy specially written for broadcasting by H R Jeans Cast Sidney Tripp, village schoolmaster … Richard Goolden Amy, his wife … Ann Wilton Dr Jones … John Deverell The Vicar … Charles Lefeaux A Judge … Gordon McLeod Two barristers … Charles Barrett John Baker A Circus Showman … Edwin Ellis Other voices … John Forshaw Jill Nyasa The play opens in Sidney Tripp’s home.

The scene changes as his adventures grow The play produced by Barbara Burnham Issue Dated 8 December 1939 35 [Picture Caption, on Second Page Tuesday] ‘Don’t pass it on, but …’

‘The Lying Jade’ is always busy in wartime, and most of us have already suffered from her unruly tongue. The programme tonight at 8.5 deals with some of the favourite rumours.

[Programme Details] Tuesday 12 December 1939, 8.5 pm The Lying Jade Or The Art of Spreading Rumours in Wartime A feature programme on rumour and gossip,

by Stephen Potter Use has been made of the dossier of wartime rumours collected by the organisers of Mass Observation Production by Stephen Potter

1940 Issue Dated 8 November 1940 36 [Picture Caption, on page 7] Noah Sails Again The fifth instalment of André Obey’s serial play finds Eve bored and exasperated by Noah’s simple faith, while the Ark travels slowly across the waste of waters. This evening at 7.35.

[Programme Details] Sunday 10 November 1940, 7.35 pm, Home Service Noah Sails Again Fifth episode

By André Obey Translated by Cynthia Pughe Cast: Noah … Leon Quartermaine Mrs Noah … Gladys Young Adam … Norman Claridge Eve … Lydia Sherwood Marguerite … Lucille Lisle The Wandering Jew … Harcourt Williams Don Quixote … Cecil Trouncer Produced by Barbara Burnham

1942 Issue Dated 14 August 1942 37 [Picture Caption, on page 6] The Raft Six men adrift on the Atlantic, after their ship has been torpedoed, discuss the war in Eric Linklater’s new play to be broadcast this afternoon at 3.30.

[Programme Details] Sunday 16 August 1942, 3.30 pm, Home Service The Raft A new play specially written for broadcasting

by Eric Linklater. Incidental music chosen by Edward Sackville-West. Produced by Val Gielgud Passenger … Ralph Richardson Lieutenant … John Robinson Gunner … Duncan Macintyre Stoker … Roy Emerton Wireless Operator … Eliot Makeham Second Mate … Malcolm Keen Narrator … Laidman Browne Four Voices: Tony Quinn, Richard Williams, Arthur Young, Jack Livesey

1944 Issue Dated 10 November 1944 38 [Picture Caption, on page 8] Tonight’s starred programme is Vincent Carroll’s play ‘The White Steed’ in which a vision from an old Celtic legend moves through a girl’s waking dreams and brings her strength and courage in adversity.

The action is set in a seaside village overlooked by the Mourne Hills in Ireland [Programme Details] Monday 13 November 1944, 9.30 pm, Home Service The White Steed Written and adapted for broadcasting by Paul Vincent Carroll. Produced by Fred O’Donovan, with Arthur Sinclair, W G Fay, James McKechnie, Carleton Hobbs, Tony Quinn, Harry Hutchinson, and Joyce Chancellor

1945 Issue Dated 24 August 1945 67 [Picture Caption, on page 18] ‘Outward Bound’ A strange ship … a mysterious voyage … passengers apparently assembled by chance …

Listen to Sutton Vane’s play at 9.20 [Programme Details] Saturday 1 September 1945, 9.20 pm, Home Service Saturday-Night Theatre Outward Bound

By Sutton Vane. Adapted for broadcasting by Cynthia Pughe. Produced by Mary Hope Allen Scrubby … Charles Lamb Ann … Peggy Bryan Henry … Ivor Brandt Mr Prior … Jack Melford Mrs Cliveden-Banks … Gladys Young Rev William Duke … Preston Lockwood Mrs Midget … Amy Veness Mr Lingley … Norman Shelley Rev Frank Thomson … Michael Shepley Issue Dated 28 September 1945 68 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 8] Monday 1 October 1945, 9.30 pm, Home Service World Theatre – 9.30 Diana Wynyard and Godfrey Tearle in The ‘Hippolytus’ of Euripedes Translated into English rhyming verse by Gilbert Murray The scene is laid in Troezen in Greece. The play was first acted in the year 429 BC The Goddess Aphrodite … Lydia Sherwood The Goddess Artemis … Thea Holme Theseus, King of Athens and Troezen …

Godfrey Tearle

130 | APPENDIX

Phaedra, daughter of Minos, King of Crete, wife to Theseus … Diana Wynyard Hippolytus, bastard son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyte … Barry Morse The Nurse of Phaedra … Gladys Young An Old Huntsman … Harry Hutchinson A Henchman of Hippoytus … Deryck Guyler Chorus of Huntsmen … George Owen, Cyril Gardiner, Laidman Browne and Williams Lloyd Chorus of Troezenian Women … Rita Vale (Leader), Grizelda Hervey, Lilian Harrison, and Beryl Calder Produced by Val Gielgud

1946

The Heartless Giant A Norwegian fairy story Written and produced by Louis MacNeice Special music by Antony Hopkins Singer … Heidi Anderson King … Peter Ustinov Boots … Cyril Cusack Raven … Dylan Thomas Salmon … Malcolm Graeme Wolf … Charles Leno Princess … Betty Chancellor Giant … Bert Middleton

1947 Issue Dated 3 October 1947

Issue Dated 24 May 1946 69 [Picture Caption, on page 8] ‘The Flowers are not for you to Pick’ Many listeners will remember Tyrone Guthrie’s play as one of the outstanding experimental productions of the ’thirties. It is the story of a curate whose life flashes through his mind as he drowns, and is an interesting example of a play conceived solely in terms of radio [Programme Details] Monday 27 May 1946, 9.15 pm, Home Service The Flowers are not for you to Pick

By Tyrone Guthrie. Produced by Hugh Stewart Edward … Derek Blomfield Vanessa … Barbara Douglas Father … Allan Jeayes Mother … Mary O’Farrell Fanny … Ursula Hirst Mrs Dolan … Betty Hardy A Rector … Harry Hutchinson Mrs MacAleenan … Marjorie Rhodes Sadie … Beryl Calder Nurse … Hilda Davies Issue Dated 20 September 1946 70 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 8] Monday 23 September 1946, 9.15 pm, Home Service Robert Farquharson and Charles Leno In Precession A Caricature

By E J King Bull Music by Gerard Williams The showman … Charles Leno The showman’s wife … Martita Hunt Jimmy … David Stringer Pan … Robert Farquharson Juno … Martita Hunt Jupiter … Deryck Guyler Policeman … Ernest Sefton Produced by E J King Bull Issue Dated 6 December 1946 71 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 26] Friday 13 December 1946, 9.30 pm, The Home Service

72 [Picture Caption, on page 8] ‘King Richard II’ [Programme Details] Sunday 5 October 1947, 8.30 pm, Third Programme Shakespeare’s Historical Plays Arranged for broadcasting and introduced by M R Ridley David King-Wood Leon Quartermaine Baliol Holloway, and Lewis Casson in King Richard II King Richard II … David King-Wood Uncles to the King: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster …

Baliol Holloway Edmund of Langley, Duke of York …

Lewis Casson Henry Bolingbroke … Leon Quartermaine Duke of Aumerle … David Tree Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk …

Hugh Manning Earl of Salisbury … Richard Scott Lord Berkeley … Richard Williams Servants to King Richard: Bushy … Lionel Stevens Bagot … Charles Lefeaux Green … John Barron Earl of Northumberland … Laidman Browne Henry Percy (Hotspur) … Peter Mullins Lord Ross … Philip Knox Lord Willoughby … Felix Irwin Bishop of Carlisle … Peter Creswell Abbot of Westminster … Arthur Keane Sir Stephen Scroop … Roger Delgado Sir Pearce of Exton … Leonard Sachs Queen Isabella … Rachel Gurney A lady … Claire Bloom Duchess of York … Susan Richards Welsh captain … Basil Jones Keeper … Lionel Stevens Groom … Harry Cooper Narrator … Duncan Carse Fanfares and incidental music composed and directed by Antony Hopkins Produced by Val Gielgud The play will be broadcast in two parts with an interval of music

73 [Picture Caption, on page 12] ‘King Henry IV’ Part 1 [Image printed in reverse] [Programme Details] Monday 6 October 1947, 7.45 pm, Third Programme Shakespeare’s Historical Plays Arranged for broadcasting and introduced by M R Ridley Sebastian Shaw Frederick Lloyd, and Leon Quartermaine in King Henry IV Part 1 King Henry IV … Leon Quartermaine Henry, Prince of Wales (Prince Hal) …

Sebastian Shaw John of Lancaster, his brother …

John Alexander The Earl of Westmoreland … Peter Cresswell Sir Walter Blunt … Tom Clarkson Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester …

Stanley van Beers Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland …

Laidman Browne Henry Percy (surnamed Hotspur), his son …

Francis de Wolff Edward Mortimer, Earl of March …

David Read Archibald, Earl of Douglas … Duncan McIntyre Owen Glendower … Lyn Harding Sir Richard Vernon … Godfrey Tudor Sir John Falstaff … Frederick Lloyd Poins … Hugh Falkus Gadshill … Ivan Staff Peto … Anthony Oliver Bardolph … David Duncan Lady Percy, wife to Hotspur …

Nicolette Bernard Lady Mortimer … Ceinwen Rowlands Mistress Quickly … Vivienne Chatterton Narrator … Duncan Carse Others taking part include John Barnard, Williams Lloyd, William Hutchison, Harry Hearne, Martin Lewis, Ian Main, Eddy Read and Alexander Sarner Fanfares and incidental music composed by Antony Hopkins Produced by Peter Watts The play will be broadcast in two parts with an interlude of music 74 [Picture Caption, on page 20] ‘King Henry V’ [Image printed in reverse] [Programme Details] Wednesday 8 October 1947, 7.40 pm, Third Programme Shakespeare’s Historical Plays Arranged for broadcasting and introduced by M R Ridley Sebastian Shaw in King Henry V King Henry V … Sebastian Shaw Duke of Gloucester, his brother …

John Wyndham Duke of Exeter, his uncle … Howieson Culff Earl of Salisbury … Donald Gray Earl of Westmoreland … Charles Mortimer Officers in King Henry’s army:

APPENDIX | 131

Sir Thomas Erpingham … Eric Maxon Captain Gower … Felix Deebank Captain Fluellen … Roddy Hughes Captain Macmorris … Harry Hutchison Captain Jamy … Anthony Dawson English soldiers: Bates … George Manship Court … Anthony Oliver Williams … Stanley Groome Mistress Pistol … Vivienne Chatterton Pistol … George Hayes Nym … Anthony Oliver Bardolph … David Duncan Falstaff’s Boy … David Stringer Charles VI, King of France … Charles Lefeaux The Dauphin, his son … Nugent Marshall Katharine, his daughter … Olive Gregg Alice, her attendant … Gladys Spencer The Constable of France … W E Holloway Rambures … Raf de la Torre Duke of Bourbon … Geoffrey Steele Montjoy, a French Herald … Leonard Sachs Chorus … Roderick Lovell Narrator … Duncan Carse Other parts played by George Owen, Andrew Faulds, and Ronald Sidney Fanfares and incidental music composed by Antony Hopkins Produced by Howard Rose The play will be broadcast in two parts with an interlude of music 75 [Picture Caption, on page 24] ‘King Henry VI’ [Image printed in reverse] [Programme Details] Thursday 9 October 1947, 8.30 pm, Third Programme Shakespeare’s Historical Plays Arranged for broadcasting and introduced by M R Ridley John Byron Gladys Young Arthur Young And Stephen Murray In King Henry VI (Shortened version of the three plays) King Henry VI … John Byron Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester …

Baliol Holloway Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester …

Arthur Young Earl of Suffolk … André Morell Earl of Warwick … Charles Lefeaux Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York …

Richard Williams Earl of Somerset … Cyril Gardiner Margaret of Anjou … Gladys Young Earl of Salisbury … Harold Scott Thomas Horner, an armourer …

Kenneth McClellen Peter, his man … Anthony Jacobs Simpcox … Frederick Bennett Simpcox’s wife … Ella Milne A ship’s captain … Donald Gray Jack Cade … Howard Marion-Crawford Alexander Iden … John Witty Edward of York (afterwards Edward IV) …

Francis de Wolff

George, Duke of Clarence …

David King-Wood Richard Crookback (afterwards Richard III) …

Stephen Murray A son that killed his father … Anthony Jacobs A father that killed his son … Desmond Deane Lewis, King of France … Martin Lewis Edward, Prince of Wales …

Marjorie Westbury Queen Elizabeth … Elizabeth Kentish Narrator … Duncan Carse Fanfares and incidental music composed and directed by Antony Hopkins Produced by Felix Felton The play will be broadcast in two parts with an interlude of music 76 [Picture Caption, on page 28] ‘King Richard III’ [Image printed in reverse] [Programme Details] Friday 10 October 1947, 7.40 pm, Third Programme Shakespeare’s Historical Plays Arranged for broadcasting and introduced by M R Ridley Stephen Murray in King Richard III King Richard III … Stephen Murray Queen Margaret … Gladys Young Duke of Buckingham … Richard Williams King Edward IV … Francis de Wolff George, Duke of Clarence …

