Ronald Searle: How to Be Topp with a Sketch of Molesworth Reading

Molesworth reading? A copy of the American edition of How to be Topp (1954), a book by Geoffrey Willans with illustrations by Ronald Searle, has been graced by Searle with a drawing of the one and only Nigel Molesworth reading, it would seem, the newspaper. The drawing is undated, but the signature seems roughly to correspond to the era of publication as any fule kno.

Ronald Searle
AbeBooks Listing Retrieved August 17, 2014

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=13534881328&searchurl=bsi%3D30%26amp%3Bkn%3Dronald%2Bsearle%26amp%3Bsortby%3D1%26amp%3Bx%3D0%26amp%3By%3D0

Note:  Harry Potter fans may not be aware of the connections between the series by J. K. Rowling and the Molesworth books. For that matter, Rowling herself may be in denial. But you and I can learn about the Nigelian origin of the name Hogwarts and other influences on Rowling here.

Ronald Searle added sketches to countless books, yet only a few have made their way onto the internet. You can help preserve them for posterity by submitting scans or photos to this blog.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ronald Searle

J. K. Rowling

Books with Original Sketches

Attempted Bloggery's Index for Headmasters

02851

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Rare First Edition

Once upon a time in the year 1997 there were only 500 copies to the first printing of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This book now being offered on the auction block is one of those rare first editions, signed by author J. K. Rowling on a loosely inserted publisher's slip. Who could have guessed what great things the young wizard would have been able to bring about? Besides Albus Dumbledore, I mean.

By the way, we Americans apparently don't philosophize, so our first book in the series was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  It sounds less intellectual and less introspective, but it has some fine alliteration.

J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, First edition

ROWLING, J. K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 1997. 8° (197 x 130mm). (Very few spots and some yellow stains to first leaves, ex-library copy with library label on verso of title and barcode sellotaped onto front endpaper.) Original coloured pictorial boards by Thomas Taylor (spine repaired, some creasing and rubbing to joints and corners).FIRST EDITION. EXCEPTIONALLY RARE, ONE OF ABOUT 500 COPIES ONLY. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on a loosely-inserted publisher's slip. According to the publishers, some 300 of these copies were distributed to school libraries.

Estimate

£3,000 - £5,000
• ($4,737 - $7,895)
• March 21, 2012:  Unsold
• 
  
• Sale Information

Sale 4802 Lot 101
Fine Printed Books 

21 March 2012 

London, South Kensington 

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/rowling-j-k-harry-potter-and-the-5541464-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5541464&sid=ca38a1e8-3186-4a2a-9520-12ae26b3ec80

Note:  My last Harry Potter post is a brief but favorable review of Tales of Beedle the Bard. You can read it here.

264

Book Review: The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008) by J. K. Rowling

The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008)
J. K. Rowling

The final movie in the Harry Potter series is being released today. To get us all in the mood, I posted brief reviews of three of the  earlier Harry Potter movies. My opinion of the movies is not likely to change with the last installment, and for anyone who knows Harry exclusively through the movies, the first thing I would suggest is to read the books and see what you've missed. For those who have read all seven books, you might try The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling.

The book purports to be a translation from the Runish by the character Hermione Granger of some fairy tales that figure prominently in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It is very nicely done.  I like the idea of including learned but humorous commentary from Albus Dumbledore. Rowling has given us a very different sort of fairy tale collection which is imaginative, funny, and quite charming. It fits quite naturally into the world of Harry Potter. To my regret, it's a quick read.

My brief movie review  of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1"  can be found here.  I'm going to see Part 2 tonight!

020

Movie Review: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" (2010)

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" (2010)

3.5/5 Stars

From the very first of the seven movies now in this series, it has seemed to me that the target audience was those who already had read and possibly reread J. K. Rowling's exciting and inventive Harry Potter books. As a result, I felt and still feel that the filmmakers absolved themselves from the ordinary duties of storytelling, concentrating instead on visualizing highlights from the books for fans who know the story inside-out already.

