Lancelot Speed (13 June 1860 – 31 December 1931) was a coastal painter and a British illustrator of books in the Victorian era, usually of a fantastical or romantic nature. He is probably most well known for his illustrations for Andrew Lang's fairy story books. Speed is credited as the designer of the 1916 silent film version of the novel She: A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard, which he illustrated.
Early life
Speed was born in London on 13 June 1860, the youngest son of William Speed, a Queen's Counsel of the Middle Temple. He attended Rugby School. He was admitted to and matriculated from there in Easter 1881. He was admitted to Clare College, Cambridge, on 27 January 1881, matriculated that Easter, and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1885.[1]
Speed had no formal art training, but became an illustrator working primarily in black and white. Process engraving particularly suited his fine lines, and he was one of the earlier illustrators to benefit from the new technology.[2]
The Wonderful Adventures of Pip, Squeak and Wilfred series
The Wonderful Adventures Of Pip, Squeak And Wilfred
Pip And Wilfred Detectives
Wilfred's Wonderful Adventures
Over The Edge Of The World
Popski's Early Life
The Castaways
The Six-Armed Image
Trouble In The Nursery
Ups And Downs
Wilfred's NightmareLancelot through with Guinevere by Lancelot Speed
Lancelot Speed's cartoon work is the source of the nickname for the colourful commander of the World War II Special Forces unit "Popski's Private Army". Lieutenant ColonelVladimir Peniakoff, DSO MC, a Belgian of White Russian descent, was called "Popski" by Bill Kennedy Shaw, the Intelligence Officer of the Long Range Desert Group because his signallers had trouble with the spelling of his surname. Peniakoff earned early notoriety (and his MC) with his behind-the-lines raids to blow up German petrol dumps, transported there and back, in some exasperation, by the LRDG.[citation needed]
In the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred adventures before the start of World War II, there were two hairy characters: one was a scheming, plotting, bomb-throwing Bolshevik, and the other was his dog. The mad Russian was called "Professor Wtzkoffski" and the dog was called "Popski". These cartoon characters in the Daily Mirror were well known to all the soldiers, and in his best-selling book about his small irregular unit, "Popski" said, "...I was delighted with my nickname...".[5]
^Peppin, Bridget; Micklethwait, Lucy (1984). "Lancelot Speed (1860-1931)". Book Illustrators of the Twentieth Century. New York: Arco Publishing Inc. p. 282.
^Houfe, Simon (1978). "Speed, Lancelot 1860-1931". Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists, 1800-1914. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club. p. 461. ISBN9780902028739. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
