The Monster Rupert – 1949

Author: Mary Tourtel
Price: £35
Publisher: Sampson Low, London, UK
Edition: First edition
Publication Date: 1949
Format: Original cloth-backed boards
Condition: Very good
Size: Quarto
Pages: 157

Description:

Original cloth-backed boards. Binding nice and tight. Pages generally very nice and clean. Belongs to box neatly filled in. Spine cloth slightly rubbed. Edges a little rubbed. A very good copy. 002704. Location: DBR.

Mary Tourtel And ‘Rupert The Bear’: A Brief History

 
Early Life of Mary Tourtel

Mary Tourtel was born Mary Caldwell on 28 January 1874 in Canterbury, Kent. She came from a creative and intellectually rich background. Her father was a stained-glass artist, and her brother pursued a successful career as a sculptor. Surrounded by art from a young age, it was perhaps inevitable that Mary would develop a passion for drawing. She went on to study at the Sidney Cooper School of Art, where she honed her skills in illustration and painting.

A Career in Illustration

Before the birth of Rupert the Bear, Tourtel worked as an illustrator for children’s books. She married Herbert Tourtel, a journalist with the Daily Express, and it was through this connection that her most iconic creation would come to life.

The Birth of Rupert the Bear

In 1920, the Daily Express was looking for a way to rival popular comic strips appearing in other newspapers at the time. The editor approached Mary Tourtel to create a character that would appeal to young readers and boost newspaper sales. The result was Little Lost Bear, which was first published on 8 November 1920. This character quickly evolved into Rupert the Bear, a charming young white bear in a red jumper and yellow checked trousers.

Rupert’s adventures were distinctive not just for their gentle tone and rural English settings but also for their use of rhyming couplets beneath each panel. These verses added a lyrical, poetic quality to the stories, helping them stand out among other comic strips of the time.

The World of Rupert

Mary Tourtel’s original stories were steeped in a mix of folklore, fantasy, and whimsical magic. Rupert often ventured into strange lands, encountered fantastical creatures, and made friends with characters like Bill Badger, Edward Trunk, and Algy Pug. The tone was often otherworldly, reflective of Tourtel’s fascination with the mystical and the peculiar.

Tourtel illustrated and wrote Rupert’s adventures for fifteen years, creating a loyal following. However, by the mid-1930s, her eyesight began to fail, and she gradually stepped back from her work. In 1935, she officially retired, and her final Rupert story was published in 1935.

The Legacy Continued

After Tourtel’s retirement, the task of continuing Rupert’s adventures fell to Alfred Bestall, an illustrator with a softer, more detailed artistic style. While Bestall moved Rupert’s stories in a slightly more realistic and pastoral direction, he preserved the essential character and charm of Tourtel’s original vision.

Though Bestall is often credited with expanding Rupert’s world and making the character even more beloved, it was Mary Tourtel who laid the foundation. Her Rupert was a curious and brave little bear who ventured into the magical unknown, always finding his way home.

Lasting Influence

Mary Tourtel passed away in 1948, but her creation lives on. Rupert the Bear has become a British cultural icon, appearing in annuals, television adaptations, merchandise, and exhibitions. While later artists and writers have shaped Rupert in new ways, Tourtel’s influence remains ever present.

Her legacy lies not only in the character she created but in the way she combined storytelling, poetry, and illustration to enchant generations of children. Rupert the Bear remains one of the most enduring figures in British children’s literature — a testament to the quiet genius of Mary Tourtel.

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