David King-Wood Lady Anne … Dorothy Primrose Duchess of York … Mabel Terry Lewis Queen Elizabeth … Elizabeth Kentish Sir William Catesby … Cyril Gardiner Sir Richard Ratcliffe … Hugh Manning Earl of Derby … Lawrence Baskcomb Lord Hastings … Roderick Lovell Marquis of Dorset … Raf de la Torre Sir James Tyrrel … Donald Gray Richmond … David Tree Cardinal Bourchier … Arthur Keane Duke of Norfolk … Philip Knox Earl Rivers … Michael Ashwin Lord Mayor of London … Charles Lefeaux The young Prince of Wales …

Maurice Nicholas Son to Clarence … Claire Bloom Ghost of Henry VI … John Byron Narrator … Duncan Carse Other parts played by Marjorie Westbury, William Trent, Aleander Sarner, Basil Jones, and Andrew Churchman Fanfares and incidental music composed and directed by Antony Hopkins Produced by Val Gielgud The play will be broadcast in two parts with an interlude of music

1948 Issue Dated 5 November 1948 78 [Picture Caption, on page 10] ‘Who Sups with the Devil’ The devil ascends to earth, assumes human shape

and takes a hand in the affairs of ordinary mortals with remarkable results, as you will hear in the play by Anthony Gittins at 9.45 tonight [Programme Details] Monday 8 November 1948, 9.45 pm, Home Service Edmund Willard And Andre Morell in Who Sups with the Devil

By Anthony Gittins Produced by Hugh Stewart Steward … Ernest Sefton First minion … Harry Hutchinson Second minion … Frank Atkinson Third minion … Charles Leno Fourth minion ... George Mitsidis [&] Receptionist Satan … Edmund Willard Lilith … Lydia Sherwood Doctor … Andre Morell Cromer … Cyril Gardiner Lawrence … Laidman Browne Wilson … Charles Leno Mrs Cromer … Barbara Trevor Landlord … William Trent Brenda … Betty Baskcomb Alice … Lucille Lisle Local … Arthur Ridley Woman … Joan Clement Scott

1949 Issue Dated 11 March 1949 79 [Picture Caption, on page 12] ‘Silence in Heaven,’ the play by Lance Sieveking to be broadcast at 9.15 tonight, gives Mr Stanley Binstock the unique opportunity to see himself as he really is without the disadvantage of realising on whom he is sitting in judgement [Programme Details] Monday 14 March 1949, 9.15 pm, Home Service Norman Shelley In Silence in Heaven

By Lance Sieveking Stanley Binstock … Norman Shelley Fanny, his wife … Gladys Young George, his son … Alan Reid Daphne, his daughter … Joan Hart Charles Ransome, his partner …

Campbell Singer Dr Francis Hatton … Charles Leno Henry Hatton … Andrew Leigh Tarquineo … Michael Ward Mr Goss … Wilfred Fletcher Others in the cast: Alastair Duncan, Edward Forsyth, Denise Bryer, and Betty Baskcomb Produced by Cleland Finn

132 | APPENDIX

1950 Issue Dated 7 April 1950 91 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 12] The End of ‘Faust’ The last of the four programmes constituting the radio version of Goethe’s ‘Faust,’ Part Two, will be broadcast in the Home Service on Sunday Afternoon. E A Harding recapitulates the story and explains the framework of the final scenes [Programme Details] Easter Day, Sunday 9 April 1950, 2.30 pm, Home Service Stephen Murray And Howard Marion-Crawford In Goethe’s ‘Faust’ Translated by Louis MacNeice Assisted by E L Stahl Music by Matyas Seiber Produced by E A Harding Assistant producer, Donald McWhinnie ‘The End of Faust’ (from Part 2) The action: Outside Philemon’s Cottage; Faust’s Palace by the Sea; Deep Night; Death and Burial; Ascent through Waste Places Characters in order of speaking: Wanderer … Duncan McIntyre Baucis … Gladys Young Philemon … Lawrence Baskcomb Faust … Stephen Murray Lynceus … Robert Marsden Mephistopheles … Howard Marion-Coward Care … Gladys Young Angel spokesman … Alastair Duncan Hermit … Duncan McIntyre Pater Ecstaticus … Howieson Culff Pater Seraphicus … Lawrence Baskcomb A boy … Denise Bryer Archangel … Raf de la Torre Doctor Marianus … John Slater Magdalene … Jill Balcon Samaritan woman … Susan Richards Mary of Egypt … Violet Marquesita Gretchen … Marjorie Westbury With Richard George, David Kossoff, Hugh Manning Lynceus’ song sung by Alfred Hepworth The New Symphony Orchestra The Augmented Dorian Singers And the East Ham Girls’ Grammar School Choir Conducted by Matyas Seiber

Written and produced by Elwyn Evans Music composed by Alun Hoddinott And recorded by the BBC Welsh Orchestra Conductor, Rae Jenkins ‘On the first day of the Kalends of March,’ so runs the medieval account, David’s soul was transported to heaven, where there is ‘light without end, and rest without labour, and joy without sadness, and an abundance of every kind of good.’ This feature programme, largely based on A W Wade-Evans’ translation of the Latin biography by Rhigyfarch, retells the ancient tale. It also attempts to place St David in historical perspective, and to explain how he gradually became recognised as the patron Saint of Wales.

Issue Dated 14 September 1951 92 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 26] Monday 17 September 1951, 9.15 pm, Home Service The BBC Drama Repertory Company In Spring 1600 A comedy by Emlyn Williams Made into a play for broadcasting by Mollie Greenhalgh With special music composed and directed by John Hotchkis Chorus (later a visitor) … Richard Williams Henry Condell (a player) … Howieson Culff Will Kempe (a player) … Ronald Sidney Winifred, wife of Richard Burbage …

Marjorie Westbury Tom Day, a boy player … David Peel Ned Pope, a female impersonator …

Richard Hurndall Grizzy Frost, maidservant to the Burbages …

Sarah Leigh Augustin Philips, an old player … Bryan Powley Richard Burbage … Laidman Browne Jack Beeston, a ploughboy … D Bryer Lady Coperario … Gladys Spencer Kit Cooper … Malcolm Hayes Other parts played David Kossoff, Eric Anderson, and members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company With Salathiel Pavy (Sally), a child player, aged 12 …

John Charlesworth Ben Cook, a pepperer, aged 12 …

Cavan Malone Production by Raymond Raikes

1953 1951 Issue Dated 23 February 1951 90 [Picture Caption/Programme Details, on page 34] Wednesday 28 February 1951, 10 pm, Home Service The Story of St David A programme for St David’s Eve

Issue Dated 16 January 1953 93 [Picture Caption, on page 12] ‘A Saint in a Hurry’ St Francis Xavier In the brief space of ten years the great Jesuit missionary spread the Christian doctrine like fire through India, Japan, and China. His death four hundred years ago is commemorated in the evening service at 7.45

[Programme Details] Sunday 18 January 1953, 7.45 pm, The Home Service A Saint in a Hurry An evening service to commemorate the fourth century of the death of St Francis Xavier. Conducted by Father Desmond Boyle, SJ, Superior of the Society of Jesus in Great Britain, and by Father James Broderick, SJ. Readings by John Maude, QC [The order of service is printed] Issue Dated 1 May 1953 94 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 18] Monday 4 May 1953, 9.15 pm, Home Service The Man Who Was Thursday

By G K Chesterton Adapted by R C N Barton Syme (Thursday) … Ronald Barton Gregory … John Laurie Mr Buttons … Brian Hayes A young policeman … Michael O’Halloran The secretary (Monday) … Malcolm Hayes Sunday … Baliol Holloway Professor de Worms (Friday) …

George Hayes Marquis de St Eustache (Wednesday) …

William Fox Gogol (Tuesday) … Eric Anderson Dr Bull (Saturday) … Charles Leno Colonel Ducroix … Wyndham Milligan The Ambassador … T St John Barry The valet … John Cazabon With Rupert Davies, Douglas Hayes, Percy Herbert, Cyril Shaps, and Margaret Ward Produced by Peter Watts Issue Dated 7 August 1953 39, 40 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 16] Monday 10 August 1953, 5 pm, Home Service At 9.15 World Theatre Presents King John

By William Shakespeare Adapted for broadcasting and produced by Wilfrid Grantham Incidental music composed and conducted by Norman Demuth Narrator: Noel Iliff King John … Robert Harris Chatillion, ambassador from France to King John … Arthur Lawrence Queen Elinor, mother to King John …

Nan Marriott-Watson The Earl of Pembroke … Norman Claridge Philip the Bastard, half-brother of Robert Faulconbridge … John Van Eyssen Robert Faulconbridge, son of Sir Robert Faulconbridge … Douglas Hayes Lady Faulconbridge … Jane Meredith Philip, King of France … Richard Wordsworth Arthur, Duke of Britain, nephew to King John … Richard Brooke Lymoges, Duke of Austria … Neville Hartley Constance, mother to Arthur …

Maxine Audley Blanch of Spain, niece to King John …

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Jeanette Tregarthen A citizen of Angiers … Michael O’Halloran Lewis, the Dauphin … David Peel The Earl of Salisbury … Alan Jeayes Cardinal Pandulph, the Pope’s legate …

Robert Farquharson Hubert de Burgh … Deryck Guyler Peter of Pomfret, a prophet … Brian Hayes Melun, a French lord … Rupert Davies Prince Henry, son to the King …

Dafydd Havard Scene: Now in England, now in France

1954 Issue Dated 29 January 1954 95 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 18] Monday 1 February 1954, 9.15 pm, The Home Service Twentieth-Century Theatre Another Part of the Forest

By Lillian Hellman Adapted for radio and produced by Peter Watts Regina Hubbard, the daughter … Peggy Hassard Captain John Bagtry … Arthur Hill Lavinia Hubbard, the mother … Tucker McGuire Marcus Hubbard, the father … Sidney James Ben Hubbard, the elder son … John Glen Jake … Harry Quashie Coralee … Natalie Lynn Colonel Isham … Macdonald Parke Oscar Hubbard, the younger son …

Gaylord Cavallero Miss Birdie Bagtry … Lois McLean Penniman … Paul Whitsun-Jones Jugger … Barry Lowe Laurette Sincee … Betty Baskcomb Scene The Hubbard house in Alabama town in the summer of 1880. The play tells the earlier history of the characters of ‘The Little Foxes’

1955 Issue Dated 12 August 1955 96 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 7] The Epic of the Persian War In two programmes, the first of which will be broadcast on Sunday evening (Homes Services), Colin Shaw has retold the story of the great struggle for freedom waged by the Greek States against their Persian enemies in the fifth century BC. Here he sketches the historical background [Programme Details] Sunday 14 August 1955, 9.30 pm, The Home Service The Battle for Democracy The Persian War 1 – ‘The Tragedy of Thermopylae’ Written by Colin Shaw And based on the Histories of Herodotus

With Donald Wolfit as Xerxes And David King-Wood As Thermistocles Mardonius … Richard Bebb Artabanus … Edgar Norfolk Eurybiades … Andrew Faulds Leonidas … Joseph O’Conor Priestess … Nan Marriott-Watson Others taking part: Heron Carvic, Olaf Pooley, Brian Haines, Geoffrey Hodson, Nigel Davenport, Donald Bisset, Jessica Dunning, T St John Barry, John Baker, Alan Reid, Keith Pyott and Robert Marsden Incidental music composed by Kenneth Leighton BBC Northern Orchestra (Leader: Reginald Stead) Conducted by Vilem Tausky Produced by Colin Shaw Issue Dated 25 November 1955 97 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 4] A Folk Tale from the African Bush ‘It is Tutuola’s claim to distinction that he is using ancient African material to make modern, truly African literature.’ Ann Faber introduces ‘The Palm-Wine Drinkard’ (Third, Sunday afternoon and Tuesday) [Programme Details] Sunday 27 November 1955, 3.25 pm, Third Programme Edric Connor as The Palm-Wine Drinkard The story by Amos Tutuola Arranged for broadcasting

By Peter Duval Smith Music composed by Elisabeth Lutyens And conducted by Edward Clark Special effects by the Ambrosian Singers Production by Peter Duval Smith

1956 Issue Dated 28 December 1956 98 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 4] ‘The Secret of Happiness is Freedom …’

All through the centuries the word ‘freedom’ has been a trumpet-call to mankind. In the first quarter of 1957 the Home Service is presenting a series of plays and dramatisations which will illustrate some aspects of freedom and at the same time provide varied entertainment for lovers of radio drama. In this foreword a ceaseless fighter for the freedom of the Press welcomes the theme of freedom as an urgent challenge at the present stage of human history An Introduction by Sir Linton Andrews [Editor of the Yorkshire Post and chairman of the Press Council] The series of plays and dramatisations is called ‘Against the Wind’ [The plays and dramatisations (24 in all) included: Androcles and the Lion: Bernard Shaw The Secret Battle: A P Herbert

Whisky Galore: Compton Mackenzie The End of the Tether: Joseph Conrad The Pied Piper: Nevil Shute An Enemy of the People: Ibsen The History of Mr Polly: H G Wells Lord of the Flies: William Golding The Horse’s Mouth: Joyce Cary The Strong are Lonely: Fritz Hochwalder The Way of All Flesh: Samuel Butler Antigone: Jean Anouilh The Prisoner: Bridget Boland Private Angelo: Eric Linklater The Longest Journey: E M Forster Prometheus: Aeschylus]

