Monkey

In 1965 Duncan Grant was commissioned by the Folio Society to produce illustrations for its edition of Arthur Waley's translation of Monkey, the entertaining Chinese classic by Wu Ch'êng-ên. He made many studies for Monkey, one of the principal characters in the 'novel', several based on photographs of monkeys in a book lent to him by his neighbour, Cyril Connolly. In the end, the present drawing did not feature in the book when published (1968) but it catches the anthropomorphic presence of the venturesome creature. Waley's translation when first issued in 1942 bore a frontispiece and jacket by Grant.

R.S.