Okay, this is a slight aside to what I normally write about, that being cartoons and comics, however when I come across great illustrations I think it is worth giving them a mention. So here we go: When it comes to books about absent minded professor’s who invent zany contraptions then Professor Branestawm takes the cake. The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm was written by Norman Hunter and first published in 1933. The sequel to this was Professor Branestawm’s Treasure Hunt, published in 1937. Then Norman took a break from writing Professor Branestawm books until later in his life. In 1970 he published the third book The Peculiar Triumph of Professor Branestawm which was followed by another ten books, the last being published in 1983.

The characters and stories in these books are fantastic and I spent many days reading these books as a child. However, although the stories were great, it was in fact the illustrations that really caught my attention. The books were filled with drawings of the professor’s crazy inventions.

Different artists illustrated the books, however I believe the best drawings were those of W. Heath Robinson who was known for drawing fantastic rickety contraptions. In fact, The original book contained seventy-six illustrations by W. Heath Robinson.

I wish I had kept a full set of these novels, just so I could look back upon the great illustrations of contraptions and inventions. Other artists who illustrated the Professor Branestawm books, that I am aware of, were James Arnold, George Worsley Adamson and Derek Cousins.

.