1958 Issue Dated 14 February 1958 99 [Programme Details, on page 35] Tuesday 18 February 1958, 9.10 pm, Third Programme Frank Duncan And Carleton Hobbs In Caleb Williams Or Things As They Are A version by Walter Allen And Rayner Heppenstall Of the novel by William Godwin (1756-1836) Collins … Geoffrey Wincott Caleb Williams … Frank Duncan Mr Falkland … Carleton Hobbs Mr Forester … Laidman Browne Gines … Richard George Captain Raymond … Richard Williams Mrs Denison … Virginia Winter With Wilfred Babbage, Robert Marsden Keith Pyott, Ian Sadler Anita Sharp Bolster, Jack Shaw This novel by William Godwin has been out of print for many years. Yet it is a landmark in the history of the novel, as its author’s Political Justice is in libertarian thought 100 [Picture Caption, on page 39] ‘Danton’

By Romain Rolland The scene: Revolutionary Paris in March and April 1794 [Progamme Details] Wednesday 19 February 1958, 8.0 pm, Third Programme Donald Wolfit And James McKechnie With Ian Lubbock And Anthony Shaw In Danton

By Romain Rolland Translated by John Holmstrom Adapted and produced by R D Smith Characters in order of speaking: Lucille Desmoulins … Emma Young Camille Desmoulins … Ian Lubbock

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Hérault de Séchelles … Richard Butler Philippeaux … Trevor Martin Danton … Donald Wolfit General Westermann … Anthony Shaw Robespierre … James McKechnie Mme Duplay … Elsa Palmer Eléanore Duplay … Nicolette Bernard Saint-Just … David Garth Billaud-Varenne … Hugh Manning Vadier … Lockwood West Herman, President of the Revolutionary Tribunal … Malcolm Hayes Fouquier-Tinville, the Public Prosecutor …

John Graham David, the painter … David March Fabre d’Eglantine … John Dearth Foreman of the Jury … Frank Windsor Workmen, officers, whores Tricoteuses, and citizens of Paris Played by Leigh Crutchley and members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company Issue Dated 29 August 1958 102 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 23] Sunday 31 August 1958, 5.25 pm, Third Programme Paolo Paoli

By Arthur Adamov Translated by Geoffrey Brereton The Abbe Saulnier … Heron Carvic Paolo Paoli … Noel Johnson Florent Hulot-Vasseur … Brian Haines Stella … Cecile Chevreau Rose Marpeaux … Dorothy White Cecile de Saint-Sauveur … Hester Paton Brown Robert Marpeaux … Frank Windsor Other parts played by members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company Production by Michael Bakewell

1959 Issue Dated 30 January 1959 103 [Programme Details, on page 27] Monday 2 February 1959, 7.45 pm, Third Programme The Fiery Angel An opera in five acts

By Serge Prokofiev English translation by Dennis Arundell Renata … Victoria Saden Ruprecht … Thomas Hemsley The hostess of the inn … Edith Coates Servant at the inn … Norman Lumsden A fortune-teller … Monica Sinclair Jakob Glock … Jan van der Gucht Agrippa von Nettesheim, a sorcerer …

John Mitchinson Mathias … Norman Lumsden A doctor … Emrys Lloyd Mephistopheles … Robert Thomas Faust … John Cameron An innkeeper … Emrys Lloyd The Abbess … Jean Grayston The Inquisitor … Stanislav Pieczora

First nun … Beryl Hatt Second nun … Elizabeth Eriksson BBC Chorus Royal Philharmonic Chorus (Leader, Steven Staryk) Conducted by Stanford Robinson Producer, Dennis Arundell (first English broadcast performance in this country) Scene: Sixteenth-century Germany Act 1: An attic in a poor lodging-house Act 2 Scene 1: a room overlooking Cologne’s partially built cathedral Scene 2: Agrippa’s laboratory Issue Dated 13 March 1959 104 [Programme Details, on page 40] Wednesday 18 March 1959, 8.0 pm, The Home Service Edric Connor Presents scenes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess On gramophone records The cast includes: Porgy … Lawrence Winter Bess … Pamela Williams Clare … June McMechen Sporting Life … Avon Long With the Rosamond Johnson Chorus and Orchestra Conducted by Lehman Engel Issue Dated 8 May 1959 105 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 38] Wednesday 13 May 1959, 8.0 pm, The Home Service Anniversary Concert Elgar at 8.0 Variations on an original theme (Enigma) Delius at 8.35 app Piano Concerto (Moiseiwitsch piano) Holst at 9.15 The Planets BBC Symphony Orchestra (Leader, Paul Beard) BBC Women’s Chorus Conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent From the Royal Festival Hall Issue Dated 29 May 1959 106 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 15] Tuesday 2 June 1959, 9.30 pm, Television World Theatre Presents Katina Paxinou in Blood Wedding

By Federico Garcia Lorca English version by George Leeson Produced by George R Foa Cast in order of appearance: The Bridegroom … Sandor Eles The Mother … Katina Paxinou The Old Neighbour … Madge Brindley The Bride’s servant … Gladys Spencer The Bride’s father … Michael Gwynn The Bride … Catherine Feller

Leonardo’s wife … Rosalie Crutchley Leonardo’s mother-in-law … Marie Burke Leonardo’s servant … Felicity Ross Leonardo … David Peel The Best Man … John Gordon Wedding guests … Veronica Wells, Ann Hughes, Angela Krefeld, Elizabeth Noctor, Delia Paton, Patricia Walker, Rowena Torrance, David Ritch, Paul Garner, Tony Marsella, Graham McCormack, Reginald Jessup, John Slavid, Randal Kingkead Woodcutters … Roy Patrick, Robert Robinson, Lawrence Dalzell The Moon … Allan McLelland The Beggar-Woman … Edna Petrie Maids … Maxine Holden, Patricia Butt Singer … Anna Pollack Dancers: Eduardo, Chelita, Veronica De Jerez Dances arranged by Eduardo Solo guitar, Julian Bream: second guitar, Desmond Dupre Flamenco guitar, Antonio Navarro Music by Eduardo Torner, Designer, Guy Sheppard The action of the play takes place in Andalusia.

Time: the present Issue Dated 12 June 1959 107 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 23] Sunday 14 June 1959, 6.35 pm, The Third Leslie French, Denis Quilley, and Norman Shelley in Don Bludgeon was a Puppet (Los Titeres de Cachiporra) The tragi-comedy of Don Cristobal and Señorita Rosita A farce for marionettes in six scenes and a prologue

By Federico Garcia Lorca Translated by W S Merwin: Music by Maurice Ohana Radio adaptation and production by Raymond Raikes Mosquito … Leslie French Rosita … Beth Boyd Her Father … Lawrence Baskcomb Cocoliche … Denis Quilley Don Cristobal … Norman Shelley The Hour … Hilda Schroder Gadabout, a tavern-keeper … Willoughby Goddard Currito, from the harbour … John Westbrook Weary-Souls, a shoemaker …

Wilfrid Grantham Figaro, a barber … Dudley Jones James Atkins (bass-baritone): London Chamber Singers London Chamber Orchestra (Leader, Lionel Bentley) Conducted by Anthony Bernard

1960 Issue Dated 5 February 1960 183 [Picture Caption, on page 46] ‘The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein’ The plot is something of a civilian joke at the expense of army traditions, for it tells of the

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recruit who caught the eye of his Grand Duchess and was promoted to high rank with bewildering rapidity. Philip Hope-Wallace presents excerpts from Offenbach’s operetta [Programme Details] Friday 12 February 1960, 8.0 pm, The Home Service The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein Philip Hope-Wallace presents excerpts from Offenbach’s operetta On gramophone records The cast includes: The Grand Duchess … Eugenia Zareska Wanda, a country girl … Gisèle Prévet Fritz, a soldier, her fiancé … André Dran General Boum … John Riley Baron Puck … Georges Lacour Prince Paul … Jean Mollier Paris Lyric Chorus Pasdeloup Orchestra Conducted by René Leibowitz Issue Dated 19 February 1960 184 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 27] Sunday 21 February 1960, 7.30 pm, Third Programme A studio recording of the English Opera Group production at the 1959 Aldeburgh Festival The Rape of Lucretia Libretto by Ronald Duncan after Le Viol de Lucrèce by André Obey Music by Benjamin Britten Male Chorus … George Maran Female Chorus … Judith Pierce Collatinus, a Roman general … Forbes Robinson Junius, a Roman general … Ronald Lewis Tarquinius, an Etruscan prince … Otakar Krauss Lucretia, wife of Collatinus … Norma Procter Bianca, nurse to Lucretia … Johanna Peters Lucia, maid to Lucretia … Patricia Clark English Opera Group Orchestra (Leader, Emanuel Hurwitz) Conducted by Charles Mackerras Producer, Colin Graham Pianist and repetiteur, Viola Tunnard The action takes place in Rome in 500 BC 7.30-8.25 Act 1 Scene 1: The army camp Scene 2: Lucretia’s house 8.45-9.50 Act 2 Scene 1: Lucretia’s bedroom Scene 2: Lucretia’s house

1961 Issue Dated 29 June 1961 186 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 14] Hurricane The new six-part serial by C E Webber that begins today is a modern adventure set in the West Indies. It concerns two young nurses, Midge Lammerton and Jessica de Boissière,

who, when the story begins, are finishing their training in London …

[Article by Joy Harington] [Programme Details] Sunday 2 July 1961, 5.0 pm, BBC TV Hurricane A serial in six parts

By C E Webber Produced by Joy Harington Part 1 Characters in order of appearance: Mr Jones … George Tovey Mr Gomes … Bari Johnson Jessica de Bossière … Dolores Mantez Midge Lammerton … Susanne Neve Matron … Nan Marriott-Watson Mr de Boissière … Andre Dakar Mrs de Boissière … Nadia Cattouse Hotel Manager … Harold Kasket Winston Churchill Robinson … Dudley Hunt Mrs Cornelius … Tucker McGuire Bob Wilson … Philip Locke Yachtsman … Roland Brand Designer, Richard Henry Film sequences by the BBC Children’s Film Unit Issue Dated 21 September 1961 188 [Programme Details, on page 61] Friday 29 September 1961, 8.20 pm, Third Programme The Beaux’ Strategem

By George Farquhar 1677-1707 First acted at the Queen’s Theatre in the HayMarket

By Her Majesty’s Sworn Comedians With Pauline Jameson, Wendy Craig John Glen and John Humphry Characters in order of speaking Boniface, landlord of the inn …

Hamlyn Benson Cherry, his daughter … Barbara Mitchell Two gentlemen of broken fortunes, the first as master, the second as servant: Tom Aimwell … John Glen Frank Archer … John Humphry Dorinda, Lady Bountiful’s daughter …

Wendy Craig Mrs Sullen, Lady Bountiful’s daughter-in-law …

Pauline Jameson Squire Sullen, a country blockhead, brutal to his wife … George Hagan Scrub, his servant … Hugh Dickson Gibbet, a highwayman … William Eedle Gipsy, maid to the ladies … Gudrun Ure A countrywoman … Gladys Spencer Lady Bountiful, a country gentlewoman, foolishly fond of her son, Sullen … June Tobin Companions of Gibbet: Hounslow … Stanley Lebor Bagshot … Haydn Jones Sir Charles Freeman, a gentleman from London … Philip Leaver The action falls between a Saturday midnight and a Monday’s dawn in the year 1707, and at Lichfield in Staffordshire Music composed by Stephen Dodgson Played by the Sinfonia of London Conducted by John Hollingsworth Radio adaptation and production by Raymond Raikes

Issue Dated 12 October 1961 189 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 54] From the Fifties: A play by John Whiting Saint’s Day Tonight’s play in the series From the Fifties had a hostile reception from the critics when it was first produced at the Arts Theatre, London, in September 1951. ‘Strange, mad, baffling,’ wrote one of them. ‘Crazy rigmarole,’ wrote another. Looking back, we can see that the author, John Whiting, was ahead of his time: his controversial play sounded many of the themes that were to preoccupy other writers later in the decade …

[Programme Details] Friday 20 October 1961, 8.0 pm, Third Programme From the Fifties Max Adrian With Derek Godfrey, Valerie Hanson and Barry Foster In Saint’s Day

By John Whiting Stella … Valerie Hanson Charles … Barry Foster John Winter … Beckett Bould Paul Southman … Max Adrian Robert Procathren … Derek Godfrey Giles Aldus … Denys Blakelock Christian Melrose … Ronald Fraser Walter Killeen … Denys Hawthorne Henry Chater … Anthony Viccars Thomas Cowper … Julian Somers Narrator … Rolf Lefebvre Other parts played by Beatrice Bevan And members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company Adapted and produced

By Robin Midgley Issue Dated 19 October 1961 187 [Picture Caption and Programme Details, on page 57] Friday 27 October 1961, 9.25 pm, BBC TV Late Night Film Shakespeare’s Richard III Starring Laurence Olivier John Gielgud Ralph Richardson Cedric Hardwicke Richard, Duke of Gloucester …

Laurence Olivier George, Duke of Clarence … John Gielgud Duke of Buckingham … Ralph Richardson Lady Anne … Claire Bloom King Edward IV … Cedric Hardwicke Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond …

Stanley Baker Sir William Catesby … Norman Wooland Lord Hastings … Alec Clunes Queen Elizabeth … Mary Kerridge The coronation of Edward IV, after victory in the Wars of the Roses, kindles Richard of

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Gloucester’s ruthless passion to become next King of England. His implacable determination resolves itself into a campaign to eliminate all those between himself and the throne.

