Ronald Searle (1920–2011)

Author of The Compleet Molesworth

94+ Works 3,701 Members 51 Reviews 5 Favorited

About the Author

Ronald Searle was born in Cambridge, England on March 3, 1920. At the age of 15, he paid for his own art school classes by working for a cartoonist at The Cambridge Daily News. In 1939 he passed a government drafting test and joined the Army as an architectural draftsman. During this time, he also show more made impressionistic watercolor sketches of fellow soldiers and cartoons poking fun at military conventions. His work was first published in the magazine Lilliput in 1941. During the war, he was captured by the Japanese and sent to Changi prison, which provided forced labor for building the Burma railway. He recorded the deplorable conditions of his camp and the fates of fellow soldiers by drawing with crude implements and scraps of paper. After he was released in 1945, his drawings were exhibited in Cambridge and were later published in 1986 as a book entitled To the Kwai - and Back: War Drawings 1939-1945. In 1948, he began writing and illustrating parodies about the students at a fictional English girls' school called St. Trinian's and publishing them in Lilliput. This led to a series of popular books, which included Hurrah for St. Trinian's, The Terror of St. Trinian's, and The St. Trinian's Story. His other books included Searle's Cats, The Square Egg, Hello - Where Did All the People Go?, The Secret Sketchbook, and More Cats. He also drew illustrations for numerous magazines and newspapers including The New Yorker, TV Guide, Le Monde, Life magazine, The New York Times, and the International Herald Tribune. He died on December 30, 2011 at the age of 91. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Ronald Searl, Searle Ronald, Ronald Searle's, Ronald]. [Searle

Series

Poezenhumor

St. Trinian's

Molesworth

Colecção Humor com Humor se Paga

Works by Ronald Searle

Popular Recent

The Compleet Molesworth (1958) — Illustrator — 643 copies, 9 reviews

Too many songs by Tom Lehrer with not enough drawings by Ronald Searle [score] (1981) — Illustrator — 347 copies, 2 reviews

Down with Skool! (1953) — Illustrator — 258 copies, 9 reviews

How to be Topp (1954) — Illustrator — 252 copies, 4 reviews

Slightly Foxed but Still Desirable: Ronald Searle's Wicked World of Book Collecting (1989) 200 copies, 6 reviews

The Naked Island (1952) 122 copies, 1 review

Back in the Jug Agane (1959) — Illustrator — 122 copies, 2 reviews

The Terror of St Trinian's and Other Drawings (Penguin Modern Classics) (2000) 114 copies, 2 reviews

Searle's Cats (1967) 103 copies, 1 review

Paris! Paris! (1977) 100 copies

The Illustrated Winespeak (1983) 89 copies, 1 review

Something in the Cellar . . .: Ronald Searle's Wonderful World of Wine (1986) 86 copies

St. Trinian's: The Entire Appalling Business (2008) 77 copies, 1 review

The terror of St. Trinians; or, Angela's Prince Charming (1952) — Illustrator — 72 copies

Dick Deadeye, (1975) 65 copies, 1 review

The Penguin Ronald Searle (1960) 64 copies, 1 review

Hurrah for St. Trinian's and Other Lapses (1948) 59 copies, 1 review

Ronald Searle's Big Fat Cat Book (1982) 54 copies

Back to the Slaughterhouse (1951) 51 copies

To the Kwai and Back: War Drawings 1939-1945 (1986) 47 copies

The Female Approach (1949) 39 copies

Les Tres Riches Heures de Mrs Mole (2011) 37 copies

Searle in the Sixties (1964) 37 copies

The Great Fur Opera : Annals of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1670-1970 (1970) — Illustrator, some editions — 36 copies, 1 review

The Situation Is Hopeless (1981) 33 copies, 1 review

The Square Egg (1968) 31 copies

Ronald Searle's Non-Sexist Dictionary (1988) 31 copies

Merry England, etc (1957) 30 copies

Zoodiac (1977) 29 copies

Ronald Searle (1978) 28 copies

More Cats (1975) 28 copies

Ronald Searle in Perspective (1984) 28 copies

Golden Oldies (1985) 27 copies

Modern Classics St Trinians The Cartoons (2007) 25 copies, 1 review

The Curse of St. Trinian's: The Best of the Drawings (1993) 24 copies

Souls in torment (1953) 23 copies

Paris Sketchbook (1958) 23 copies

Marquis De Sade Meets Goody Two-Shoes: A Few Crossed Paths & Treasured Moments (1994) 21 copies

The rake's progress (1968) 18 copies

Ronald Searle's America (2016) 18 copies

Ah Yes, I Remember it Well... Paris 1961-1975 (1987) 16 copies

Looking at London and People Worth Meeting (1953) 16 copies, 2 reviews

Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (1965) — Illustrator — 14 copies

Haven't we met before somewhere? Germany from the inside and out (1966) 12 copies, 1 review

The dog's ear book (1958) — Illustrator — 11 copies, 1 review

Hello, where did all the people go? (1969) 11 copies

The King of Beasts and Other Creatures (1980) 10 copies

Which way did he go? (1962) 10 copies

Take one toad [a book of ancient remedies] (1968) 9 copies

From Frozen North to Filthy Lucre (1964) 8 copies

Original Drawings by Ronald Searle from Gilbert and Sullivan (1975) 8 copies

Monte Carlo-or Bust: Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969) — Illustrator — 7 copies, 1 review

The Square Egg & The Vicious Circle (1980) 7 copies

Secret Sketchbook (1970) 6 copies

The second coming of Toulouse-Lautrec (1970) 5 copies

Ronald Searle: Graphic Master (1999) 5 copies, 1 review

Ronald Searle in Le Monde (2002) 5 copies

The Addict (1971) 3 copies

OS BONS VELHOS TEMPOS 3 copies

The Predatory Bite Of The Steel Nib. The Scrapbook Drawings Of Ronald Searle (2005) 2 copies

