{"title":"Valerie Lester","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"phiz-book-valerie-lester-9780701177423","title":"Phiz","description":"'Phiz' - Hablot Knight Browne - was the great illustrator of Dickens' fiction. For over twenty-three years they worked together, and Phiz's drawings brought to life a galaxy of much-loved characters, from Mr Pickwick, Nicholas Nickelby and Mr Micawber, to Little Nell and David Copperfield. But, from the mystery of his birth onwards, Phiz himself led a life as rich as any novel. He came from an old Huguenot Spitalfields family, ostensibly the fourteenth child of debt-ridden parents: but his eldest sister Kate had been engaged to a Captain of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, who disappeared, presumed dead, at Waterloo- In late 1815, Phiz arrived. Soon his official father too vanished without trace. The Browne children struggled on. In this vivid, lively memoir - the first full biography, long-awaited by Victorian scholars - his great-great-granddaughter Valerie Browne Lester tracks Phiz's path to marriage and fame, his travels around England and Ireland and work with Dickens, Trollope and the Irish best-selling novelist Charles Lever, and his packed private life. He was hopeless with money and had far too many children yet remained an eternal, sunny optimist until his death in 1882 - marked by a poetic obituary in Punch. In his inimitable way, Phiz was a memorable artist and his story bustles with character and adventure, celebrations and arguments, laughter and tears. Hunting for her ancestor, the author pursued a quest that took her around the world, unearthing a hoard of unpublished material. Her enchanting book, packed with surprising and delicious illustrations, is a perfect present for all who love Dickens, art and the hidden byways of Victorian life, rich as a round plum pudding.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49505785544977,"sku":"GOR001224913","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49996565217553,"sku":"GOR010259372","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50325042462993,"sku":"CIN070117742XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53266495799569,"sku":"GOR002185727","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/070117742X.jpg?v=1750784470"},{"product_id":"phiz-book-valerie-lester-9781844135349","title":"Phiz","description":"Phiz' - Hablot Knight Browne - was the great illustrator of Dickens' fiction. For over twenty-three years they worked together, and Phiz's drawings brought to life a galaxy of much-loved characters, from Mr Pickwick, Nicholas Nickleby and Mr Micawber, to Little Nell and David Copperfield. But, from the mystery of his birth onwards, Phiz himself led a life as rich as any novel. In this vivid, lively memoir - the first full biography, long-awaited by Victorian scholars - his great-great-granddaughter Valerie Browne Lester tracks the struggles of the abandoned Browne family and follows Phiz's path to marriage and fame, his travels around England and Ireland and work with Dickens, Lever, Trollope and others, and his colourful private life. Based on a mass of unpublished material, this enchanting book, packed with surprising and delicious illustrations, is a perfect present for all who love Dickens and enjoy the hidden byways of Victorian life.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49529987563793,"sku":"GOR003596759","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49605335777553,"sku":"GOR003849050","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50324607762705,"sku":"CIN1844135349G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1844135349.jpg?v=1751154848"},{"product_id":"marvels-book-valerie-lester-9781789014945","title":"Marvels","description":"The first biography of the scientist, artist and man of letters Clarence Bicknell.  Fascinating for those interested in Arts \u0026amp; Crafts design, the natural sciences, archaeology and the Victorian Age of Enlightenment.  2018 is the centenary of Clarence Bicknell’s death; it is being marked by events in Italy, France and the UK.      A treasure trove of research discoveries enlightens Valerie Lester’s biography of the captivating scientist and artist, Clarence Bicknell. Over 5 years, Lester has pored over hundreds of newly-discovered letters, botanical watercolours and arts-and-crafts designs in archives including the Natural History Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the Conservatoire Botanique in Geneva and Genoa University. Every letter and diary entry provides Lester with Clarence’s voice; and each of his vellum-bound albums reveals drawings, watercolours and whimsical creations. The biography’s text, supported by more than 200 images, gives remarkable insights into how and why this man strove for perfection in each subject he tackled.      Clarence was a product of the late-Victorian Enlightenment, of the desire to understand our world and the quest to express it all creatively. Having lived for forty years in Bordighera on the Italian coast and spent summers at Casterino by the Vallée des Merveilles, now in France, he is a respected historical figure on both the French and Italian sides of the Riviera and the Maritime Alps. The irrepressible former clergyman dedicated himself first to botany, then archaeology in the high mountains and, towards the end of his life, to botanical art tinged with the whimsy of humour, narrative, affection for his friends and arts-and-crafts originality.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50767890907409,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50767890972945,"sku":"GOR010024041","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1789014948.jpg?v=1750723449"},{"product_id":"giambattista-bodoni-book-valerie-lester-9781567925289","title":"Giambattista Bodoni","description":"An English-language biography of the incomparably talented printer Giambattista Bodoni (1740-1813). It goes beyond Bodoni's capacity as a printer; it examines the life and times in which he lived, the turbulent and always fragile political climate, and the fascinating cast of characters.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53349040390417,"sku":"GOR008341501","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53497439748369,"sku":"CIN1567925286G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781567925289.jpg?v=1774630488"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-valerie-lester.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}