This film, produced and directed by Sir Laurence Olivier, is widely acknowledged to be amongst the finest of all filmed interpretations of Shakespeare’s work. One of the strongest casts ever assembled in a single production lends added distinction to this great screen achievement.

1962 Issue Dated 14 June 1962 192 [Picture Caption, on page 24] Valentinian Lucina: ‘… you are Caesar which is the father of the empire’s honour; You are too near the nature of the gods, to wrong the weakest of all creatures, women.’

[Programme Details] Monday 18 June 1962, 8.30 pm, Home Service National Theatre of the Air Howard Marion-Crawford Francis de Wolff Anthony Jacobs In Valentinian (c1610)

By John Fletcher Adapted by Raymond Raikes Music by Christopher Whelen Characters in order of speaking: Valentinian III, Emperor of Rome … Anthony Jacobs Panders and flatterers: Proculus … Denys Blakelock Licinius … Malcolm Hayes Chilax … John Gabriel Lucina, the chaste, abused wife of Maximus …

Jane Corbould Two of the Emperor’s bawds: Ardelia … Sylvia Coleridge Phorba … Janet Burnell Maximus, a great soldier …

Howard Marion-Crawford Aecius, the Emperor’s loyal General …

Francis de Wolff Lycias, a eunuch … John Rye Lucina’s waiting-women: Claudia … Eva Stuart Marcellina … Sheila Grant Pontius, an honest cashiered captain …

Jack May Eudoxia, Empress, wife to Valentinian …

Margot van der Burgh Senators: Fulvius … John Hollis Sempronius … Richard Williams Afranius, an eminent captain … George Hagan John Mitchinson (tenor) The Ambrosian Singers Orchestra conducted by the composer Production by Raymond Raikes

Issue Dated 29 November 1962 191 [Picture Caption, on page 24] The Heretic ‘I’ve the same answer for you both, if you force it out of me. Your churches are nothing but shelters; walls; protection from the weather beating outside … What inquisitors you meet on your way tell them to look for me in the weather on the Seaward Walls. I believe, I believe – in what is, in … morality.’

A Play for Radio Tonight at 8.30 [Programme Details] Monday 3 December 1962, 8.30 pm, Home The Heretic A play for radio

By Jean Morris With Stephen Murray And Marjorie Westbury The play is set in Sussex during the reign of Mary Tudor Cast in order of speaking: Thomas Elphick … Rolf Lefebvre Joyeuce Mascall … Mary O’Farrell Caspar Arnim … Malcolm Hayes Dick Woodman … Peter Pratt Margaret Alard … Sheila Grant Tom Alard … Andrew Irvine Robin Cressy … John Baddeley Anstis Alard … Peggy Butt Miles Alard … Stephen Murray Mercy, his wife … Marjorie Westbury Gervase Cressy … Austin Trevor Edward Paulyn … Frank Partington Music chosen by John Beckett and Michael Morrow And played by the Reservata Produced by Michael Bakewell

1963 Issue Dated 28 March 1963 194 [Picture Caption, on page 44] At 1.30 Perspective On Handwriting Experts can tell a lot about a person by the way he writes; and it is this individuality in handwriting which is the subject of this afternoon’s edition of ‘Perspective.’ Among those taking part will be a graphologist and an expert who is often consulted in cases of forgery [Programme Details] Thursday 4 April 1963, 1.30 pm, BBC TV Perspective On Handwriting How individual is it?

Does it denote character?

How does forgery fit in?

How far do specific styles in handwriting cramp individuality?

Wilfred Blunt Manfred Lowengard Ruth Mock

John Pafford Interviewers, Elaine Grand Hugh David, Kenneth Kendall Introduced by Leonard Maguire Producer, Beryl Radley Issue Dated 11 April 1963 193 [Picture Caption, on page 31] Out of School Fifteenth-century fighting men are the subject of today’s second showing of a programme from the ‘Signpost’ series At 12.15 [Programme Details] Wednesday 17 April 1963, 12.15 pm, BBC TV Out of School 12.15 Signpost The Fifteenth Century Fighting Men Hugh Ross Williamson introduces a knight and an archer and explains how they fought at the Battle of Agincourt.

Produced by Felicity Kinross Issue Dated 13 June 1963 196 [Programme Details, on page 29] Tuesday 18 June 1963, 8.0 pm, Third Then Went the Devils Out A radio play by David Tutaev Based on Dostoevsky’s novel The Possessed With William Squire, Ernest Milton Mary Ellis, Brian Bedford Rosalie Crutchley Robert Eddison, Brian Smith Denys Hawthorne Produced by William Glen-Dorfel Cast in order of appearance: Tikhon … Raf de la Torre Kirillov … Robert Eddison Nikolas Stavrogin … William Squire Stepan Trofimovich Verhovensky …

Ernest Milton Liputin … Malcolm Hayes Shatov … Denys Hawthorne Shigalev … John Ruddock Virginsky … David Valla Nastya … Jo Manning Wilson Varvara Petrovna Stavrogin … Mary Ellis Piotr Stepanovich Verhovensky …

Brian Bedford Lisa … Rosalie Crutchley Mavriky … Brian Smith Von Lembke … James McKechnie Marya Lebyadkin … Hilda Kriseman Alexei … Earle Grey Dasha … Patricia Dallas Capt Lebyadkin … George Hagan Lyamshin … Jonathan Scott Tolkatchenko … Lee Fox Fedka … Andrew Sachs Pianist, Paul Hamburger Issue Dated 20 June 1963 195 [Picture Caption, on page 18] A Real Lifer Giles Playfair talks to Joe:

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Between them they tell his story A double murderer in 1916, Joe – then America’s toughest kid – was sentenced to life imprisonment. Last year he was released on parole, rehabilitated, a man of great moral awareness.

[Programme Details] Sunday 23 June 1963, 10.10 pm, Home A Real Lifer Giles Playfair Talks to Joe. Between them they tell his story Issue Dated 12 September 1963 197 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 21] World Theatre: L’Arlésienne 198 [Picture Caption, on page 24] L’Arlésienne Daudet’s tragedy is set on a farm on the edge of the Camargue marshes. Frédéri is the elder son of Rose Mamai, whose father-in-law owns the farm.

He has fallen in love with a girl from Arles and his family and friends are concerned to know more about her [Programme Details] Monday 16 September 1963, 8.30 pm, Home World Theatre L’Arlésienne The Girl from Arles A drama in three acts by Alphonse Daudet Translated by Edward Sackville-West Music by George Bizet Bizet’s music will be performed in accordance with the composer’s directions as indicated in his original score for the first performance in Paris in 1872.

Characters in order of speaking: Narrator … Rolf Lefebvre Francet Mamai, a Provençal farmer …

Peter Claughton Balthazar, an old shepherd … Earle Grey Jean, Francet’s grandson, a simpleton …

Anthony Hall Rose Mamai, Francet’s daughter-in-law …

Vivienne Chatterton Vivette Renaud … Barbara Mitchell Frédéri, elder brother of Jean … Michael Spice Mark, brother of Rose … George Hagan Mitifio, a drover … William Eedle Madame Renaud, grandmother of Vivette …

June Tobin The Bowman-Hyde Singers London Chamber Orchestra Leader, Lionel Bentley Conductor, Anthony Bernard Adapted for radio and produced by Raymond Raikes Act 1: The courtyard of Le Castalet, a farm in Provence. May 1, 1860 Act 2: Scene 1: Near the Pool of the Vaccares, in the salt marshes of the Camargue. Towards the end of May Scene 2: In the kitchen of Le Castalet. A week later Act 3: Scene 1: The courtyard of Le Castalet.

June 21 Scene 2: The room under the hayloft at Le Castalet. Later that night

Issue Dated 19 September 1963

1964

199 [Picture Caption, on page 22] In Camera

By Jean-Paul Sartre ‘I’m looking at you two and thinking that we’re going to live together … it’s so absurd. I expected to meet old friends, or relatives’

Issue Dated 27 February 1964

[Programe Details] Monday 23 September 1963, 8:30 pm, Home In Camera Huis Clos

By Jean-Paul Sartre Translated by Stuart Gilbert With Mary Morris, Michael Bryant and Virginia Maskell Valet … Philip Stone Garcin … Michael Bryant Inez … Mary Morris Estelle … Virginia Maskell Special effects by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Produced by Alfred Bradley Issue Dated 14 November 1963 200 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 21] Everlyn Waugh’s Scoop Lance Sieveking introduces his adaptation of a famous satiric novel 201 [Picture Caption, on page 24] Scoop

By Evelyn Waugh Adapted for radio by Lance Sieveking William Boot, writer of a newspaper column on country life, is sent in error by his editor to cover a war in Ishmaelia. The tough collection of real war correspondents regard him as a bit of a simpleton [Programme Details] Monday 18 November 1963, 8.30 pm, Home Scoop

By Evelyn Waugh Adapted for broadcasting

By Lance Sieveking John Courtenay Boot … Frederick Treeves Julia Stitch … Janet Burnell Lord Copper … Peter Claughton Mr Salter … Malcolm Hayes Managing Director … Norman Claridge Theodore Boot … Kenneth Hyde Priscilla Boot … Petronella Barker William Boot … Denis Goacher Mysterious Millionaire … John Ruddock Corker … Stephen Thorne Schumble … William Eedle Whelper … Alan Haines Erik Olafsen … Geoffrey Wincott Jack Bannister … Gabriel Woolf Katchen … Irene Prador Dr Benito Other parts: David Spenser and members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company Produced by Martyn C Webster

202 [Picture Caption/Programme Details, on page 49] Friday 6 March 1964, 8.0 pm, Third Programme The Killer Tuer sans gages

By Eugène Ionesco Translated by Donald Watson Music by Tristram Cary With Eric Barker, Nigel Stock Avis Bunnage, Timothy Bateson Bérenger, an average, middle-aged citizen …

Eric Barker The Architect, of ageless bureaucratic age (also the Superintendent and the Second Policeman) … Nigel Stock Dany, young typist, pin-up … Isabel Rennie The Clochard, drunk … John Ruddock The Patron, middle-aged, fat, dark, hairy …

Hamlyn Benson Edouard, 35, thin, nervous, darkly dressed in mourning … Timothy Bateson The Concierge (also Mother Pipe), typical concierge … Avis Bunnage M Lelard, lodger … Haydn Jones Drunk in top hat and tails … John Baddeley Old Gentleman with the little white beard …

Andrew Sachs First Policeman … Frederick Treves Grocer … Michael Goldie Postman … Timothy Harley Edited for broadcasting and produced by H B Fortuin Issue Dated 5 March 1964 203 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 16] The Photo of the Colonel Humphrey Searle Write about the opera for radio which he was commissioned to wrote by the BBC Third Programme [Programme Details] Sunday 8 March 1964, 8.45 pm, Third Programme The Photo of the Colonel A radio opera

By Humphrey Searle Libretto adapted by Humphrey Searle From the story and the play The Killer by Eugène Ionesco Cast in order of singing: Bérenger … Leslie Fyson (tenor) The Architect … John Noble (bartitone) Dany, the Architect’s secretary …

Marion Grimaldi (soprano) The Drunk … John Frost (bass) Patron of the bistro … Alan Dudley (baritone) Two old men … Donald Francke (baritone) … Bryan Drake (baritone) Edouard, Béranger’s friend … Denis Quilley (baritone) Mother Pipe … Edith Coates (contralto)

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The Killer … Anthony Jacobs Sound effects by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Sinfonia of London Leader, Granville Jones And the Ambrosian Singers Conducted by the Composer Produced by Douglas Cleverdon and Lionel Salter

1965 Issue Dated 14 January 1965 204 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 50] Don Juan

By Max Frisch [Programme Details] Thursday 21 January 1965, 8.30 pm, Third Programme Don Juan Or The Love of Geometry

By Max Frisch Translated by Michae Bullock Adapted by Archie Campbell With Keith Michell as Don Juan And Sheila Allen as Miranda A bard … Stephen Thorne Don Gonzalo, Commander of Seville …

Gabriel Woolf Donna Elvira, his wife … Lydia Sherwood Donna Anna, their daughter … Rosalind Shanks Father Diego … Peter Bull Donna Inez … Eva Stuart Don Roderigo her affianced … Peter Marinker Don Juan … Keith Michell Don Tenorio, his father … Edward Chapman Miranda … Sheila Allen Celestina, a procuress … Patience Collier Don Balthazar Lopez … Stephen Thorne Leporello … Carlos Douglas Widows … Cecile Chevreau, Molly Rankin, Christina Gray Two swordsmen cousins … Glyn Dearman, Stephen Saggers Singer, Jean Allister Music composed and conducted by Christopher Whelen Produced by Archie Campbell Place: Seville. Time: the past Issue Dated 21 January 1965 205 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 18] The Bolshoi Theatre Company in Boris Godunov [Article by Hugh Priory] [Programme Details] Sunday 24 January 1965, 5.0 pm, Third Programme Boris Godunov An opera in A prologue and four acts Text based on Pushkin’s drama Words and music

By Mussorgsky

Revised and orchestrated

By Rimsky-Korsakov With additional orchestration

By Ippolitov-Ivanov Sung in Russian Cast in order of singing: Mikitich, a police officer … Sergei Krasovesky (bass) Mitiukha, a peasant … Ivan Sipaev (bass) Andrei Shchelkalov, Secretary to the Council … I Bogdanov (bass) Prince Vassili Ivanovich Shuisky, a courtier …

Nikander Khanaev (tenor) Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia …

Alexsander Pirogov (bass) Pimen, a monk and chronicler …

Maxim Mikhailov (bass) The Pretender Grigory, afterwards called Dmitri, a novice in Pimen’s care …

Georgi Nelepp (tenor) The Hostess of the Inn … Alexandra Truchina (contralto) Vagabond monks: Varlaam … Yakov Lubentsov (bass) Missail … Vasily Yakushenko (tenor) Xenia, Boris’s daughter … Elena Kruglikova (soprano) Xenia’s nurse … Eugenia Verbitskaya (contralto) Feodor, Boris’s son … Bronislava Zlatogrova (mezzo-soprano) A Boyar … Alexander Peregudov (tenor) Marina Mnishek, a Polish princess …

Maria Maksakova (mezzo-soprano) The Simpleton … I Kozlovsky (tenor) Townfolk, boyars, soldiers, Polish nobility, wandering mendicants, monks Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre Conducted by Nikolai Golovanov The action takes place between 1598 and 1605 Issue Dated 1 April 1965 207 [top half of image only used] [Picture Caption, on page 46] The War of the Roses Part 1 Henry VI [Programme Details] Thursday 8 April 1965, 8.0 pm, BBC1 The Royal Shakespeare Company In Peter Hall’s Production of The War of the Roses

By William Shakespeare Part 1 Henry VI Adapted by John Barton The English Bedford … John Normington Gloucester … Paul Hardwick Exeter … Donald Burton Winchester … Nicholas Selby Captain to Talbot … David Waller Plantagenet … Donald Sinden Suffolk … William Squire Somerset … Philip Brack Warwick … Brewster Mason Vernon …Rhys McConnochie Lawyer … Peter Forbes-Robertson Bassett … Stephen Hancock Mortimer … Charles Thomas

Lieutenant of the Tower … Ted Valentine Lord Talbot … Clive Morton John Talbot … Peter Gale English soldier … David Rowlands King Henry VI … David Warner Messenger to the Council … James Laurenson Messenger to York … Anthony Boden Eleanor … Colette O’Neil Messenger to Gloucester …

Rhys McConnochie Sir John Hume … Charles Kay Bolingbroke …Gareth Morgan Margery Jourdain … Madoline Thomas A townsman … David Rowlands Simpcox … John Normington Simpcox’s wife … Sheila Grant First murderer … William Dysart Second murderer … Gavin Morrison First citizen … Stanley Lebor Second citizen … Roger Jones Third citizen … David Hargreaves The French: The Dauphin … Charles Kay Reignier … Donald Layne-Smith Alençon … Peter Geddis Orleans … Gareth Morgan Burgundy … Hugh Sullivan Joan la Pucelle … Janet Suzman Margaret … Peggy Ashcroft French messenger … Murray Brown French soldier … Peter Forbes-Robertson Papal legate … John Hales Musicians: Gordon Bennett, Robert Pritchard Gilbert Cobbett, Gareth Richards Geoffrey Mason, William Salaman Derek Oldfield For the Royal Shakespeare Company: Music by Guy Woolfenden Settings and costumes by John Bury Directed by Peter Hall and John Barton For BBC Television: Produced by Michael Barry Directed by Robin Midgley and Michael Hayes Issue Dated 6 May 1965 208 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 46] The Spire A dramatization for radio of the novel by William Golding [article by Nesta Pain] [Programme Details] Wednesday 12 May 1965, 8.35 pm, Third Programme The Spire The novel by William Golding Adapted for broadcasting

By Nesta Pain With Michael Hordern Barry Foster John Stride Narrator … John Stride Dean Jocelin … Michael Hordern Chancellor … Charles Maunsell Pangall … Jon Rollason Father Anselm … Heron Carvic Roger Mason … Barry Foster Father Adam … Rolf Lefebvre The Visitor … John Gill

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Builders … Alan Haines … Fraser Kerr Special effects by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Produced by Nesta Pain Issue Dated 10 June 1965 209 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 19] Armstrong’s Last Goodnight [article by Bennett Maxwell] [Programme Information] Sunday 13 June 1965, 8.50 pm, Third Programme Armstrong’s Last Goodnight

By John Arden Adapted for radio broadcasting

by Bennett Maxwell with Moultrie Kelsall Leonard Maguire Madeleine Christie Sir David Lindsay … Leonard Maguire English Commissioners … Malcolm Terris, Hector Ross Scots Commissioners … John Graham, Michael Deacon English Clerk … William Fox Scots Clerk … Arthur Lawrence Johnstone of Wamphray … Ronald Baddiley First Armstrong … Alex McAvoy Second Armstrong … James Grant John Armstrong of Gilnockie … Moultrie Kelsall Gilbert Eliot of Stobs … Jack Stewart Young Stobs, his son, Maitland Chandler McGlass, Lindsay’s secretary … Leo Maguire Gilnockie’s wife … Gudrun Ure A Protestant Evangelist … Bryden Murdoch Meg Eliot, Stob’s daughter … Rona Anderson A Lady, Lindsay’s mistress …

Madeleine Christie Her maid … Dorothy Bibby Lord Johnstone’s secretary … Paul Kermack Lord Maxwell’s secretary … John Graham Cardinal’s secretary … Alan Haines Highland Captain … Paul Kermack King James V … Michael Deacon Music arranged by Cedric Thorpe Davie And played by David James (trumpet) Kevin Thompson (trombone) Produced by Stewart Conn Issue Dated 21 October 1965 213 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 27] Shakespeare’s Henry V [article by J C Trewin] [Programme Details] Monday 25 October 1965, 8.0 pm, Home Henry V

By William Shakespeare Starring John Neville With David March, Peter Pratt And Norman Wynne Cast in order of speaking

Chorus … David March Canterbury … Preston Lockwood Ely … Basil Jones Westmoreland … Stephen Thorne Henry V … John Neville Exeter … Wilfred Babbage French Ambassador … Patrick Barr Bedford …Hamlyn Benson Scroop … Tim Seely Cambridge … Gordon Gardiner Grey … Wilfrid Carter Bardolph … John Dearth Nym … Henry Webb Pistol … Peter Pratt Mistress Quickly … Joan Newell Boy to the Three … Brian Hewlett French King … Walter Fitzgerald Dolphin … Harold Lang Constable of France … Bruce Beeby Bourbon … Patrick Barr Fluellen, governor … Norman Wynne Captain Gower … Stephen Thorne Captain Jamy … Nigel Graham Captain Macmorris … Rio Fanning Harfleur … Eric Anderson Princess Katharine … Elizabeth Morgan Alice … Elevyne Volney Montjoy, the French Herald … Valentine Dyall Orleans … Brian Hewlett Erpingham … Wilfred Babbage Court … Wilfrid Carter Bates … John Dearth Williams … Hamlyn Benson Gloucester … Eric Anderson French Soldier … Peter Marinker Queen Isabel …Elevyne Volney Produced by R D Smith

1966 Issue Dated 14 April 1966 216 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 13] The Road to Rome [article by Archie Campbell] [Programme Details] Saturday 16 April 1966, 8.30 pm, Home Saturday-Night Theatre The Road to Rome

By Robert Emmett Sherwood Adapted by Cynthia Pughe With Robert Beatty, Juno Tobin John Justin Romans: Fabius Maximus, a senator … John Justin Fabia, his mother … Joan Matheson Amytis, his wife … Juno Tobin Scipio, an officer … John Dearth Sertorius, an elderly senator … Noel Howlett Varius, a slave … Brian Hewlett Meta, another slave … Eva Haddon Carthaginians: Hannibal … Robert Beatty Mago, his younger brother …Anthony Hall Hasdrubal, his second-in-command …

Russell Napier Maharbal, a general … Jerry Stovin Carthalo, another general … Harry Towb First guardsman … Barry Lowe Second guardsman … Marvin Kaye

Sergeant … Jon Farrell Time: a June day, 216 BC Produced by Archie Campbell Issue Dated 7 July 1966 217 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 21] Pompey the Great [article by J C Trewin] [Programme Details] Saturday 9 July 1966, 8.30 pm, Home Saturday-Night Theatre Pompey the Great

By John Masefield Adapted for broadcasting

By Peter Watts Featuring Stephen Murray With the BBC Drama Repertory Company In the years 50 and 49BC, Pompey the Great contended with Julius Caesar, the popular leader, for supreme power in the state.

Pompey the Great … Stephen Murray Other parts portrayed by Nigel Anthony, Beth Boyd John Dearth, Alan Dudley Nigel Graham, Noel Howlett Basil Jones, Godfrey Kenton Michael Kilgarriff Arthur Lawrence, Carol Marsh Geoffrey Matthews Susan Maudslay Michael McLain, Tim Seely Produced by Norman Wright Issue Dated 20 October 1966 218 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 29] Henry of Navarre [article by Joe Burroughs] [Programme Details] Monday 24 October 1966, 8.30 pm, Home Henry of Navarre An Enquiry

By N C Hunter Adapted for broadcasting By the author Principal characters: The Historian … Carleton Hobbs Henry of Navarre … John Slater Catherine de Medici … Joan Matheson Henry the Third of France … Allan McClelland The Duke of Guise … John Justin Charles the Ninth of France …

Douglas Hankin The Duke of Sully … Geoffrey Wincott Queen Marie … Margaret Wolfit Other parts played by Jill Cary, Peter Claughton Leigh Crutchley, William Eedle And members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company The scenes are variously laid in France Produced by Joe Burroughs Issue Dated 3 November 1966 219 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 25] The Door [article by Thea Holme]

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[Programme Details] Monday 7 November 1966, 8.30, Home The Door

By Timothy Holme Adapted for broadcasting

By Wendy Blair With Carol Marsh, Margaretta Scott George Howe And Walter Fitzgerald On the night of Palm Sunday 1212, Clare degli Scifi of Assisi vows to leave her home for ever to follow St Francis in poverty. But family opposition is ruthless Cast in order of speaking: St Francis … Denys Hawthorne Beatrice … Carole Boyd Bona … Anna Burden Ortolana … Margaretta Scott Penenda … Brenda Dunrich Guido … Michael Segal Count Favorino degli Scifi … George Howe Bosone … Douglas Hankin Clare … Carol Marsh Agnes … Elizabeth Morgan Thomas della Rovere … Anthony Hall Count Monaldo … Walter Fitzgerald Peter Bernardone … Frank Henderson Produced by Norman Wright

1967 Issue Dated 9 March 1967 223 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 58] Marlowe’s Edward II [article by John Tydeman] [Programme Details] Friday 17 March 1967, 7.55 pm, Third Programme Edward II

By Christopher Marlowe With Alec McCowen as King Edward David Buck as The Younger Mortimer Ian McKellen as Gaveston And Marjorie Westbury As The Queen The troublesome raigne and lamentable death of Edward the Second, King of England: with the tragicall fall of proud Mortimer and also the life and death of Peirs Gaveston, the great Earle of Cornwall and mighty favourite of King Edward the Second.

