Lancelot Speed (13 June 1860 – 31 December 1931) was a coastal painter and a British illustrator of books in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...

, usually of a fantastical or romantic nature. He is probably most well known for his illustrations for

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University ...

's fairy story books. Speed is credited as the designer of the 1916

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

version of the novel '' She: A History of Adventure'' by H. Rider Haggard, which he illustrated.

Early life

Speed was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 13 June 1860, the youngest son of William Speed, a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

. He attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

. He was admitted to and matriculated from there in Easter 1881. He was admitted to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Iris ...

, on 27 January 1881, matriculated that Easter, and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1885. Elaine-Speed

Illustration

Speed had no formal art training, but became an illustrator working primarily in black and white. Process engraving particularly suited his fine lines, and he was one of the earlier illustrators to benefit from the new technology. He lived and worked at

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the latter part of his life.

Films

He was also the director of several early British silent films. * The Wonderful Adventures of Pip, Squeak and Wilfred series ** ''The Wonderful Adventures Of Pip, Squeak And Wilfred'' ** ''Pip And Wilfred Detectives'' ** ''Wilfred's Wonderful Adventures'' ** ''Over The Edge Of The World'' ** ''Popski's Early Life'' ** ''The Castaways'' ** ''The Six-Armed Image'' ** ''Trouble In The Nursery'' ** ''Ups And Downs'' ** ''Wilfred's Nightmare'' Lancelot through with Guinevere by Lancelot Speed

Lancelot through with Guinevere by Lancelot Speed

Lancelot Speed's cartoon work is the source of the nickname for the colourful commander of the World War II Special Forces unit " Popski's Private Army". Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Peniakoff, DSO MC, a Belgian of White Russian descent, was called "Popski" by Bill Kennedy Shaw, the Intelligence Officer of the

Long Range Desert Group )Gross, O'Carroll and Chiarvetto 2009, p.20 , patron = , motto = ''Non Vi Sed Arte'' (Latin: ''Not by Strength, but by Guile'') (unofficial) , colours = , colours_label ...

because his signallers had trouble with the spelling of his surname. Peniakoff earned early notoriety (and his MC) with his behind-the-lines raids to blow up German petrol dumps, transported there and back, in some exasperation, by the LRDG. In the ''

Pip, Squeak and Wilfred ''Pip, Squeak and Wilfred'' was a British strip cartoon published in the ''Daily Mirror'' from 1919 to 1956 (with a break c. 1940–1950), as well as the '' Sunday Pictorial'' in the early years. It was conceived by Bertram Lamb, who took the ro ...

'' adventures before the start of World War II, there were two hairy characters: one was a scheming, plotting, bomb-throwing Bolshevik, and the other was his dog. The mad Russian was called "

Professor Wtzkoffski Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Profess ...

" and the dog was called "Popski". These cartoon characters in the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ci ...

'' were well known to all the soldiers, and in his best-selling book about his small irregular unit, "Popski" said, "...I was delighted with my nickname...".

Death

Speed died at

Deal, Kent Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked to the anchor ...

on 31 December 1931Houfe incorrectly gives the date of his death as 21 December 1931. and was buried at Knowlton, Kent, England. His estate was valued at just over £265.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Speed, Lancelot 1860 births 1931 deaths British children's book illustrators British film directors British illustrators Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge