Wednesday 25 June 2014

"Vere Foster's Copy Books: Lettering, Plain And Ornamental" (published by Blackie & Son Limited, London and Glasgow, year unknown)

 

An interesting calligraphy manual from a long time ago - when people took writing and type seriously... The book offers practical hints and technical information on how to produce fancy lettering while providing lined pages for the user to practise copying it. As you can see on the third image, someone's had a pretty good go at it!




Monday 23 June 2014

"LOBEY DOSSER: The Indian War" By Bud Neill (published by The Evening Times, Glasgow 1949)


 

The final book from my Lobey Dosser collection. I was very lucky to find these as they are quite rare and sought after by collectors! The more you read the stories the funnier they and the characters grow on you. The set is somewhere in the American wild west, at a town called Calton Creek - all the residents are from the Calton area of Glasgow(!) and the dialogue is, naturally, in the Glaswegian accent. Except of course from the main villain Rank Bajin who speaks in "evil" English! (Stewie from Family Guy comes to mind...)
 



In 1995 a bronze statue of Lobey and Rank Bajin riding El Fideldo (Lobey's two-legged horse) was erected in Glasgow's Woodlands Road, near the city centre, in honour of Bud Neill. The concept and drawings for the sculpture were done by Ranald MacColl who also collected Neill's work and had it republished in 1992. The pictures below are from Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Neill



Tuesday 10 June 2014

"LOBEY DOSSER: His Life Story" By Bud Neill (published by The Evening Times, Glasgow 1949)


 

Lobey Dosser was the creation of Glaswegian Bud Neill (1911-1970) and ran as a comic strip on "The Evening Times" in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. It acquired huge popularity over the years and the characters gained cult status after the author's death. Here's the Wikipedia bio on Bud Neill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Neill