'Britain at Play' is a must-have collection of
spectacular and hilarious drawings by the celebrated
illustrator William Heath Robinson. Though known for his
humorous pictures of ingenious and improbable
contraptions (featuring steam kettles, candles and
lengths of knotted string), Heath Robinson's mechanical
devices were only part of his huge and wide-ranging
output. Heath Robinson's work for such publications as
'The Tatler', 'The Sketch' and 'The Bystander' features
the British at play in the home and outside it,
indulging in outlandish sports, going to extraordinary
lengths to hunt down an elusive prey, or finding
opportunities for romance in surprising circumstances.
Presented together for the first time, these stunning
illustrations show Britain in the garden, at the beach
and on the golf course. We find distinguished gentlemen
playing aquatic golf, fish squash or mountain cricket,
gathering edelweiss, trapping whelks and catching tigers
or perhaps indulging in some Jazz-tennis. We find
automobile disasters ('cartastrophes') aplenty, and
bizarre acts of kindness by well-meaning boy scouts. We
find city commuters sprinting across sand dunes, ladies
reading whilst waltzing, lovers stealing a bus-top kiss
in the midst of a traffic jam. Charming, eccentric,
endlessly inventive, Heath Robinson s unforgettable
drawings in this collection perfectly capture the
peculiar character of the great British nation at
leisure.
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