Extremely rare

Artist: Pythia Ashton-Jewell (biography)
Medium: Pen & Inks on Acid-free Board
Size: 8" x 6" (210mm x 150mm)
Date: 1997
Signature: Signed by the artist in ink on all but a few pages

These are the Signed unique original Pen & Ink drawings by Pythia Ashton-Jewell.

This is the very rare original set of artworks for the illustrated book, Warning: When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple - a poem by Jenny Joseph and illustrated by Pythia Ashton-Jewell, published by Souvenir Press in 1997.

Features 14 beautifully drawn frames, nearly all of which are signed by the artist.

Voted Britain's favourite poem in 1996, 'Warning', written in 1961, is known and loved the world over. Its declaration of defiance, so vividly and cleverly expressed, appeals to the rebel in all of us as we secretly yearn to throw off the shackles of propriety and enjoy the gleeful freedom of cocking a snook at the rest of the world. In the poem's respectable middle-aged woman, as she indulges in her fantasy of the gabby old crone with her outrageous clothes and dotty behaviour, Jenny Joseph has created a character whose thoughts have been quoted at conferences and funerals, used to cheer up sick friends, remembered with pleasure by children and adults alike.

Found in schoolbooks from Alaska to Singapore, the poem has been stitched, stamped, quilted, set to music, printed on cards, written on cakes and made into films. Now, for the first time, 'Warning' appears as an illustrated book with drawings by Pythia Ashton-Jewell specially designed to suit its unique character and add piquancy to its flavour. It will surely become one of the most popular gifts of all time.

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