Life at Blandings

I may not say much in this post. The point will be the pictures, not my blatherings.

I have long loved the old Penguin editions of Wodehouse, and for some time have even contemplated starting a blog along the present lines; but what finally provoked me actually to set it up was the acquisition from ebay of a box set called "Life at Blandings". I feel that now is the time to post about it.

Judging from the printing dates of the novels included, it must have been produced about 1981. The box has three Ionicus illustrations on it which I haven't seen elsewhere, either in real life or online.

Here's the first:

Well, well. What can I say? Lord Emsworth and the Hon Galahad Threepwood: definitive. Lady Constance and another sister: effective. Angus McAllister? I'm not convinced; not dour enough, not... I beg your pardon, but in the context of early 20th century English humour the word cannot be avoided... not Scotch enough. But that's just my opinion.

Number two:

Wonderful to see Lord Emsworth uncomfortably enduring his full evening dress, the pince-nez inevitably askew and probably a paperclip doing service for a lost collar-stud. Who's the bore on the left? The Duke of Dunstable? McAllister reappears on the right (oddly enough, given his importance in the Saga, he is not depicted on any of the standard Ionicus covers), and the jug-eared young ass centre left can only be the Hon Freddie Threepwood. The young woman in the middle caught in the act of taking no nonsense is indeterminate, but there are many such heroines to choose from in the saga.

Finally, below, we have what may be the central relationship of all: Lord Emsworth and the faithful, immortal butler Beach. You will note the selection of titles that appeared in the box set, which is somewhat eccentric. What, no Something Fresh, no Summer Lightning? Well, the ways of publishers are inscrutable.