Nicolas Bentley facts for kids

Nicolas Clerihew Bentley (born June 14, 1907 – died August 14, 1978) was a British writer and artist. He was famous for his funny cartoon drawings in books and magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. His father was Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who invented a special type of poem called a clerihew. Nicolas was originally named Nicholas, but he decided to change the spelling of his first name.

Early Life and First Jobs

Nicolas Clerihew Bentley was born in Highgate, London, on June 14, 1907. He went to University College School. When he was 17, he decided not to go to university because he felt his school grades weren't good enough.

After school, he tried studying at Heatherleys School of Fine Art, a well-known art college. But he left after only a few months. Nicolas then had some unusual jobs. He worked for free as a clown in a circus! After that, he was an extra in movies. During the General Strike in 1926, a big protest where many workers stopped working, he even worked on the London Underground train system.

Starting His Art Career

Nicolas Bentley sold his very first drawing to his godfather, G. K. Chesterton. In 1928, he got a job drawing pictures for a newspaper called Man and his clothes. His first regular job as an artist was in the advertising department at Shell, a big energy company. He worked there for three years, but he didn't really enjoy working in advertising.

In 1930, a friend of his father, Hilaire Belloc, asked him to draw pictures for his book New Cautionary Tales. People really liked the book and Nicolas's illustrations. This success allowed him to become a freelance artist. This meant he could work for himself and choose his own projects.

Working in Publishing

Besides being a freelance artist and writer, Nicolas Bentley also worked in the publishing world. From 1950, he was a director at a company called Andre Deutsch. Later, he worked as an editor for other companies, including Mitchell Beazley Ltd., Sunday Times Publications, and Thomas Nelson.

Author and Illustrator

During the 1930s, Nicolas Bentley drew pictures for many different authors, from J. B. Morton to Damon Runyon. His most famous drawings were for T. S. Eliot's book, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. He illustrated more than 70 books throughout his long career! He often signed his work with "Nicolas Bentley drew the pictures."

Nicolas loved illustrating his own books the most, and he thought of himself as a writer first. One of his well-known books, Ready Refusals, or, The White Liar's Engagement Book, had a quote for every day of the year, along with a funny picture. He also wrote and illustrated Golden Sovereigns – and some of lesser value – from Boadicea to Elizabeth II (1970), which was a humorous book about the kings and queens of England and Britain.

Family Life

On October 17, 1934, Nicolas Bentley married Barbara Hastings. She was also a writer, especially of children's books. Her father was Sir Patrick Gardiner Hastings. Nicolas and Barbara had one child, a daughter named Arabella, who was born in 1943.

After World War II

Nicolas Bentley joined the auxiliary fire service in 1938. He served as a firefighter in the London Fire Brigade during the Second World War. After the war, he illustrated a popular book called How to be an Alien (1946) by George Mikes.

After the war, he took on some regular cartooning jobs. He drew for the magazine Time and Tide from 1952 to 1954. He also drew small "pocket cartoons" for the Daily Mail newspaper starting in 1958. He stopped this job in 1962 because he felt it was too much pressure. Later in his life, he drew pictures for Auberon Waugh's Diary in the magazine Private Eye and contributed other cartoons there.

Nicolas Bentley moved to Downhead, a village near Shepton Mallet in Somerset. He passed away on August 14, 1978, at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Somerset.

His autobiography, a book about his own life, called A Version of the Truth, was published in 1960. After he died, Auberon Waugh wrote in Private Eye that Nicolas was "a gentle, modest, humorous man" who had a "highly individual genius" and "supreme technical ability."

Selected Books Written and Illustrated by Nicolas Bentley

• All Fall Down (1932)
• Die? I Thought I'd Laugh (1936)
• Ballet-Hoo (1937)
• The Tongue-Tied Canary (1948)
• The Floating Dutchman (1950)
• Third Party Risk (1953)
• How can you bear to be human? (1957)
• Nicholas Bentley: A Version of the Truth (1960)
• Nicholas Bentley's Book of Birds (1965)
• Tales From Shakespeare (1972)

Selected Books Illustrated by Nicolas Bentley

• Bentley, E. C., More Biography (1929)
• Belloc, H., New Cautionary Tales (1930)
• Eliot, T. S., Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1940)
• Mikes, George, How to be an Alien (1946)