Music by Carl Davis Cast in order of speaking: Chronicler … Noel Howlett Gaveston … Ian McKellen King Edward II … Alec McCowen Earl of Lancaster … John Justin Elder Mortimer … George Hagan Younger Mortimer … David Buck Edmund, Earl of Kent … John Rye Earl of Warwick … John Westbrook Archbishop of Canterbury … Rolf Lefebvre Queen Isabella … Marjorie Westbury Earl of Pembroke … Trevor Martin Baldock …Denys Blakelock Younger Spencer … James Thomason Earl of Arundel … John Humphrey Prince Edward … Glyn Dearman Rice Ap Howel … Trevor Martin

Earl of Leicester … William Eedle Sir William Trussel … Alan Dudley Matrevis … Anthony Jackson Gurney … Brian Hewlett Lightborn … Rolf Lefebvre Produced by John Tydeman Issue Dated 14 September 1967 222 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 29] The Last Expedition Simon Raven introduces this evening’s play [Programme Details] Monday 18 September 1967, 8.30 pm, Home The Last Expedition

By Simon Raven With Paul Daneman as Alexander Bernard Brown as Philostratus And Max Adrian as Socrates Alcibiades, a young general … Michael Spice Nicias, an aged general … Geoffrey Wincott Lamachos, another general …

Ronald Herdman Timon, a merchant … Ralph Truman Herald … Stephen Thorne Pythias, a young officer … Peter Bartlett Sergeant …Harold Kasket Demosthenes, a general … Victor Lucas Polyclitos, a Sicilian landowner … John Justin Other parts played by the BBC Drama Repertory Company The singer, Peter Bartlett Lute-player, Desmond Dupré Produced by Archie Campbell Issue Dated 28 September 1967 221 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 8] Saturday-Night Theatre Adventure Story Terence Rattigan’s chronicle play of the career of Alexander the Great [article by John Powell] [Programme Details] Saturday 30 September 1967, 8.30 pm, Radio 4 Saturday-Night Theatre Paul Daneman As Alexander the Great With Margaret Rawlings As The Queen Mother of Persia In Adventure Story

By Terence Rattigan Adapted for radio by Peter Watts Cast in order of speaking: Hephaestion, a Macedonian officer …

David Brierley Alexander … Paul Daneman A sculptor … Michael Harbour Philip of Macedon, Alexander’s father …

John Wyse General Parmenion … David March Philotas, his son … Nigel Graham The Pythia, Priestess of Delphi …

Margaret Robertson The Queen Mother of Persia …

Margaret Rawlings Darius, King of Persia … John Justin Queen Statira … Barbara Mitchell Prince Bessus, Satrap of Bactria …

Anthony Jackson Princess Statira … Sian Davies Mazares, servant to Darius … Harold Kasket Cleitus, a Macedonian officer …

Francis de Wolff Macedonian officers: Ptolemy … Michael Harbour Perdicoas … Christopher Bidmead Roxana … Margaret Robertson With Alexander John The action of the play takes place in Greece and Persia during the fourth century BC Produced by John Powell

1968 Issue Dated 25 January 1968 226 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 20] Three Stories from Chekhov [article by Liane Aukin] [Programme Details] Monday 29 January 1968, 8.30 pm, Radio 4/Home Service Trio The Witch, The Wife and The Other Woman Three plays by Liane Aukin based on Stories by Anton Chekhov Translated by Constance Garnett 1: The Witch Savely, a sexton … Henry Stamper Raissa, his wife … Liane Aukin Postman … Anthony Jackson Driver … Alan Dudley * 2: The Wife from The Chorus Girl Call Boy … David Brierley Chorus Girls: Pasha … Marjorie Westbury Ariadne … Barbara Mitchell Kolpakov, a civil servant … Bruce Beeby The Lady … Jill Balcon * 3: The Other Woman from The Daughter of Albion Andreyev, a landowner … Howieson Culff Ostov, his friend … Harold Reese Natasia, wife to Gryabov … Madi Hedd Josef … Wilfred Babbage Gryabov, a landowner … John Bentley Production by David Davis Issue Dated 7 March 1968 227 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 44] The Tower of London [article by Tony Van den Bergh] [Programme Details] Wednesday 13 March 1968, 5.25 pm, Radio 4/Home Service

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Story Time The Tower of London The novel by Harrison Ainsworth Freely adapted for radio In thirteen parts

By Tony Van den Bergh 1: In Triumph Borne Gudrun Ure, Malcolm Hayes, Beth Boyd Christopher Bidmead Jane, the Queen … Gudrun Ure Nightgall, jailer … Peter Baldwin Magog, a giant warder … Francis de Wolff Ribald, his crony … Leigh Crutchley Archbishop Cranmer … John Wyse Bishop Ridley … Ralph Truman de Noialles, French Ambassador …

David March Simon Renard, Spanish Ambassador …

Malcolm Hayes Lord Guildford Dudley … Michael Harbour Cuthbert, his squire … Christopher Bidmead Cicely … Beth Boyd Gunnora, an old nurse … Phyllis Montefiore Dame Potentia, a cook’s wife … Lynn Carson Xit, a dwarf … Nigel Anthony With Diana Robson Produced by R D Smith Issue Dated 11 April 1968 229 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 38] Cymbeline A Historic Performance [article by J C Trewin] [Programme Details] Friday 19 April 1968, 8.5 pm, Radio 3 Cymbeline

By William Shakespeare The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company With Peggy Ashcroft Joan Miller, Geoffrey Keen Mark Dignam, Cyril Luckham Richard Johnson, Clive Revill And Robert Harris Narrator … Patrick Wymark A Gentleman … Thane Bettany First Lord … Peter Cellier Second Lord … Barry Warren The Queen … Joan Miller Posthumus Leonatus, husband to Imogen …

Richard Johnson Imogen, daughter to Cymbeline by a former Queen … Peggy Ashcroft Cymbeline, King of Britain … Robert Harris Pisanio , servant to Posthumus …

Mark Dignam Cloten, son to the Queen by a former husband … Clive Revill Helen, a lady attendant on Imogen …

Molly Tapper Iachimo, an Italian … Geoffrey Keen Philario, an Italian, friend to Posthumus …

Donald Layne-Smith A Frenchman … Brian Bedford Cornelius, a physician … James Wellman A Singer … Rex Robinson A Councillor … William Elmhurst Caius Lucius, general of the Roman forces …

Donald Eccles Belarius, called Morgan … Cyril Luckham

Sons to Cymbeline, supposed sons to Morgan Guiderius … Robert Arnold Arviragus … Brian Bedford A Roman Captain … Derek Mayhew British Officers … Donald Layne-Smith … Simon Carter Apparitions Sicilius Leonatus … Tony Robertson His wife … Molly Tapper A Gaoler … Julian Glover Ladies, attendant on the Queen Mavis Edwards, Elizabeth Evans Pamela Taylor, Eileen Atkins British soldiers Antony Brown Edward Caddick, John Davidson Henry Davis, Julian Glover John Grayson, Norman Miller And Gordon Wright Roman soldiers Antony Brown, John Muray Scott Kenneth Gilbert, John Salway Gordon Souter, Roy Spencer Directed by Peter Hall With music by Raymond Leppard Radio adaptation and production by Victor Menzies The action takes place at the court of Cymbeline, at Philario’s house in Rome, and outside the cave of Belarius in the mountains of Wales [First broadcast on 27 December 1957] Issue Dated 6 June 1968 230 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 36] Athens in Decline [article by Simon Raven] [Programme Details] Monday 10 June 1968, 8.30 pm, Radio 4 The Prisoners in the Cave

By Simon Raven Paul Daneman as Alexander Michael Spice as Alcibiades Denys Blakelock as Socrates Athens, her wealth and fighting men squandered in Sicily, lies at the mercy of the Spartans …

Timon, An Athenian merchant …

Ralph Truman Xenophon … Christopher Bidmead Timaea, Queen of Sparta … Margaret Wolfit Endios, a Spartan ephor … Geoffrey Wincott Ganymede, a Spartan shipmaster …

Victor Lucas Tissaphernes, a Persian satrap … Heron Carvic Peisander, an oligarch … Rolf Lefebvre Darius, Great King of Persia …

Denis McCarthy Hermes, a eunuch … Andrew Sachs Thrasybulos, an Athenian general …

John Pullen Timandra, a whore … Jan Edwards Produced by Archie Campbell Issue Dated 1 August 1968 231 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 32] Lope de Vega [article by Margaret Etall]

[Programme Details] Saturday 3 August 1968, 1.45 pm, Radio 4 Afternoon Theatre Peribáñez and the Comendador of Ocaña

By Lope de Vega Translated and adapted for radio by Margaret Etall With Trader Faulkner Rosalind Shanks Francis de Wolff The action of the play takes place in the city of Toledo and the small farming town of Ocaña in central Spain in July and August 1406.

Inés … Maureen Beck Costanza … Jill Cary Casilda … Rosalind Shanks A Priest … Lockwood West Peribáñez … Trader Faulkner Bartolo … John Wyse Leonardo … Jon Rollason Luján …Leonard Fenton Don Fadrique, Comendador of Ocaña …

Francis de Wolff Constable of Castille … Victor Lucas King Enrique III … John Pullen A Councillor … Ralph Truman A Painter … Haydn Jones Benito … Antony Viccars Gil … Wilfrid Carter Antón … David Brierley Blas … Michael Deacon Mendo … Nicholas Edmett Belardo … Peter Pratt Queen … Ann Murray Gomez Manrique … Peter Williams Music arranged by Jon Rollason And performed by him and members of the cast Produced by John Gibson Issue Dated 5 December 1968 232 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 45] Hark the Glad Sound [article by Charles Chilton] [Programme Details] Thursday 12 December 1968, 9.5 am, Radio 4 Hark the Glad Sound Recordings of favourite religious music from folk song to oratorio Narrators, Charles Chilton, Kevin Flood Compiled and produced by Charles Chilton

1969 Issue Dated 3 April 1969 233 [Picture Caption/Article Title, on page 40] The Firstborn [article by J C Trewin] [Programme Details] Easter Monday 7 April 1969, 8.30 pm, Radio 4 The Firstborn

By Christopher Fry Adapted for radio

By Martin Jenkins With Keith Michell

142 | APPENDIX

Maurice Denham, Mary Morris The action of the play takes place in the year 1200 BC, alternating between the Pharaoh’s palace and Miriam’s tent.

Seti II, the Pharaoh … Maurice Denham Anath Bithiah, his sister … Mary Morris Ramases, his son … David Spenser Teusret, his daughter … Nicola Jenkins Moses … Keith Michell Aaron, his brother … Peter Baldwin Miriam, his sister … Pauline Letts Shendi, Miriam’s son … Nicholas Edmett Other parts: David Brierley, Alaric Cotter Produced by Martin Jenkins Issue Dated 17 April 1969 234 [Picture Caption/Article Heading, on page 43] Smetana’s Libuse [article by Malcolm Rayment] [Programme Details] Saturday 19 April 1969, 6.45 pm, Radio 3 Libuse Opera in three acts Music by Smetana Libretto by Wenzig Sung in Czech: gramophone records Libuse, A Bohemian princess …

Nadezda Kniplova (soprano) Krasava and Ludmilla, attendants …

Milada Sbrtova (soprano) … Vera Soukupova (contralto) Chrudos and Stahlav, Radmila’s brothers …

Zdenek Kroupa (bass) … Ivo Zidek (tenor) Lutobar, Krasava’s father … Karel Berman (bass) Radovan, a nobleman … Jindrich Jindrak (baritone) Premysi, a landowner … Vaclav Bednar (baritone) Chorus and Orchestra of the Prague National Theatre Conducted by Jaroslav Krombholc The action takes place in and near Vysehrad and Stadice, in Bohemia, in Pagan times

1970 Issue Dated 22 January 1970 240 [Programme Details, on page 31] Tuesday 27 January 1970, 7.0 pm, Radio 4 War and Peace

By Leo Tolstoy A dramatisation in 20 parts From the translation by Louis and Aylmer Maude Edited by Michael Bakewell Executive producer Ronald Mason With David Buck, Kate Binchy Martin Jarvis, Felix Felton And Denys Hawthorne as Tolstoy Part 5: Austerlitz, Nov 1805 Adapted by Val Gielgud Prince Andrei Bolkonsky … Martin Jarvis Napoleon … Peter Pratt Berthier … John Rye

General Kutuzov … Felix Felton Tsar Alexander … John Pullen Prince Bagration … Norman Shelley Boris Drubetskoy … John Rye Nicolai Rostov … Christopher Guinee Lieut Berg … Geoffrey Collins Prince Repnin … Denys Hawthorne Natasha Rostova … Kate Binchy Count Ilya Rostov … David March Vera Rostova … Margaret Wolfit Petya Rostov … Derek Seaton Sonya … Patricia Gallimore Nataly Rostova … Ilona Ference Denisov … Nigel Lambert Princess Drubetskaya … Daphne Newton Rostopchin … Heron Carvic Naryshkin … Derek Seaton Valuev … Nigel Lambert Fedya Dolokhov … Sean Barrett Pierre Bezukhov … David Buck Nesvitski … Michael Deacon Hélène Bezhukova … Sonia Fraser Directed by Ronald Mason

With David Buck, Kate Binchy Martin Jarvis, Felix Felton And Denys Hawthorne as Tolstoy Part 17: Patience and Time Adapted by Val Gielgud Cast in order of speaking Maria Bolkonskaya … Elizabeth Proud Countess Natalya Rostova … Ilona Ference Count Ilya Rostov … David March Sonya … Patricia Gallimore Natasha Rostova … Kate Binchy Prince Andrei Bolkonsky … Martin Jarvis Napoleon … Peter Pratt Kutuzov … Felix Felton General Bennigsen … John Bryning General Ermolov … John Gabriel General Toll … Nigel Lambert Orlov … Garrard Green Grekov … Derek Seaton Berthier … John Rye Pierre Bezukhov … David Buck Directed by John Powell Issue Dated 7 May 1970

Issue Dated 26 March 1970 241 [Programme Details, on page 35] Tuesday 31 March 1970, 7.0 pm, Radio 4 War and Peace

By Leo Tolstoy A dramatisation in 20 parts From the translation by Louis and Aylmer Maude Edited by Michael Bakewell Executive producer Ronald Mason With David Buck, Kate Binchy David March, Felix Felton And Denys Hawthorne as Tolstoy Part 14: Betrayal and Loss Adapted by Val Gielgud Cast in order of speaking Count Bennigsen … John Bryning General Kutuzov … Felix Felton Ermolov … John Gabriel Grandee … Peter Pratt Count Rostopchin … Heron Carvic Hélène Bezhukova … Sonia Fraser Monsieur Jobert … Garrard Green Maria Dmitrievna … Kathleen Helme Vasili Kuragin … James Thomason Bilibin … Geoffrey Collins Pierre Bezukhov … David Buck Countess Nataly Rostova … Ilona Ference Petya Rostov … Derek Seaton Official … Hector Ross Gerasim … Clifford Norgate Directed by Nesta Pain Issue Dated 16 April 1970 243 [Programme Details, on page 35] Tuesday 21 April 1970, 7.0 pm, Radio 4 War and Peace

By Leo Tolstoy A dramatisation in 20 parts From the translation by Louis and Aylmer Maude Edited by Michael Bakewell Executive producer Ronald Mason

244 [Programme Details, on page 32] Tuesday 12 May 1970, 7.0 pm, Radio 4 War and Peace

By Leo Tolstoy A dramatisation in 20 parts From the translation by Louis and Aylmer Maude Edited by Michael Bakewell Executive producer Ronald Mason With David Buck, Kate Binchy Martin Jarvis, Christopher Guinee Elizabeth Proud And Denys Hawthorne as Tolstoy Part 20: Epilogue Adapted by Michael Bakewell Count Ilya Rostov … David March Countess Nataly Rostova … Ilona Ference Vaska Denisov … Nigel Lambert Count Nicolai Rostov … Christopher Guinee Maria Bolkonskaya … Elizabeth Proud Sonya … Patricia Gallimore Countess Natasha Bezhukhova … Kate Binchy Mademoiselle Bourienne … Patricia Gallimore Little Andrei Rostov … Peter Bartlett Little Natasha Rostova … Kate Binchy Count Pierre Bezukhov … David Buck Young Nicolai Bolkonsky … Martin Jarvis Desalles … John Pullen Directed by Ronald Mason Issue Dated 4 June 1970 242 [Picture Caption, on page 50] ‘I dreamt … I was standing by my grave. There were some marble doves on it. And I was feeding them. The name ws a bit faded … I must have been buried for some time …’ The Skins: 8.45 [Programme Details] Friday 12 June 1970, 8.45 pm, Radio 3 The Skins Kuze by Ludvig Askenazy Translated from the Czech by Vera Blackwell The chance meeting of a young girl and a man

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in the forest leads to a brutal interrogation in this black comedy by the author of A Christmas Trifle, broadcast on the Third Programme in 1967.

