cover image Sketches for Friends

Sketches for Friends

Edward Ardizzone. David R. Godine Publisher, $19.95 (128pp) ISBN 978-1-56792-185-4

Best known for his work in Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales, English author/illustrator Edward Ardizzone (1900- 1979) was renowned among friends and family for sending one-of-a-kind letters lovingly illustrated. Fans can now see the works themselves in Sketches for Friends, selected by Ardizzone's longtime editor Judy Taylor and bound into a handsome paper-over-board volume that resembles a sketchbook. Excerpts from the missives accompany simple, b&w line drawings; several of his robust watercolors, over which he penned letters, appear in their entirety. The correspondence progresses chronologically, beginning with ""Sketches from Letters, 1935-1949"" and ending with the fictitious ""Snodgrass Letters, 1960-1968,"" to the publicity manager of a corset manufacturer.