babyboomerbooks

......stories that endure......

 
 

 

thelwell catalogue

Best known for his humorous cartoons of little girls and their ponies—from which the description 'Thelwell pony' has become a part of the English language
—Thelwell published 32 books on subjects ranging from the ever-popular ponies to cats and dogs, children, fishing, sailing, motoring, house-hunting, gardening, golf, country sports, the environment and stately homes.
Thelwell's first pony cartoon was published in Punch in 1953.

Thelwell's first book, a collection of his cartoons entitled Angels on Horseback, was published in 1957, and was inspired by his observations of two hairy ponies - 'small and round and fat and of very uncertain temper' - who grazed in a field next to his house. They were owned by 'two little girls about three feet high who could have done with losing a few ounces themselves.... As the children got near, the ponies would swing round and present their ample hindquarters and give a few lightning kicks which the children would side-step calmly as if they were avoiding the kitchen table, and they had the head-collars on those animals before they knew what was happening. I was astonished at how meekly they were led away; but they were planning vengeance - you could tell by their eyes.'

So were born Thelwell's characters Penelope and her pony Kipper!

 


secondhand books for sale
updated 10th January 2012


thelwell's Gymkhana
published 1979 (1st ed.) bt Eyre Methuen London, hardback with dust jacket GD/GD, no names, clean cream pages, tight binding, unclipped dust jacket with bumping at corners now in new plastic sleeve.
"The daughters of Britain
(Though trampled and bitten)
Are mounting mad ponies
And seizing the rein." THE020 AU$12

 

 

Up the Garden Path thelwell's Guide to Gardening
published 1967 (1st ed.) by Eyre Methuen London, hardback with dust jacket GD/GD, fep neatly removed.
Here is a gardener's handbook in the true sense of the word, designed to be held in one hand while the flame gun is kept going with the other.
THE011 AU$12

  

thelwell's Compleat Tangler, Being a Pictorial Discourse of Anglers and Angling
published 1968 (1st ed.) by E.P. Dutton & Co New York, hardback with dust jacket VG/VG.
thelwell casts a fishy eye at fisherman and fish.
THE012 AU$10

  

This Desirable Plot, A Dream-House Hunter's Nightmare
published 1971 (1st ed.) by E.P. Dutton & Co New York, hardback with dust jacket GD/GD, small tears on front of dj.
thelwell covers all the hazards of buying and selling property.
THE025 AU$15

  

Some Damn Fool's Signed the Rubens Again!
published 1984 (reprint) by Methuen London, paperback in good condition, clean cream pages, tight binding and clean covers.
The joys, the sorrows and hilarity of life in the crumbling stately homes of England—and what happens when they're thrown open to the public.
THE019 AU$5

  

Belt Up, thelwell's Motoring Manual
published 1977 by Magnum Methuen London, paperback in good condition, clean tanned pages, tight binding and clean covers with dogears.
Traffic jams, noise, breakdowns, fuel shortages and lady drivers are treated here with the reverence they deserve.
THE023 AU$3

  

The Effluent Society
published 1978 by Magnum Methuen London, paperback in good condition, clean white pages, tight binding and clean covers with dogears.
An ironic view of society's vain attempts to deal with the growing problems thrown up in the wake of "progress".
THE015 AU$2

  

thelwell's Book of Leisure
published 1974 by Eyre Methuen London, paperback in fair condition, binding ceacked at first page but holding, clean white pages, OK binding and clean covers with tears and dogears.
If you want to know what to do with your leisure, here is the answer. Sit down in an easy chair and read all about it.
THE014 AU$1

  

my pony catalogue is here