The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

September 28, 2016

September 28, 1959

Gerhard Hoffnung, (March 22, 1925 to September 28, 1959) was a German illustrator and musician who made England his home. As of course did many others at this period.

Some of the books he did the pictures for include: 

The Isle of Cats (by John Symonds, 1955)
Reigning Cats and Dogs (by Stanley Penn, 1959)
The Boy and the Magic
(by Colette, 1964).

According to this article about his music, "Hoffnung was passionately fond of cats."
There we learn that his book:

Musical Chairs,....is a delight for animal lovers..[It] includes perhaps Hoffnung's best known and loved drawing, that of the smiling cat playing his stave-like whiskers with a violin bow held with his tail....

Here is a Hoffnung drawing:




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