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| Cropped image - see below |
In issue 414 (20 December 1969) Look and Learn began a short series - featured on the cover by the wonderful Angus McKie - called "Castaways". They introduced the feature with this paragraph:
Alexander Selkirk was the most famous castaway of them all. After quarrelling with his captain in 1704, he asked to be put ashore on an island and remained there alone for over four years. From his experiences came Robinson Crusoe, the great novel by Daniel Defoe which immortalised the notion of the castaway. Because Robinson Crusoe has now become an almost legendary character, it has often been taken for granted that no other men suffered as he did. In fact there were a number of castaways, whose stories are just as enthralling as the story of Alexander Selkirk's. This week we begin a new series, telling the stories of these forgotten men....
The first episode concerned the wreck of the Eclipse where survivors found they had come ashore at Sanak Island, which is at the south-western tip of Alaska. At that time, Alaska and the neighbouring islands belonged to the Russian Empire. Read more here. The second in the series (#415) was Philip Ashton who was captured by pirates before escaping to a Caribbean island. The third tale (#416) was about Pedro Serrano who was the sole survivor of a shipwreck off Central America - both images that appeared in L&L can be viewed on the L&L website. The fourth story (#417) tells of William Mann who found himself in the Marianas. Look and Learn have a transcript of the whole article plus one of the accompanying images by artist Graham Coton.
In issue #418 (17 January 1970) we read about the steamship U.S.S. Saginaw which was working on the Midway Islands and decided to head to the nearby Kure Island but became caught in treacherous currents and smashed in total darkness on - they found out later - Kure Island. After an unsuccessful attempt to get drinking water one seaman suggested creating a condenser from the steamer's boiler but they knew to escape the lonely place they'd need to build a boat and sail 1,200 miles south east to Hawaii. A boat was built and a crew of 5 men headed out. They were apparently blown off course several times but eventually washed up in violent seas and one man survived to alert the authorities. The crew of the Saginaw had been stuck for 68 days before being rescued and the only casualties were the four men in the skiff.
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| Look And Learn #418 (17 January 1970), pp.6-7 by Frank Bellamy |
On 30 January 1970 Nancy Bellamy paid two cheques into the bank.
The first she called "Capt Cook L&L" which we know was full colour and appeared in issue #422 (14 February 1970) for which Bellamy was paid £50.
The second cheque was for £18/18/- - i.e. 18 guineas and Nancy titled that one "Look and Learn / Shipwrecked". I'll come back to that in a moment. Then on 3 March 1970 she paid in a large cheque for £177/10/- and stated this was for "Look and Learn First World War, 1,2, 3 and Castaways £20".
Well let's get some publication dates on these items:
- LOOK AND LEARN 418 (17 January 1970): "Castaways"
- LOOK AND LEARN 422 (14 February 1970): "The Man and the Moment: James Cook"
- LOOK AND LEARN 437 - 462 (30 May 1970 - 21 November 1970): "The Story of World War One" (and #1,2,3 were specifically published in 30 May to 13 June 1970)
The cheques are out of order - sort of - so what could that mysterious "Shipwrecked" I mentioned be? The payment of £20 is just under half of the colour double-page rate for Captain Cook, so the above B&W drawing is likely to be the one. Just look at the way the rocks are drawn, the composition of the figures struggling against the waves, even their shadows are included, notice the explosions of wave formations. If you are able to see the rest of "The Castaways" series you'll see a variety of art styles, but this one, once focussed on, is Frank Bellamy's work.
But that still leaves us with the mystery of what is the 18 guineas for "Shipwrecked"? Where was it published? I checked all the Look and Learn magazines from August 1969 to April 1970 I couldn't find anything resembling Bellamy's handiwork. I then had inspiration and checked the Look And Learn Book 1970 and 1971. No joy! There was a later series called "Shipwreck" which appeared between 28 November 1971 to 23 January 1971 but again I don't think any are illustrated by Bellamy.
I asked my friend Steve Holland and he wrote back to me:"My guess is that he illustrated two episodes of 'The Castaways' -- issues 414 and 418 -- but I wouldn't have guessed they were Bellamy. The second illustration in issue 414 isn't by the same artist as the first."
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| Look And Learn #414 (20 December 1969), pp.6-7 |
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| Look And Learn #415 (27 December 1969), pp.6-7 |
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