Richard Chopping
Richard Wasey Chopping (14 April 1917 – 17 April 2008)[1] was a British illustrator and author best known for painting the dust jackets of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels starting with From Russia, with Love (1957).
Early life
Chopping was born in Colchester, Essex, and educated at Gresham's School, Holt.[2]
Illustrator
Chopping painted in the
Book covers
- Alde Estuary: The Story of a Suffolk River (1952; Norman Adlard & Co)
- The Saturday Book (1955; Hutchinson)
- From Russia, with Love (1957; Jonathan Cape)
- The Tenth Aldeburgh Festival Programme Book (1957)
- Goldfinger (1959; Jonathan Cape)
- For Your Eyes Only (1960; Jonathan Cape)
- Thunderball (1961; Jonathan Cape)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1962; Jonathan Cape)
- The Fourth of June (1962; Anthony Blond) but only the hardback edition
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963; Jonathan Cape)
- You Only Live Twice (1964; Jonathan Cape)
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1965; Jonathan Cape)
- The Fly (1965; Secker and Warburg)
- Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966; Jonathan Cape)
- The Ring (1967; Secker and Warburg)
- The Last Dodo (1967; Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
- The Thirty-Second Aldeburgh Festival of Music & the Arts Programme Book (1979)
- Licence Renewed (1981; Jonathan Cape)
Author
During the 1940s, Chopping also established himself as an author and illustrator of natural history and children's books.[2] His early work includes Butterflies in Britain (1943), which was drawn directly on the lithographic plates, A Book of Birds (1944), The Old Woman and the Pedlar (1944), The Tailor and the Mouse (1944), Wild Flowers (1944), Heads, Bodies & Legs with Denis Wirth-Miller (1946), and the collection of short stories Mr Postlethwaite's Reindeer (1945).
Chopping's first novel, The Fly (Secker & Warburg, 1965) was recommended to its publisher by
Private life
Chopping's life partner was the landscape painter Denis Wirth-Miller (born 27 November 1915, died 27 October 2010). The two were the first couple to register a
Correspondence with Ian Fleming
On 8 April 2010 Swann Galleries auctioned an archive of letters between Chopping, Ian Fleming, and others involved in the production of nine of the 007 covers between 1957 and 1966. The letters touch on details about the jacket art, praise for Chopping's work, payment information, copyright issues and other related topics. The lot sold for $57,600.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Richard Chopping Bibliography at Bookseller World
- ^ a b c "Richard Chopping: Versatile illustrator best known for his distinctive Bond book jackets" (obituary), The Independent, 23 April 2008
- ^ Gordon, Giles, Aren't We Due a Royalty Statement? (1993)
- ^ David Buckman, "Denis Wirth-Miller: Bohemian artist who enjoyed a close association with Francis Bacon", The Independent, 19 January 2011
External links
- Obituary: Independent
- Obituary: Times
- "Richard Chopping and James Bond". Bond Artist Severs Last Link With Fleming. Archived from the original on 14 August 2003. Retrieved 13 November 2005.
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