What a Life!

L[ucas], E.V. and G[eorge] M[orrow]

In 1911, two Edwardians sat down with scissors and paste to create a masterpiece, using illustrations from Whiteley's Catalogue to illustrate the imaginary autobiography of an aristocratic Englishman. Harrods had previously turned them down.

Ignored in its day, 'What a Life!' was later hailed as a pioneer work of Surrealism and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. It is seen as a precursor of Max Ernst's novels and Terry Gillam's Monty Python television animations.

Impossible to obtain for 20 years, the collage by E.V. Lucas, essayist and travel writer, and George Morrow, illustrator and contributor to 'Punch', has been reprinted as a graphic novel by Collins in a facsimile format of the original edition.

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