The Girl … Sheila Grant The Man … Andrew Sachs The Lieutenant … Brian Hewlett The Inspector … Haydn Jones Produced by Charles Lefeaux Issue Dated 11 June 1970 245 [Programme Details, on page 33] Sunday 14 June 1970, 7.30 pm, Radio 3 Suzannah Andler

By Marguerite Duras Translated and adapted for Radio by Barbara Bray With Vivien Merchant And David Buck Husband or lover? Under a screen of superficial banality, the author of Hiroshima, mon Amour probes deeply and sensitively into the mind of a rich and beautiful woman poised on the brink of emotional crisis.

Cast: Suzanna Andler … Vivienne Merchant Rivière … Godfrey Kenton Michel Cayre … David Buck Monique Combès … Nicolette Bernard Jean … Richard Burndall With Deborah Dallas Produced by Archie Campbell Issue Dated 23 July 1970 246 [Programme Details, on page 23] Sunday 26 July 1970, 8.45 pm, Radio 3 The Conversation

By Claude Mauriac Translated and adapted by Barbara Bray This play, by the distinguished French novelist and critic, first performed in Paris in 1966, is in two linked parts.

The first part presents a speeded-up version of the dialogue between a man and a woman, from their marriage in the early 1900s to the woman’s death over 60 years later. The second part reverses the process and represents in slow motion and expanded form, a dialogue which occurs briefly towards the end of the first part, between the husband woman and her husband’s best friend.

Gwen Watford as The Woman Richard Bebb as The Man Charles Gray as Louis Kathleen Helme as Madame Jaillet And The Family played by Sonia Fraser, Madi Hedd Jo Manning Wilson Leslie Heritage, Frederick Treves Peter Tuddenham Pianist David Davis The play arranged for stereo And produced by John Powell

1971 Issue Dated 7 January 1971 247 [Programme Details, on page 28] Sunday 10 January 1971, 5.20 pm, Radio 3 The Morte Darthur (completed 1469-1470)

By Sir Thomas Malory The noble and joyous history of the great conqueror and excellent king, King Arthur, and of his noble knights of the Round Table, their marvelous quests and adventures, the achieving of the Sangrail, and in the end the dolorous death and departing out of this world of them all.

Derek Brewer, Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, introduces his selection of 12 weekly dramatised readings With the voices of Norman Shelley, Robert Eddison Robert Hardy, Maxine Audley Henry Stamper, and the music of Stephen Dodgson Produced by Raymond Raikes Issue Dated 18 February 1971 248 [Programme Details] Sunday 21 February 1971, 2.30 pm, Radio 4 The Sunday Play The Constant Couple A comedy by George Farquhar Arranged for radio by Raymond Raikes: with music Composed by Thomas Eastwood With Alec Clunes Avice Landon, John Wyse Vizard, outwardly pious, otherwise a great debauchee, and villainous … John Gabriel Footman to Lady Darling and Angelica …

Nigel Clayton Smuggler, an old merchant … Norman Shelley Standard, a disbanded Colonel, brave and generous … John Wyse Sir Harry Wildair , an airy gentleman, affecting humorous gaiety and freedom in his behaviour … Alec Clunes Lurewell, a lady of a jilting temper, proceeding from a resentment of her wrongs from men …

Avice Landon Parly, maid to the Lady Lurewell …

Jo Manning Wilson James, servant to the Lady Lurewell …

Ian Thompson Lady Darling, an old lady, mother to Angelica … Fabia Drake Angelica, a young woman of honour …

Carol Marsh A section of the New London Symphony Orchestra of London Conducted by Kenneth Alwyn Produced by Raymond Raikes (Broadcast in 1967) Issue Dated 25 February 1971 249 [Picture Caption, on page 20] Verdi’s Il Corsaro – first broadcast in this country

[Programme Details] Saturday 27 February 1971, 7.50 pm, Radio 3 Il Corsaro A tragic opera in three acts Libretto, after Byron,

By Francesco Maria Piave Music by Verdi (sung in Italian) (first broadcast performance in this country) Corrado, a corsair captain … Keith Erwen (tenor) Giovanni, his henchman … Roger Heath (baritone) Medora, a young woman, loved by Corrado …

Patrick McCarry (soprano) Gulnara, favourite slave of Pasha Seid …

Pauline Tinsley (soprano) A eunuch … Leslie Fry (tenor) Seid, Pasha of Coron … Terence Sharpe (baritone) Selim, chief steward of the Pasha …

Emlyn Jones (tenor) A slave … [ditto] Corsairs, guards, Turks, slaves, odalisques, maids BBC Chorus BBC Concert Orchestra Conducted by Marcus Dods Repetiteur John Bacon (Recorded before an invited audience in the Camden Theatre, London) Issue Dated 4 March 1971 250 [Programme Details, on page 24] Sunday 7 March 1971, 6.30 pm, Radio 3 Henry VI

By William Shakespeare The three Henry VI plays abridged into two parts by Raymond Raikes Part 1: Henry VI Part 1 and Henry VI Part 2 to Act 4, Sc 1 (approximate historical dates: 1422-1450) with Ian McKellan as The Duke of York and his son Richard Crookback Barbara Jefford, John Gabriel Norman Shelley, Clifford Norgate, Nigel Lambert Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the Protector … John Gabriel Earl of Warwick … Clifford Norgate Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester …

Norman Shelley Messenger … Trevor Martin Captain to Lord Talbot … Edward Kelsey Charles The Dauphin … Basil Langton Reignier, Duke of Anjou, titular King of Naples … Kerry Francis Bastard of Orleans … Patrick Tull Joan La Pucelle … Elizabeth Morgan Mayor of London … James Thomason Master-Gunner of Orleans … David Valla Earl of Salisbury … Hector Ross Lord Talbot … Francis de Wolff Duke of Alanson, Captain of the Watch …

Trevor Martin Duke of Burgundy … Gerald Cross Countess of Auvergne … Marjorie Westbury Richard Plantagenet, later Duke of York …

Ian McKellen

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William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk …

Leslie Heritage King Henry VI … Nigel Lambert Sir William Lucy … John Rye Margaret of Anjou, daughter to Reignier …

Barbara Jefford Joan’s father … Edward Kelsey Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester …

Gladys Spencer A priest … Brian Hewlett A conjuror … Gerald Cross Walter Whitmore, Master of a ship-of-war …

Hector Ross His mate … Sean Barrett The original stage directions read by Gabriel Woolf Music by Stephen Dodgson Played by a section of the English Chamber Orchestra Conducted by Rae Jenkins Produced by Raymond Raikes Issue Dated 6 May 1971 251 [Programme Details, on page 25] Sunday 9 May 1971, 7.45 pm, Radio 3 Volpone

By Ben Jonson Adapted for radio by Martin Jenkins With Clive Revill Paul Daneman, Max Adrian Volpone, childless, rich, feigns sick, despairs, Offers his state to hopes of several heirs, Lies languishing: his parasite receives Presents of us all, assures, deludes; then weaves Other cross plots, which ape themselves, are told.

New tricks for safety are sought; they thrive when bold Each tempts the other again, and all are sold.

Volpone … Clive Revill Mosca … Paul Daneman Sir Politick Would-Be … Max Adrian Voltore … Aubrey Woods Corbaccio … Clifford Rose Corvino … Rolf Lefebvre Celia … Jane Knowles Lady Politick Would-be … Betty Baskcomb Bonario … Henry Knowles Peregrine … Nigel Lambert Nano … Sean Barrett Third Advocate … [ditto] Castrone … John Rye Second Advocate … [ditto] Androgyno … Lewis Stringer First Advocate … [ditto] Fourth Advocate … Gerald Cross Notario … Anthony Higginson The music and the songs for this production composed by Derek Oldfield Produced by Martin Jenkins

This, the second of three plays by Ian Rodger on the nature of dissent in society, concerns the Peasants Revolt of 1381.

With David Spenser as Richard II Mary Wimbush as Princess Joan Wat Tyler … Anthony Jackson John Ball … Clive Swift Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury …

Denys Blakelock Earl of March … Lockwood West Lord Salisbury … Peter Pratt Courtenay, Bishop of London … Rolf Lefebvre Robert Fiennes … Michael Spice Bampton … John Baddeley Lord Mayor … Wilfrid Carter Sir John Newton … Peter Bartlett Burley … [ditto] Other parts: David Brierley, Antony Viccars, Frederick Treves Music by The Yetties Produced by John Tydeman (Broadcast in 1969) Issue Dated 22 July 1971 253 [Programme Details, on page 42] Thursday 29 July 1971, 1.50 pm, Radio 3 Ernani Tragic opera in four acts

By Verdi Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave After Victor Hugo English version by Tom Hammond Cast: Don Juan of Aragon, a rebel nobleman, living as a bandit under the name of Ernani …

Donald Smith (tenor) Don Carlos, King of Spain, afterwards the Emperor Charles V … Robert Bickerstaff (baritone) Dom Guy de Silva, a Spanish grandee …

Clifford Grant (bass) Elvira, his niece and affianced bride …

Pauline Tinsley (soprano) Donna Giovanna, her duenna …

Marie Robinson (soprano) Don Riccardo, chamberlain to the King …

David Morton Gray (baritone) Don Iago, chamberlain to Silva …

Peter Tracey (baritone) Bandits, knights, ladies-in-waiting, soldiers Sadler’s Wells Opera Chorus Chorus-master John Barker Sadler’s Wells Orchestra Leader John Sealey Conducted by Bryan Balkwill From Sadler’s Wells Theatre The action takes place in Spain and Germany in the year 1519 Issue Dated 9 September 1971

Issue Dated 17 June 1971 252 [Programme details, on page 27] Sunday 20 June 1971, 2.30 pm, Radio 4 The Sunday Play The Lollard Trilogy: The Great Society

By Ian Rodger

254 [Picture Caption, on page 29] The Well of the Saints by J M Synge [Programme Details] Monday 13 September 1971, 8.30 pm, Radio 4 The Well of the Saints

By John Millington Synge

A World Theatre production to mark the 100th anniversary of Synge’s birth With Cyril Cusack Marie Kean and Kevin Flood The Lord protect us from the saints of God Martin Doul … Cyril Cusack Mary Doul … Marie Kean Timmy … Kevin Flood Molly Byrne … Kate Binchy Bride … Rosalind Shanks Mat Simon … Alan Barry The Saint … Martin Dempsey Producer John Scotney Issue Dated 14 October 1971 255 [Picture Caption, on page 35] A Piece of Madness by Joan O’Connor [Programme Details] Monday 18 October 1971, 8.30 pm, Radio 4 A Piece of Madness A play for radio by Joan O’Connor A story of romantic and political intrigue set in Bismarck’s Germany: with William Squire as Ferdinand Lassalle Countess Sophie von Hatzfeldt … Barbara Lott Count Kurt von Stellenborg … Gabriel Woolf Heinrich Holthoff … Lewis Stringer Yanko von Rackowitza … David Timson Frau von Dönniges … Jill Shilling Fredericka von Randeck … Gudrun Ure Count von Kresten … Gerald Cross Lady Harriet Aldington … Eva Haddon Gustav von Randeck … Antony Higginson General Ludwig von Dönniges …

Austin Trevor Thérèse … Janet Burnell Dr Seiler … John Samson Pianist David Davis Producer David H Godfrey Issue Dated 11 November 1971 256 [Picture Caption, on page 36] Bertolt Brecht’s The Days of the Commune [Programme Details] Sunday 14 November 1971, 6.50 pm, Radio 3 The Days of the Commune

By Bertolt Brecht Translated from the German by Richard Beckley With Barry Foster And Mary Wimbush Kate Binchy, John Hollis Elizabeth Proud Brecht explains the collapse of the Paris Commune of 1871. He feels that it was the leaders’ unwillingness to use violence which caused their defeat. In this year of the centenary of the Commune Brecht’s play is being given in its first professional English production.