Vinsnack : illustrerade smakprover ur vinets mustiga fatabur (1985) 2 copies

Poezenhumor. Tweede deel 2 copies

Le nouveau ballet anglais 2 copies

Chats, chats, chats. 2 copies

Entre vieilles connaissances — Illustrator, some editions — 2 copies

45 [quarante-cinq] ans de dessins (1984) 2 copies

What ! Already ? Searle At 90 Signed And Numbered First Edition (2010) 2 copies

Die Mädchen von Montmartre und St. Pauli (1980) 2 copies

Le Monde merveilleux du vin (1992) 1 copy

100 blatter aus den Jahren 1965 - 1975 1 copy, 1 review

Escape from the Amazon! (1964) 1 copy

Russia for Beginners 1 copy

Searle, Ronald, Die Welt heute. Karikaturen. (Kunstkatalog). Ausstellung: 14. März - 25. April 1 copy

Ronald Searle: With an introduction by Henning Bock and an essay by Pierre Dehaye 1 copy

Von Katzen und anderen Menschen : Hintersinniges und Tiefgründiges 1 copy

How To Open A Bottle of Wine 1 copy

Paris, Paris 1 copy

The St. Trinian's Story 1 copy

Filles de Hambourg 1 copy

Pardong M'sieur 1 copy

Zodiac 1 copy

Tiens! il n'y a personne? 1 copy

Searle & Searle (2001) 1 copy

Hommage à Toulouse-Lautrec 1 copy

Forty Drawings 1 copy

Sherlock Holmes: Catalogue of an Exhibition held at Abbey House, Baker Street, London, May-September 1951 1 copy

40 ans de dessins (2013) 1 copy

Searle in America 1 copy

Le Monde de Ronald Searle (1998) 1 copy

Mit Vorzuglicher Hochachtung - Ein Karikaturenbuch 1 copy

Poezenhumor. Eerste deel 1 copy

Hvad siger etiketten 1 copy

Schneckereien. Hundert graphische Phantasien über die Gastropoden (1983) 1 copy

Have We Met Before Somewhere 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Great Expectations (1861) — Illustrator, some editions — 40,107 copies, 447 reviews

A Christmas Carol (1843) — Illustrator, some editions — 26,104 copies, 543 reviews

Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog! (1889) — Illustrator, some editions — 7,961 copies, 301 reviews

Cat o'Nine Tales: And Other Stories (2006) — Illustrator, some editions — 798 copies, 21 reviews

Anglo-Saxon Attitudes (1956) — Cover artist, some editions — 634 copies, 14 reviews

Whizz for Atomms (1956) — Illustrator — 182 copies, 6 reviews

The 13 Clocks & The Wonderful O (1962) — Illustrator, some editions — 173 copies, 1 review

The St Trinian's Story (1963) — Illustrator — 102 copies, 1 review

The Diverting History of John Gilpin (1782) — Illustrator, some editions — 68 copies, 1 review

The Big City or the New Mayhew (1962) — Illustrator — 46 copies, 1 review

The Hatless Man: An Anthology of Odd and Forgotten Manners (1995) — Illustrator — 38 copies

Slightly Foxed 4: Now we're shut in for the night (2004) — Cover artist — 33 copies

Jorkens Borrows Another Whiskey (1954) — Illustrator, some editions — 22 copies, 1 review

Refugees 1960 (1903) — Illustrator — 14 copies

The Bedside Lilliput (1950) — Contributor — 13 copies

Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969) — Cover artist, some editions — 13 copies

London - so help me! (1952) — Illustrator, some editions — 7 copies

Illustration Magazine, Autumn 2005 Issue 5. Ronald Searle's Imaginary Friends (2005) — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

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Common Knowledge

Legal name: Searle, Ronald William Fordham
Birthdate: 1920-03-03
Date of death: 2011-12-30
Gender: male
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Place of death: Draguignan, France
Places of residence: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Paris, France
Haute Provence, France
Education: Cambridge College of Arts and Technology
Occupations: artist
cartoonist
Relationships: Webb, Kaye (spouse, 1946-1966)
Organizations: Royal Engineers (WWII)
New Yorker (contributor)
Holiday (contributor)
Awards and honors: Reuben Award (1960)
CBE
Royal Designers for Industry
Agent: Rachel Calder

Members

Discussions

Folio Archives 346: The Compleet Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans 2007 in Folio Society Devotees (October 2023)

Reviews

The Compleet Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans

http://noldo-icons.livejournal.com/25337.html

Flagged

mmundorf | 8 other reviews | Apr 22, 2024 |

Looking at London by Ronald Searle

Excellent book containing stories and sketches of people and places in 1950's London.

Flagged

medwyn1066 | 1 other review | Nov 28, 2023 |

Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans

This is a collection of 4 Molesworth books. I finished the first (Down with skool, i think). It's good... but not as great as it's reputation. Yes, funny- clever, biting and so forth but also a bit predictably and a little tired. I will pick it up again for the other books, but found that one book of Molesworth goes a pretty long way.

Flagged

apende | 8 other reviews | Jul 12, 2022 |

Dick Deadeye by Ronald Searle

Something of a misfire, I think. An attempt (in the mid-1970s) to adapt Gilbert & Sullivan (by Bill Melendez, an animator known for his work on Peanuts specials) by borrowing mostly from H.M.S. Pinafore and the Pirates of Penzance to tell a story from the point of view (and sympathetic to) Dick Deadeye, the villain in Pinafore. Searle's artwork is very good, but the story is decidedly underhwhelming.

Flagged

EricCostello | Mar 31, 2022 |

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