Rowling's novels are too complex to have all their ideas transported into the standard two to three hour film format, so it made at least some sense in adapting the final volume to present the movie in two parts. The extra time could then presumably be used to make the movie less of a gloss on the book than the earlier episodes had been.

Despite the extra time allotted, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" is still not all that it should be. Like the earlier films, this one benefits from its near-perfect casting and lavish budget. Like the earlier films, it fails to capture fully the suspense, the thrill, and, yes, the magic of the books. Do we really need to see a three-minute dance between Harry and Hermione that isn't part of the book? It's done well, but it doesn't add much, other than giving the director the feeling of accomplishment that comes from slipping something of his own into the works. Ms. Rowling, as producer, evidently was willing to go along with the digression. But why leave out what happens to Peter Pettigrew during the battle of Malfoy Manor when he has his crucial moment of hesitation? Anyone who read the book would recall that event vividly. Why omit Ginny Weasley's equally memorable birthday offer to Harry? In all fairness, it might take ten hours to tell the whole story, but my complaint is more that the movie doesn't make the best use of the time it does have.

HP7

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 

Part I Official Trailer #1 - (2010) HD

Video added May 27, 2012

Note:  My brief movie review of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" can be found here.

Blog Updates:

I have updated the post on Timothy Q. Mouse with the sale result here. And I never leave out the Q.

I have updated the post on George Booth  here with a new contest proposal from James Gurney.

I have updated the post on Whistler's "Upright Venice" with the sale result here.

I have updated the post on Pablo Picasso's "Visage" with the sale result here.

18

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (2009)

My opinion of the Harry Potter movies hasn't changed very much through the years.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book in J. K. Rowling's series and is absolutely essential.  It is the book which answers a great many of the vexing questions about Lord Voldemort, the tale's embodiment of evil.  We see, through the magic of the Pensieve, many memories of Voldemort's life back when he was called Tom Riddle, a schoolboy eager to master the ways of dark magic.  We are also introduced in this volume to the concept of horcruxes, one of Rowling's many beguiling inventions.  Finally, there is a truly devastating conclusion.

The movie has a lot of information to condense, and this it does in a manner similar to the previous movies in the series, occasionally  for no apparent reason adding something that wasn't in the book.  Those who liked the first five movies will no doubt still like this one.  It continues to flaunt its dream cast and dream budget, and it allows one to visualize the incredible world of Harry Potter.  It falls short, as the other films have, in the areas of narrative and suspense, and it dumbs down the story to some degree.  How could it not?  As with the other movies, it's worth seeing, but it's a supplement to the books, and not a substitute.

HP6

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 
Official Trailer (HD - Best Quality)

Video added May 27, 2012

Note:  My brief movie review of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" can be found here.

14

Movie Review: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001)

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001)

As we all get ready for the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," I'm posting my reviews of three earlier films in the popular series. 


"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001)




I've never been a huge fan of the Harry Potter movies, although I've seen them all dutifully.  These films come to us in deluxe packages with dream budgets and dream casts.  They accomplish the nearly impossible task of allowing us to visualize Harry Potter's world, with its fabulous characters and magical settings.  For this reason alone, I think they deserve to be seen.


But where they fall short is on storytelling.  J. K. Rowling's books, to be sure, set the bar very high.  She maintains an uncanny level of mystery and suspense throughout the seven books.  The films, for me, can't match that.  Plenty of plot is churned out on cue, and plenty more just has to be left out, but the intoxicating thrill of the books just isn't here.


I know there are legions of people who know Harry Potter through the movies only, and many of them are devoted fans.  To my mind, the movies by themselves don't really make all that compelling a case for Harry.  But they do get him up on the big screen and, imperfect though it is, it's far better than not having Harry Potter up there at all.

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (2001)

Image added July 5, 2014

http://www.flicks.co.nz/movie/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone/poster/

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"Official Trailer 2 (2001)

Video added May 27, 2012

012