Back to the Local Drawings by Edward Ardizzone

 

Back to the Local, by Maurice Gorham, was first published in 1938 and was a celebration of the habit of going to your local London pub. The illustrations were by the great Edward Ardizzone.

"In his foreword to ‘Back to the Local’ Maurice Gorham explains that the life of the original book came to an end during the war when ‘unsold copies, sheets, and plates of the drawings went up together in the burning of Cassell’s premises in Belle Sauvage Yard’. After the war, Gorham and Ardizzone revisited the subject. Ardizzone re-drew some of his original illustrations and added some more, and Gorham re-wrote his text to take into account the many changes to pubs and pub going since the end of the war. (At the time of writing beer was still being rationed). In his introductory essay he explains that during the war visiting one’s local was one of the habits that Londoners missed most: 

"‘Whether they were parching in the desert, evacuated with their jobs to unfamiliar seaside towns or country villages or inland spas, or merely working the night shift, many of them would be thinking and talking mainly about the time when they would again be able to drop into the old friendly local and have a pint or two among their friends.'" -- The Silver Locket

The book will be reprinted in the States soon, and is already out in the UK. The Silver Locket again:

"‘Back to the Local’, this new edition published by Faber & Faber Ltd in 2024, with an new preface by Robert Elms, and a map featuring the pubs still open for business today by Emily Faccini.

"You can buy a copy direct from Faber and receive a free beer mat featuring the cover, designed by Pete Adlington, Faber’s Art Director."

https://www.faber.co.uk/product/back-to-the-local-free-beer-mat-2-items

 

Here are some of the Ardizzone drawings from Back to the Local:
 

 

This new edition has a map on the back of the cover showing 65 pubs still open today. Designed by Emily Faccini.

 

What with a lot of Ardizzone's published work going out of print, it was such happy news to hear of this new reprint edition returning to bookstores.