Jean Cabet … Barry Foster Madame Cabet … Mary Wimbush Genevieve … Kate Binchy ‘Papa’ … John Hollis Babette … Elizabeth Proud Philippe … Anthony Jackson Coco/Chairman … Martin Friend

APPENDIX | 145

Francois/Newsvendor … Geoffrey Beevers Narrator … Stephen Thorne The portly gentleman/Delescluze …

Ronald Herdman Jules Favre/Tax Collector … Rolf Lefebvre Langevin … Haydn Jones Thiers … David March Varlin … John Rye Woman Delegate/Baker’s Wife …

Sheila Grant Waiter/Officer … Brian Hewlett Dying Woman … Diana Bishop Aristocratic Lady … Eva Stuart Mayor/Ranvier … Edward Kelsey De Ploeuc … William Fox Beslay … James Thomason Rigault … Malcolm Terris Guy … Robin Browne Women and children … Jean England Woman … Stephanie Turner Songs by Hanns Eisler Incidental music composed and conducted

by Hans Heimler Played by Judith Pearce, Bram Gay Terry Emery, Henry Krein Producer Richard Wortley Issue Dated 18 November 1971 261 [Picture Caption, on page 34] Götterdammerung from Bayreuth [Programme Details] Sunday 21 November 1971, 1.15 pm, Radio 3 The Ring from Bayreuth: Götterdammerung A music drama in three acts

By Wagner (sung in German) First Norn … Marga Hoeffgen (contralto) Second Norn … Anne Reynolds (mezzo-soprano) Third Norn … Wendy Fine (sop) Brünnhilde … Berit Lindholm (sop) Siegfried … Jean Cox (tenor) Gunther … Franz Mazura (bass) Waltraute … Anna Reynolds Alberich … Gustav Neidlinger (bass-baritone) Woglinde … Elizabeth Volkman (soprano) Wellgunde … Inger Paustian (mezzo-soprano) Flosshilde … Sylvia Anderson (mezzo-soprano) Chorus and orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival Chorus-master Wilhelm Pitz Conducted by Horst Stein Producer Wolfgang Wagner (Recording of a performance at the 1971 Festival made available by Bavarian Radio)

1972 Issue Dated 3 February 1972 257 [Programme Details, on page 18] Saturday 5 February 1972, 6.30 pm, Radio 3 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Opera in three acts Music by Wagner Libretto by the The Composer (sung in German) (gramophone records) Walther von Stolzing, a young Knight …

René Kollo (tenor) Eva, Pogner’s daughter … Helen Donath (soprano) Magdalene, her nurse … Ruth Hesse (mezzo-soprano) David, Sach’s apprentice … Peter Schreier (tenor) Veit Pogner, goldsmith … Karl Ridderbusch (bass) Sixtus Beckmesser, Town Clerk …

Geraint Evans (bass-baritone) Hans Sachs, shoemaker … Theo Adam (bass-baritone) Kunz Vogelgesang, furrier … Eberhard Büchner (tenor) Konrad Nachtigall, tinsmith … Horst Lunow (bass) Fritz Kothner, baker … Zoltan Kélémen (bass) Herman Ortel, soapboiler …

Hermann Christian Polster (bass) Balthazar Zorn, pewterer … Hans Joachim Rotzsch (tenor) Augustin Moser, tailor … Horst Hiestermann (tenor) Ulrich Eisslinger, grocer … Peter Bindszus (tenor) Hans Foltz, coppersmith … Siegfried Vogel (tenor) Hans Schwartz, stocking-weaver …

Heinz Reeh (bass) Nightwatchman …Kurt Moll (bass) Dresden State Opera Chorus Leipzig Radio Chorus Dresden State Orchestra Conducted by Herbert von Karajan Issue Dated 27 April 1972 262 [Picture Caption, page 20] Gerhard’s opera The Duenna, based on Sheridan [Programme Details] Saturday 29 April 1972, 7.20 pm, Radio 3 The Duenna An opera in three acts

By Roberto Gerhard Libretto by the composer After Sheridan Don Jerome, a nobleman of Seville …

Joseph Rouleau (bass) Donna Luisa, his daughter … Jill Gomez (soprano) Don Ferdinand, his son … Thomas Allen (baritone) The Duenna … Janet Coster (mezzo-soprano) Don Antonio, in love with Donna Luisa …

Keith Erwen (tenor) Donna Clara … Delia Wallis (mezzo-soprano) Don Isaac, an elderly Portuguese Jew …

Norman Bailey (bar) Fr Paul, his companion and guide …

John Winfield (tenor) Lopez, servant to Don Ferdinand …

Roy Williamson (spoken role) BBC Chorus BBC Symphony Orchestra Leader Bela Dekany Conducted by David Atherton Repetiteurs Harold Lester, Roger Vignoles and John Constable

Producers Veronica Slater and Lionel Salter Edition prepared by Alan Boulstead Issue Dated 1 June 1972 263 [Programme Details, page 29] Monday 5 June 1972, 8.30 pm, Radio 4 The Dance of Death

By August Strindberg Translated by Elizabeth Sprigge ‘Life has been so strange, so against me, so vindictive … and people were so vindictive that I became vindictive too.’

The play is set in the 1890s on an island fortress off the Swedish coast. After 25 years of marriage, Alice and Edgar have reached an uneasy truce …

Alice … Jill Bennett Edgar … John Moffatt Kurt … Alan Rowe Jenny … Helen Worth Adapted and produced by Christopher Venning Issue Dated 7 December 1972 260 [Programme Details, page 36] Sunday 10 December 1972, 2.40 pm, Radio 3 The Ring from Bayreuth: Siegfried A music drama in three acts by Wagner (sung in German) After forging the sword Nothung and overcoming fearful dangers, Siegfried awakens Brünnhilde, and claims her as his bride.

Siegfried … Jean Cox (tenor) Mime … Heinz Zednik (tenor) The Wanderer … Thomas Stewart (bass) Alberich … Gustav Neidlinger (bass-bar) Fafner … Heinz Feldhoff (bass) Brünnhilde … Catarina Ligendza (soprano) Erda … Marga Hoeffgen (contralto) Woodbird … Yoko Kawahara (sop) Bayreuth Festival Orchestra Conducted by Horst Stein (Bavarian Radio recording)

1977 Issue Dated 12-18 March 1977 264 [Programme Details, page 23] Saturday 12 March 1977, 7.20 pm, Radio 3 Tamerlano Opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel Libretto by Nicola Haym (sung in Italian: records) The story of Tamburlaine’s love for Asteria, daughter of his captive, Bazajeth, former Emperor of the Turks. Asteria’s courageous defiance of Tamburlaine, supported by her father, culminates eventually in Bazajeth’s suicide, in one of the most powerful operatic scenes Handel ever wrote.

Tamburlaine, Emperor of the Tartars …

Gwendolyn Killebrew (contralto) Bazajeth, former Emperor of the Turks, Tamburlaine’s prisoner … Alexander Young (tenor) Asteria, his daughter, in love with Andronicus

146 | APPENDIX

… Carole Bogard (soprano) Andronicus, a Grecian prince, Tamburlaine’s confidante … Sophia Steffan (contralto) Irene, Princess of Trabiscond, bethrothed to Tamburlaine … Joanna Simon (mezzo-soprano) Leo, friend of Andronicus … Marius Rintzler (bass) Copenhagen Chamber Orchestra Conducted by John Moriarty

1978 Issue Dated 14-20 January 1978 265, 266 [Picture Caption, page 24] Why did the pawnbroker’s wife kill herself by jumping from the window of her flat – holding an icon? He seeks the answer in John Tavener’s opera A Gentle Spirit [Programme Details] Saturday 14 January 1978, 7.5 pm, Radio 3 Tavener and Stravinsky Double-Bill A performance given on 4 July 1977 at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, as part of the Cheltenham Festival Part 1 A Gentle Spirit Chamber opera in one act by John Tavener.

Libretto by Gerald McLarnon, based on a short story by Dostoevsky Wife … Elise Ross (soprano) Husband … Kenneth Wollam (tenor) Nash Ensemble Conducted by Simon Rattle Part 2 The Soldier’s Tale (staged version) Music by Stravinsky. Words by C F Ramuz, translated by Donald Flanders and Kitty Black Narrator … Christopher Hancock Devil … Edward Atienza Soldier … Kevin Williams Nash Ensemble Conducted by Simon Rattle Issue Dated 28 January-3 February 1978 267 [Picture Caption, page 42] The Anathemata: a voyage ‘through the whole inheritance of Western civilisation’. A classic radio production from 1953 of David Jones’s poetical work [Programme Details] Tuesday 31 January 1978, 9.20 pm, Radio 3 The Anathemata

By David Jones Adapted for broadcasting and produced by Douglas Cleverdon who introduces the programme I: Rite and Fore-Time II: Middle-Sea and Lear-Sea III: Angle-Land IV: Redriff V: The Lady of the Pool VI: Keel, Ram, Stauros VII: Mabinog’s Liturgy VIII: Sher Tuesday and Venus Day

The English Voices: Valentine Dyall, Carleton Hobbs Frank Duncan James McKechnie The Welsh Voices: Dylan Thomas, Rachel Thomas Sulwen Morgan, Gwenilian Owen The Lady of the Pool … Diana Maddox Eb Bradshaw, shipwright … Norman Shelley The Sailors … Peter Lindsay …Neville Hartley With a section of the Schola Polyphonica Director Henry Washington The Deller Consort The Looe Singers Though still comparatively unknown, The Anathemata is increasingly recognised as one of the major poetic works of the century.

Within the framework of the Mass, and thus of the Crucifixion, it reflects the whole inheritance of our Western civilization, with its deposits from pre-history, from Greece and Rome, from Welsh and English mythology, and above all from the Christian tradition: now threatened by the breakdown of a culture for which signs and symbols are no longer valid.

(First broadcast on 5 May 1953) Issue Dated 16-22 September 1978 268 [Picture Caption, page 34] A lovers’ rendezvous in the palace gardens, a sword stained with the blood of Xerxes, King of Persia, and the music of Thomas Arne in his opera Artaxerxes [Programme Details] Sunday 17 September 1978, 2.5 pm, Radio 3 Artaxerxes Opera in three acts Music by Thomas Arne (died 1778) Arne wrote his operatic masterpiece in 1762, using his own English translation of a Metastasio libretto. It is a unique amalgam of the Italian and English styles; and the most ‘national’ of the tunes were reproduced in numerous barrel-organ rolls. Haydn was delighted by it: he ‘had no idea we had such an opera in the English language’. Listeners today may be similarly surprised.

Mandane … Elizabeth Vaughan (soprano) Arbaces … Sandra Browne (mezzo-soprano) Artaxerxes … Margaret Cable (contralto) Artabanes … John Brecknock (tenor) Semira ... Sandra Dugdale (soprano) BBC Singers Director John Poole Continuo: Peter Halling (cello) Ian Anderson (double-bass) John Constable (harpsichord) New Chamber Soloists Leader John Willison Conducted by Maurits Sillem Technical presentation John Rushby-Smith Producer Elaine Padmore

1979 Issue Dated 30 June-6 July 1979 269, 270 [Picture Caption, page 63] Winchester’s celebrations of its cathedral’s 900th anniversary include tonight’s concert by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra [Programme Details] Thursday 5 July 1979, 7.30, Radio 4 Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Direct from Winchester Cathedral Conductor George Hurst Martin Neary (organ) Elgar Introduction and Allegro for strings Mozart Symphony No 40, in G minor (K550) Part 2 Saint-Saëns Symphony No 3, with organ

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY | 147

Select Bibliography 1. Books on Eric Fraser

2. Books on Radio Times

For a more comprehensive bibliography of books and articles on Eric Fraser, please refer to Backemeyer 1998

Baker 2002 Martin Baker, Artists of Radio Times. A Golden Age of British Illustration, London: Chris Beetles Ltd/Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2002

Backemeyer 1998 Sylvia Backemeyer, Eric Fraser. Designer & Illustrator, London: Lund Humphries, 1998: with an essay by Wendy Coates-Smith

Currie 2001 Tony Currie, The Radio Times Story, Tiverton: Kelly, 2001

Davis 1985 Alec Davis, The Graphic Work of Eric Fraser, Uffculme: The Uffculme Press, 1985 (2nd edition): with a postscript by Geoffrey Fraser

Driver 1981 David Driver, The Art of Radio Times. The First Sixty Years, London: BBC Publications, 1981

Hodgson 1991 Pat Hodgson, Eric Fraser. An Illustrator of Our Time, London: British Gas plc, 1991

Usherwood 1961 R D Usherwood, Drawing for Radio Times, London: The Bodley Head, 1961

Eric Fraser at work in his studio at Hampton-on-Thames

ERIC FRASER

C H R I S B E E T L E S G A L L E RY

8 & 10 Ryder Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6QB Telephone 020 7839 7551 Facsimile 020 7839 1603 gallery@chrisbeetles.com www.chrisbeetles.com