"Dick Deadeye" based on the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, illustrated by Ronald Searle (published by Jonathan Cape, London 1975)

This was quite a tricky book to scan - just a bit larger than A4! The illustrations are incredible though. Classic Searle characters set in intricate and beautifully drawn 19th century backgrounds. The book was put together with a British animation film based on the original comic operas by Gilbert and Sullivan. Apparently the film failed to attract the older fans of the operas while it was considered too "risque" for the children audiences - there is certainly a high number of boobs on display in the book which is always bound to offend somebody in this country! I would have thought it wouldn't be so out of the ordinary in the seventies but it did turn out to be unpopular.