Wotton Auction Rooms
Lot 615
William Heath Robinson (British, 1872-1944) - 'Trapping the Clothes Moth in the Wilds of Idaho', illustration for 'Absurdities' a book of collected drawings by W. Heath Robinson (Hutchinson, 1934), pencil, pen, ink and watercolour on card, signed lower left with title below and heading 'Sport in The Wild West' above, with A.E. Johnson label and annotations on provenance and ownership signed by family members of Heath Robinson verso, Together with a copy of the book 'Absurdities' (Book Club Associates, 1975) where this illustration is reproduced - page 79, and the book 'William Heath Robinson' by James Hamilton (Pavilion, 1992) where this illustration is reproduced - page 51, inscribed 'Tom & Dickie' to the first page. Dimensions: 32.4 x 45.6 cmPreface from the included book 'Absurdities':'Absurdities is of particular interest as having been put together by Heath Robinson himself at the height of his fame - the only large-scale general collection of his humorous work published during the artist's lifetime. When it first appeared in 1934, there was a limited edition of 250 copies signed by the artist, in addition to two ordinary popular editions. Looking through it, we see how wide-ranging his humour was, how many different facets of the human predicament he knew how to touch and illuminate, and how far his art extends beyond the mechanical 'Heath Robinson contraptions' for which he is most famous.For this reissue nine of the ‘Absurdities’ drawings which have already been reprinted in ‘Inventions’ have been replaced with new material which has not so far appeared in any of his books; the value of the collection is thereby enhanced for those who wish to possess every scrap of Heath Robinsoniana they can lay hands on.'Provenance: consigned for sale from the estate of a family member of the artist. (3)
