BOSWELL, James. The original illustrations to ‘Conversation with Gerald’.
£ 7,500
Ink drawings, most on hand-made paper, in a large and elegant green Solander box lettered in gilt on front cover. A collection of 7 out of the 13 original drawings (nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13), plus a few preparatory sketches and one unpublished drawing. 6 large drawings (ca. 17 x 11 inch.); 4 medium-sized drawings (ca. 15 1/2 x 11 1/2 inch.); 1 medium-sized drawing on standard paper (ca. 9 x 14 1/2 inch.); 1 small drawing (ca. 7 x 11 inch.); 1 small drawing on standard paper (ca 8 x 8 inch.); two photographic reproductions.
Artist James Boswell (1906-71) made these drawings shortly before his death. Boswell “became a leader of a school of social satirists, whose influence is still felt today. He was a founder member of the Artists International Association, and of the artists who gave Left Review its cutting edge. Throughout his creative life he exercised a gift for satiric comment, comic invention, and the recording of the passing moment. Some of his vivid drawings of army life are in the Imperial War Museum and the British Museum.” (Conversation with Gerald, pp. 210-11). Moreover, he was art editor of Lilliput.