AN ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION FROM DIRTY BEASTS; TOGETHER WITH A FIRST EDITION OF DIRTY BEASTS.

Original artwork. A beautiful illustration showing a boy and a giant toad in a lily pond surrounded by a garden, produced by Rosemary Fawcett in gouache on paper for 'The Toad and the Snail' from Roald Dahl's poetry collection 'Dirty Beasts'. Framed. The painting measures 40.7 cm x 53.5 cm and the frame measures 44 cm x 57 cm. In fine condition, the painting bright and clean. The colours vary slightly from the printed illustration in the book, likely due to the translation of colours during the printing process and some fading of the original painting. The top right joint of the frame has a 2mm gap, remaining firm and sound. Together with a first edition, first printing of 'Dirty Beasts'. Original illustrated glossy boards, without dustwrapper, as issued. Illustrated throughout with colour plates and black and white in-text line drawings by Rosemary Fawcett. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the spine tips and top corners slightly bumped. The contents are clean throughout and without stamps or inscriptions.

'Dirty Beasts' was published in 1983 as a follow-up to Roald Dahl's 1982 children's poetry collection 'Revolting Rhymes'. Although 'Revolting Rhymes' had been illustrated by Quentin Blake, Jonathan Cape commissioned the previously unknown artist Rosemary Fawcett to provide illustrations for the new collection. Vastly different from Blake's airy, energetic drawings that drew on the humour and whimsy of Dahl's writing, Fawcett's highly worked, layered paintings had a distinctly three-dimensional, motionless appearance that highlighted the surreal, often menacing elements of the poems. Despite the skill, artistry and insightful conveyance of the source material displayed in Fawcett's work, Dahl disliked the illustrations and a revised edition was published a year later with illustrations by Quentin Blake, rendering Fawcett's version a brief and rare alternate vision of Dahl's fantastical world.