Ronald Searle's A Christmas Carol: The Gentlemen Withdrew

Seeing clearly that it would be useless to pursue their point, the gentlemen withdrew. Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself, and in a more facetious temper than was usual with him.

—Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Two gentlemen attempt to solicit a donation for the poor from the miser Ebenezer Scrooge. An edition of the classic Dickens Christmas tale with illustrations by Ronald Searle was published in 1961 by Perpetua, the artist's own imprint. The original artwork illustrating the gentlemen leaving the premises of Scrooge and Marley's empty-handed was sold at Christie's South Kensington in 2008.

Ronald Searle, "...The gentlemen withdrew..."
A Christmas Carol, Perpetual Books, 1961, page 17

Christie's South Kensington Sale 5360, Lot 23, July 29, 2008

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/ronald-william-fordham-searle-a-christmas-carol-5106476-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5106476&sid=3ebd3551-8bc0-4e36-b421-d1103eca7c02

Note:  Perpetua (get it?), the Ronald Searle tribute blog, has a host of Dickensian images by Searle under the title More Dickens. You might want to have a look.

Attempted Bloggery has a few more seasonal posts as well as a number of posts about Ronald Searle.
Go for it! You might want to see some more original book illustrations as well.

01719

Ronald Searle: Unused Title Painting for "Scrooge"

Ronald Searle's painting for the title sequence of "Scrooge" (1970) shows Ebenezer Scrooge on a wintry London street. The left half of the image is fairly nondescript and is meant to accommodate an overlaid screen title. The painting was created over a lithographic print of a sketch made on the set. It was not used in the movie's title sequence, but the right hand portion did serve instead as a magazine cover for the Illustrated London News. This original artwork was one of a pair of title paintings sold at Bonhams in December.

Ronald Searle, Unused title painting for "Scrooge" (1970)
Original artwork, The Illustrated London News, November 28, 1970

The Illustrated London News, November 28, 1970 with the original artwork by Ronald Searle

Ronald Searle, Unused title painting for "Scrooge" (1970)
Original artwork, The Illustrated London News, November 28, 1970

The German Deckweiss is literally an opaque white. I would translate it as bodycolor.

EBay Listing Ended January 24, 2015

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ronald-Searle-Illustration-for-039-SCROOGE-039-1970-/291356864026?autorefresh=true&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&fromMakeTrack=true&nma=true&si=Hkv8gpHL9i4sODjo80njbuJiyDA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

EBay Item Description

EBay Bid History with the winning bid actually cast at the last second!

Ronald Searle, Unused title painting for "Scrooge" (1970)
Original artwork, The Illustrated London News, November 28, 1970

Note:  Don't forget to see my other posts about Ronald Searle.

Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog, has many more of the "Scrooge" titles.

01408

Ronald Searle: Preparatory Title Cards for "Scrooge"

In designing the titles for "Scrooge" (1970), selected sketchbook drawings made on the set by Ronald Searle were copied by a lithographic process. From these printed sheets, he could work out the details of coloring and title overlays. A group of preparatory title graphics were sold at Bonhams Knightsbridge for £1,187 in December.

Ronald Searle, Preparatory title cards for "Scrooge" (1970)

Bonhams London, Knightsbridge December 10, 2014, Lot 100

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21948/lot/100/

"Scrooge" (1970)

Titles begin at 0:33

Note:  Check out this blog's other posts about Ronald Searle.

See all this and much more on the Ronald Searle Tribute blog's comprehensive post about the "Scrooge" titles.

01407