Grab a new, limited-edition book illustrated and signed by the great Sir Quentin Blake

Tue 18th Apr 2017

Much-loved illustrator Sir Quentin Blake has illustrated and signed 1,000 copies of sci-fi classic Riddley Walker in collaboration with The Folio Society





Illustration by Quentin Blake from The Folio Society edition of Riddley Walker © Quentin Blake

Thirty-nine new drawings by Sir Quentin Blake illustrate a new edition of Russell Hoban’s Riddley Walker, first published in 1980, which depicts a post-apocalyptic world 2,500 years after a nuclear catastrophe has plunged England in a second Iron Age.

Sir Quentin Blake’s illustrations were created with quills in various stages of deterioration, creating course markmaking suited to the narrative and allowing precise detail for gesture and expression.

Illustration by Quentin Blake from The Folio Society edition of Riddley Walker © Quentin Blake

On the collaboration, Sir Quentin Blake comments: “The process is of great interest to me, and not least here, where the invitation was to create images which on the one hand were my drawings and on the other would be near Riddley’s primitive text.

“Incident – activity – is fascinating to me, but what seemed to me here was the atmosphere – the darkness, the drizzle, the ruined landscape.

“I have tried to depict the handful of significant characters (one or two of them very remarkable indeed) that Riddley encounters, but I have left most of the active moments of drama to him to recount.”

Illustration by Quentin Blake from The Folio Society edition of Riddley Walker © Quentin Blake

Sir Quentin Blake likes to know where the illustrations will be placed in relation to the text and, for Riddley Walker, has deliberately made the visual suggestion that each illustration cannot quite respect the space allotted to it.

The drawings were produced on watercolour paper – visible through the dark washes – and are printed in full colour, adding a richness and depth.

Each copy of Riddley Walker is signed by Sir Quentin Blake and includes a new essay by the illustrator, ‘Draw is and interesting word’.

Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, The Folio Society 2017 edition, illustrated and signed by Quentin Blake, postscript by Dr Rowan Williams, 1,000 editions, available now, £295. www.foliosociety.com

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