Classic Wodehouse Illustrations, Part 11: "The Purity of the Turf"

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Continuing the "Bertie and his friends bet on weird stuff" theme, I give you "The Purity of the Turf", also illustrated by Mills and Skidmore!




Oh look, Bertie's in bed again:



Wearing his monocle, of course (although at least this time he has the excuse of actually being awake and doing things). Also, taken out of context, the activities described in the caption box sound like some kind of incredibly kinky roleplay.

Bertie meets his annoying little companion Prudence Baxter:


He looks rather different here from Skidmore's usual Bertie. Still not at all Bertie-like, but younger and livelier. Maybe it's just the hat, I don't know.

Harold the choir boy demonstrates his prowess!



Here, of course, he's being chased by the fellow that Jeeves set up, but I'd kind of like to see Jeeves himself going after the little guy. If anyone could strike terror into the heart of an errant choir boy, it's Mills!Jeeves.

The egg and spoon race is split over two pages in Skidmore's version:





And Skidmore!Bertie is back to looking like his regular sad, pruny self. :(

Mills chose to compress the action into a single scene. You can see Bertie in the background, the tall chap with the ever-present monocle:



Well, no wonder she won! Her feet aren't even touching the ground. She apparently has Jeeves' gliding powers.

Oh no, it's Steggles:



Ooh, even if Jeeves weren't on Bertie's side already, that outfit would probably put him over the edge.

Other entries:
"Comrade Bingo"
"Bertie Changes His Mind"
"Leave It to Jeeves"
Right Ho, Jeeves
"The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace"
"Aunt Agatha Takes the Count"
"Jeeves in the Springtime"
"Scoring Off Jeeves" and "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch"
"Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest"
"The Great Sermon Handicap"

Comments

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

interesting that both versions of the egg and spoon racers drew the girls as being rather older than I pictured them.

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they do . . . I pictured them all being about 5 or 6, and Sarah Mills looks at least 12.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Heh. More Bertie in bed. And Bertie being encouraged to grope Jeeves! *giggles*

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Hee, yes! Bertie shouldn't look so affronted at the idea.

[erynn999.livejournal.com]

Bertie is only pretending to be affronted, to put off any suspicion.

[cosmosmariner.livejournal.com]

I had hopes, with that one illo of Skidmore!Bertie looking about 40 instead of 50, but then back to the Bertie we know and loathe. *sad sigh* Will Skidmore never learn?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Is Steggles hitting on Eleanor Roosevelt?

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Ha, she does look kind of like Eleanor Roosevelt! Now that would make for some interesting crack fic . . .

[ladymoondancer.livejournal.com]

Agree on the egg-and-spoon girls being older than I imagine them!

Also Skidmore's egg-and-spoon girl looks like she's mooooving in sloooow moooootioooon.

Not only is the first Skidmore!Bertie younger looking than his usual, but his mustache has shrunk! It's not elegant yet, but at least looks less like an unfortunate shrubbery.

I flipping love the first Mills picture. (Potato roleplay, oo la la!) Bertie's friend (Bingo?) looks like he's trying to cast a voodoo spell on him.

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Bertie's friend (Bingo?) looks like he's trying to cast a voodoo spell on him.

He's an evil enchantress/And he does evil dances/If you look deep in his eyes/He'll put you in trances . . . :D

[ladymoondancer.livejournal.com]

Then what will he DOOOO, get in a romantic STEEEEW, and then he'll come running, running to YOOOOU!

Soooooo LOOK OUT!

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you're posting these illustrations. They're just beautiful.

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

So glad you're enjoying them! :D

[the-maenad.livejournal.com]

Interesting to spot a variation in the text alongside the pictures; in Mills it says "...blew up in the first twenty yards", but Skidmore has "...blew up in the first fifty yards".

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are a few such variations in these illustrations. At some point I'd like to go through and read the stories carefully side by side and see if the differences are in the main text as well.

[durffy.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAA! In the first Mills illustration, Jeeves looks like he's contemplating stuffing a bag over Bingo's head!

These are brilliant!

[ladymoondancer.livejournal.com]

"With all due respect, Mr. Little . . . WTF are you talking about?"

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Mwahaha, so accurate. Angry!Jeeves will not be having with these shenanigans.

[lapin-petite.livejournal.com]

aaah!Lovely illustrations! Youre sweetheart for sharing them with us:D

[wotwotleigh.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you! :D

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Jeeves and Bertie both look pretty pissed in the first one. I think Bingo must've interrupted some sexy goings-on between them. ;)

My hopes were raised by that first picture of Skidmore's Bertie seeming kind of young and almost pleasant, but then he just had to go and dash them and give us more old pill Bertie.

Did those girls race en pointe in Mills' drawing? It takes some serious skills to run like that with an egg!