Author: [Protheroe, Ernest].
Title: Original Autograph Manuscripts by Ernest Protheroe for the "Iron Jelloids" Editions of "Budge and Betty" Booklets "All Aboard the Sunbeam" and "a Fairy Voyage", Together with Original Pen & Ink Art Work and Proofs of the Illustrations for These Books.
Description: [London]: [The Iron Jelloids Co.], 1922. 1922. - What is offered here are original autograph manuscripts penned by Ernest Protheroe for 2 of the "Budge and Betty" stories published as promotional booklets by the Iron Jelloids Company, together with original pen & ink art work and printed proofs of the illustrations for the stories. The material consists of the following:

The ORIGINAL 21-PAGE AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT penned by ERNEST PROTHEROE for "The Iron Jelloids Edition of Budge & Betty Second Series, No. 14": "ALL ABOARD THE 'SUNBEAM'". The manuscript is densely penned on the verso of identical form letters by "The Popular Publishing Co. Ltd." which were written to accompany sample copies of that company's fashion journals. Protheroe has made several ink & pencil corrections to his manuscript, including crossing out words from the title, likely to emphasize the layout. "No. 2" is boldly penciled at the top left of the first page with the penciled annotation "Set Lino Feb 1922" penciled in the top left margin of that page. The pages are attached together by a brass paper fastener through holes at the top right corner. They were apparently once fastened at the left with a hole punched through each of the pages top left corners. The pages are soiled with some occasional stains and smudges and creases to the corners.

The manuscript is accompanied by THE ORIGINAL PEN & INK DRAWING for the cover of the "Iron Jelloids" edition of the booklet together with a COLOR OVERLAY on transparent paper. The drawing, on unevenly cut 12-1/2 inch high by 9 inch wide board, portrays large rats and elves loading cargo onto the ship, overseen by the elven captain standing at his post overhead. A young girl with elfish ears looks on from next to one of the sailors as Budge and his elegantly dressed mother observe from the right foreground. The fabric framing the captain's platform is shaded with light blue graphite as is one of the ship's posts while the word "Sugar" on a crate is drawn in white. The series' title "The Iron Jelloids Edition of Budge & Betty Second Series" is printed on a strip mounted within the ink banner along the top and a similar strip proclaiming "Iron Jelloids The Great Tonic" is mounted along the bottom. Orange shading and highlighting painted on transparent buff paper indicates how one layer of color is to subsequently be applied. The edges of the overlay sheet are chipped.

Thirteen proof sheets of the illustrations, including 2 larger 9-1/2 inch high by 7 inch wide images for the cover, are present in addition to the drawing. The two black & white cover illustrations portray the same images as that of the drawing and the overlay, with the shading to the image reproducing the overlay in black & gray. The other smaller proofs, of varying sizes, are for the full-page and textual illustrations which are to be reproduced in the booklet. A different edition of the booklet published by "Renwick of Otley" is included. This latter 16-page softcover booklet measuring 7-3/8 inches high by 5 inches wide has a different color cover illustration and only 5 black & white illustrations. Four of the five images illustrating the booklet are identical to the proofs. The proofs and booklet are in near fine condition.

TOGETHER WITH:

The ORIGINAL 21-PAGE AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT penned by ERNEST PROTHEROE for "The Iron Jelloids Edition of Budge & Betty Second Series, No. 15": "A FAIRY VOYAGE". The first 8 pages of the manuscript are densely penned on one side of semi-transparent paper. The thrifty author has penned the remaining pages on the verso of identical form letters by "The Popular Publishing Co. Ltd." which were written to accompany sample copies of that company's fashion journals. Protheroe has made a few ink & pencil corrections to his manuscript, including clipping out the bottom paragraph from page 19. The author had penciled in and subsequently crossed out "No. 3 The Sailing of the Sunbeam" above "A Fairy Voyage" at the top of the first page with "B & B 2nd Series" penciled diagonally at left above the annotation "Set on Lino Feb 1922" penciled in the margin of that page. The pages are attached together by a brass paper fastener through holes at the top left corner. A hole punched through the top right of the first few pages would indicate that a few pages had once been attached that way. Page 19 is detached but present. The pages are soiled with some occasional stains and smudges and creases to the corners.

