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BEAUMONT**, ROBERT: : GRANDMA: The Biography of Giles's Infamous Cartoon Character

LONDON.HEADLINE BOOK PUBLISHING,1999.

ISBN 0747274975.

UK,landscape (oblong) 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn. [Complete number line 10 - 1 descending.] FINE+/FINE+. No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,colour pictorial artwork by GILES,illustrated dw/dj panels with capitalised,white-lettered part-title and red-lettered sub-title and capitalised,black-lettered author's name to front panel; spine/ backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered author name and part-title as the front, thumbnail colour illustration of Grandma detail,and capitalised black-lettered+ illustrated publisher's colophon to foot of same,rear panel with colour cartoon illustration and red+black lettered 'Introduction by Rosie Boycott' and Daily Express black lettered quote. Negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present,head+ foot of spine/backstrip without any ubiquitous bumping.Top edges with very miniscule,barely visible flecks towards its fore-edge,else both top+fore-edges both are exceptionally bright, crisp and clean; contents bright,tight and virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - appears an unread copy, other than my own collation.Publisher's bright, crisp,clean and unblemished,sharp-cornered, original plain dark green cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/ backstrip,a dark green headband and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,landscape (oblong) 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-160pp [paginated] includes an introduction by Rosie Boycott (Express newspaper editor),10 chapters,profuse full-page b/w GILES cartoons featuring GRANDMA,interspersed throughout the text and book,and a few b/w contemporary photographs; plus [unpaginated] Grandma b/w cartoon illustration to half-title with another b/w cartoon of Grandma at a table pouring herself a Guinness to its reverse,title page with dedication to its reverse,a contents list/table with a b/w Grandma thumbnail illustration and Acknowledgements to its reverse,also with a Grandma b/w thumbnail illustration.                                   Visually the exterior appearance is exceptionally bright and crisp,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 24-year-old age.It really is an exceptional,exemplary copy for its cleanliness and brightness.Certainly the best example I've come across with very few others to match it!     Little did Carl Giles imagine when he started producing cartoons of a British family more than fifty years ago that the squat,black-garbed grandma,hat jammed well down,brolly at the ready,would become a national figure.A formidable character who terrorised the snivelling Vera,she was undaunted by policemen, toffs or Mrs Thatcher herself,and went about her business at home,on family outings and at the bookies and the racecourse with ruthless determination.                                   In this affectionate biography,Robert Beaumont, a lifelong GILES fan,chronicles the provenance of this fearsome old bat.He has unearthed the robust original and shows how GILES developed the handbag-wielding matriarch over the years into a feisty,stout battler who appealed to young and old alike.Classic,full-page cartoons show her glowering behind her newspaper as mayhem rages all around,beating up a punk rocker,using an air rifle to pick off birds in the garden and sinking a quantity of Guinness that would make strong men quail.Her truculence and her disdain of authority are lovingly detailed in pictures - including some previously unpublished - and words in this splendid tribute to GRANDMA,GILES's most endearing character, which will delight all those who have followed her fortunes for over half a century.            GILES - Born 29 September,1916,Islington,North London,died 27 August,1995.Awarded the OBE in 1959.He was christened Ronald - Carl came later, because his haircut was startlingly reminiscent of Boris Karloff's in the film Frankenstein.The nickname stuck and GILES was landed with Carl as a Christian name for the rest of his life,though to his millions of fans he was always,simply GILES.He showed an aptitude for drawing at school,but left at fourteen.Worked first as an office boy for a Wardour Street film company and then,having attracted the attention of the great film director Alexander Korda,became a cartoon animator.Working with the talented Hungarian emigre,GILES later admitted,'was the best training I could have had.'                      He joined the left-wing,Co-op owned Sunday newspaper 'Reynolds News' in 1937,and rapidly began to establish a formidable reputation as a cartoonist,specialising in single-panels and strips.He soon mastered composition and captured movement with the consummate ease of a seasoned professional.Rejected for active service when war broke out in 1939,working for Reynolds News, he soon attracted the attention of the mainstream,national newspapers - especially the Daily and Sunday Express, joining the Express in 1943,and remaining for forty-six years.          Please contact seller,because of the weight/ value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.    ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard US AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,landscape 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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