Great Artists, 1970, Book 1, Series 701

A Ladybird Book of Great Artists first published in 1970 and was (not surprisingly) the first of 3 Artists books in series 701.  It was something of a family affair – colourfully illustrated by Martin Aitchison and written by his wife Dorothy.  Dorothy and Martin met at art college.  She went on to become an art teacher and so her knowledge of art history helped her to pitch this book perfectly.  Martin’s illustrations in this series (and in the Great Composers books) are filled with evidence of his sense of humour and delight in gentle mischief.  In these three books, he relished the rich vein of pastiche that opened up when painting pictures for a book about people painting well-known pictures.

This matt copy, is in good condition, with a small repair to the spine and mark on the cover but good, clean pages. It dates to the 1970s and has the original price of 15p on the back.  With a tally number of 250, I believe it to be a first edition.