Ronald Searle: Molesworth at Christmass

Nigel Molesworth, the imaginative chronicler of St. Custard's prep school, has a great gift for misspelling. He is the 1950's-era creation of writer Geoffrey Willans and illustrator Ronald Searle. At a Christie's South Kensington sale in 2001, the artist, presumably, sold the 1959 drawing Molesworth:  Coo, Gosh, Christmass.  Christie's corrected the obvious misspelling of the holiday, a sure sign that they weren't in on the joke. Nigel wears a paper crown from a Christmas cracker, a longstanding English tradition, as any fule kno.

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Ronald Searle, Molesworth:  Coo, Gosh, Christmass, 1959

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Christie's South Kensington, Sale 2281, Lot 229, December 6, 2001 http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/ronald-william-fordham-searle-molesworth-coo-gosh-3851642-details.aspx?from=searchresults&pos=6&intObjectID=3851642&sid=99f821d2-a1eb-4f1f-9aa8-b09cdbe752b8&page=1&lid=1

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Lot Description

Note:  Further reading:
           Ronald Searle
           Christmas
           Winter