The Original Sketchbook for ‘The Ship that Sailed to Mars’

[The Ship that Sailed to Mars] [Original Manuscript Sketchbook].

Kimberley, South Africa: 1917-19.

Price: $36,000.00


About the item

Timlin, William M. Published in 1923. Bound notebook: 84 leaves, with pencil, pen and/or ink drawings on 80 leaves, recto only, with numerous penciled notes and annotations in the artist's hand throughout. 1 vols. 10 x 8 inches. The Original Sketchbook for ‘The Ship that Sailed to Mars’. Original maroon imitation leather boards, spine perished and lower cover detached, internally fine. With the pencilled notation “William M. Timlin / 36 Milner St. / Kimberley” on front pastedown. Preserved in a custom dark blue morocco-backed slipcase with inner wrapper.

Item #13795

THIS UNIQUE SKETCHBOOK SHOWS THE EVOLUTION OF TIMLIN'S MOST FAMOUS BOOK IN OVER 80 PAGES OF DRAWINGS, SKETCHES AND NOTES.
Highlights include a fine pencil and watercolor sketch for “Pan”, several page sketches for “Launching of the Ship” including studies of various ship designs, a delightful finished pencil drawing of the ship's crew (“The Manning of the ship”), drawings for “The Building of the Ship”, “The Shipyard”, evolution of the book's contents and title pages, “The Departure of the Ship” and studies of various grotesque animals for “The Forest” and “The Zoo”.
In addition, there are 25 sketches for Timlin's exhibition works, including “Cinderella”, drapery studies, architectural schemes, and studies for furniture, all annotated by the artist.
William Mitcheson Timlin was born in Northumberland, England, and studied art in Newcastle before following his parents to South Africa, where he completed his studies in art and architecture. He then practiced as an architect, designing a number of major public buildings in Kimberley; at the same time he worked as an artist, producing paintings, etchings and pastels of conventional subjects, in addition to the watercolor fantasies for which he is best known. He also wrote stories and music and did periodical illustrations. In 1923 he published The Ship that Sailed to Mars, which has become a fantasy classic, its genesis revealed in this superb collection of drawings.