Unique Collection of First Editions With Original Dust Jackets Created By Leading Artists and Designers
London—This December, Sotheby’s London will offer a collection of 33 first editions of classic books, each with a beautifully original dust-jacket, created and generously donated by leading artists and designers to benefit House of Illustration.
Each artist selected a book they felt a strong connection to and then created a new dust-jacket or artwork in response to it. The re-worked classics include Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers and George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Artists include Quentin Blake, Maggi Hambling, Raymond Pettibon, Lauren Child, Peter Blake, Chris Riddell, Richard Wentworth, Axel Scheffler, Audrey Niffenegger, Neil Gaiman, George Shaw, Paula Rego and Shaun Tan.
The auction includes the only piece of original artwork created by Quentin Blake for Beatrice Potter’s The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots that has ever come up for sale; a cover created by Gerald Scarfe with two new illustrations for The Making of Pink Floyd The Wall; and, ahead of his regeneration in the Dr Who Christmas special, Peter Capaldi has chosen to design a cover for Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.
House of Illustration is the world’s only public gallery solely dedicated to illustration and graphic arts with a creative programme of exhibitions, talks and events. A registered charity receiving no public funding, it works with schools across London on projects with young people that inspire creativity and enable them to communicate visually, overcoming barriers such as language, literacy levels and special educational needs. It is the only UK gallery commissioning illustration work for public display and runs the only UK residency for illustrators and graphic artists.
Ahead of the sale, all works will be on display at Sotheby’s London (34-35 New Bond Street) from 8-11 December 2017. In total, thirty-one artists have donated to the sale. For more information, click here.
