Ditchling Fable Book

This book is essentially to show illustrations of Ditchling through the fables of Aesop together with other drawings that depict locations within the Sussex village. The fables are told by several writers from the past, from William Caxton’s in 1484 (the first illustrated publication of the fables in England); Odo of Cheriton in the 13th Century; Aphra Behn and Roger L’Estrange writing in the 17th century; Samuel Croxall in the 18th century; Thomas James, George Fyler Townsend, Henry Thomas Riley and Joseph Jacobs in the 19th century; and Vernon Jones in the 20th century.
John Vernon Lord (born 1939 in Glossop, Derbyshire) is an author, illustrator and educator. He studied at Salford School of Art and at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. His best-known works include children’s book The Giant Jam Sandwich (1972) and his award-winning edition of The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear (1984), both published by Jonathan Cape. His children’s books have been translated into many languages.

He has twice been the overall winner of the Victoria and Albert Museum Illustration Awards, with his Aesop’s Fables in 1990 and for his illustrations in James Joyce’s Ulysses in 2018, when he was awarded the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year and the Best Illustrated Book prize.

Three monographs on his work have been published – Drawing Upon Drawing (2007), Drawn to Drawing (2014) and Random Notes about Doodling, Sketching, Drawing and Illustrating (2023). Lord has illustrated a number of editions for the Folio Society and has illustrated Lewis Carroll’s Alice books (2009 and 2011), and The Hunting of the Snark (2006), published by Artists’ Choice Editions.

He was Chair of the Graphic Design Board of the Council for Academic Awards, and is Professor Emeritus at the University of Brighton, having been Professor of Illustration where he taught from 1961 to 1999.

He has lived in Ditchling in Sussex since January 1971.