Bestall’s bear legacy
“I NEVER had a teddy”, writes Sir Paul McCartney, who turned as a child instead to the Rupert Bear stories in The Daily Express. Without expanding on this poignant fact, McCartney explains his affection for the fictional bear in his foreword to this account of the life and work of Alfred Edmeades Bestall, MBE.
First published in 2003 and now re-issued to mark Rupert’s 90th anniversary, the book is a reminder that Bestall was an artist of considerable finesse who exhibited at the Royal Academy, although he is mostly recognised as the illustrator of the famous children’s comic-strip character.