The manuscript is accompanied by THE ORIGINAL PEN & INK DRAWING for the cover of the "Iron Jelloids" edition of the booklet together with a COLOR OVERLAY on transparent paper. The drawing, on unevenly cut 11-7/8 inch high by 8-5/8 inch wide board, portrays Budge operating the lever which controls the ship's engines which are shown in the background. Two elven sailors look on at left while the elven captain and Budge's mother, elegantly attired in a leafy dress, look on. Several of the engine's pipes are shaded with light blue graphite. Crop marks are penciled along the edges of the drawing. Orange shading and highlighting painted on transparent buff paper, including the title, indicates how one layer of color is to subsequently be applied. There is a black ink smudge on the overlay. There are an additional 11 ORIGINAL PEN & INK DRAWINGS on 4 sheets of art board. Two images are drawn on the first sheet of 9-3/4 inch high by 6-3/4 inch wide art board. The top image, used to illustrate the first page of the book, portrays Budge and his dog playing on deck as they watch Betty playing with a kitten. Their mother, attired in a leafy dress and plumed hat, is seated watching on. The image below portrays Betty cuddling the kitten in her cabin. There is some shading in light blue graphite to some of the details in both images, as well as to the subsequent drawings. Penciled annotations describe the scene and the page number "page 3" identifies where the second drawing is to be placed. Four more drawings illustrate a 9-3/4 inch high by 13-5/8 inch wide sheet of art board. The top left image, annotated as illustrating page 11, portray Budge and Betty looking out at the ocean from the deck with their mom. The next, meant to illustrate page 15, depicts Bud's mom heading down the deck's stairs followed Budge as the elven Captain looks on. The next, serving to illustrate page 17, portrays an elven sailor pointing out a breaching whale to Budge, Betty and their mom. Below that, the illustration for page 23, shows the three protagonists seated at the dinner table, being served by elves while the dog, lying under the table, warns the kitten to stay back. Two pen & ink drawings illustrate a 9 inch high by 12-7/8 inch wide sheet of art board. At left, mom waves to the captain who tips his hat to her as elven sailors dance a jig. Budge, Betty and the dog look on as the kitten looks lovingly at Betty. The image at right portrays Budge firing a belt-fed machine gun at whales. The last 3 drawings, on a 9-1/2 inch high by 12-5/8 inch wide sheet of art board, is the illustration meant to appear as full-page on page 12 of the booklet. Budge and his mom look on as elves stand at the ship's stern, one climbing the anchor's rope. The drawing at top right portrays Budge being served a hot drink in his bunk while the one below portrays Budge picking up a knife from the ship's deck, Betty, his mom and the captain looking on. Two of the art sheets bear the stamp of "The Byron Studios" on the versos. The sheets are slightly soiled yet in very good condition.

Included are partially uncut proof sheets of all eleven illustrations for which we have the drawings, together with one black & white and 2 color proof sheets for the booklet's cover. One of the 2 color cover proofs is stamped "14 Nov Rec'd" at top right with an annotation penned in red at bottom indicating that lines at the bottom of the image are ",,, too heavy - spoils the d of Jelloids". This proof page is attached with a pin at top left to yet a different color proof for the cover of the subsequent booklet in the series "The Iron 'Jelloids' edition of Budge & Betty Second Series No. 16: Away To The Fairy North". This proof is also stamped with "14 Nov Rec'v" at top right. These cover proofs are creased and soiled.

A different edition of the booklet published by "Renwick of Otley" is included. This latter 16-page softcover booklet measuring 7-3/8 inches high by 5 inches wide has a different color cover illustration and only 8 black & white illustrations. These 8 images illustrating the booklet are identical to the drawings and proofs. The booklet is in near fine condition.

The Iron Jelloids Company, manufacturers of lozenges said to treat anemia, published a series of Budge and Betty books as advertising. These illustrated stories by Ernest Protheroe featured the adventures of the 2 young protagonists in a world populated by elves and fairies. Toy ships and cars could be transformed into their life size equivalents in which the children would travel to exotic places.

The teacher and author Ernest Hanley Protheroe (1866-1929) was a prolific writer of fiction and non-fiction works under various pen names. He not only wrote children's and boy's fiction but also biographies of Lord Kitchener and Edith Cavell among others. .

Keywords: CHILDREN'S BOOKS; ILLUSTRATED; ILLUSTRATIONS; ERNEST PROTHEROE; ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS; HOLOGRAPH; AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT PAGES; IRON JELLOIDS CO.; TWENTIETH CENTURY; 20TH CENTURY; ORIGINAL PEN & INK DRAWINGS; COLOR OVERLAYS; ORIGINAL ART WORK; PROOF

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