My Father and Edward Ardizzone : A Lasting Friendship

This is a brief, but warm and personal, account by Edward Booth-Clibborn of the long friendship between his father (known professionally as an artist under the name of Augustin Booth) and Edward Ardizzone.

They met as students, though Augustin was several years older than Edward, and remained lasting friends until Augustin died in 1969. The lasting bond of their friendship is the succession of Christmas cards which Edward and his wife Catherine sent out annually, and for which Edward did a special picture for each year; these were then printed and posted to special friends. Practically all the pictorial material in this book, reproduced in two colours, is based on these cards, and they help to evoke a feeling of warmth and cheer in the Ardizzone home, in Elgin Avenue, north London, where they lived for many years, and in and around the local pubs and landmarks which both the Ardizonnes and the Booth-Clibborns knew and loved.