including a large drawing of a grand fancy dress ball, and another large one of 2 men talking, 'What's poetry, Bill?'; others include a small boy with a large policeman, '"Twenty Years After" by Alexander Dumas'; a seated figure, ¾lphegor, "Sorrow's crown of sorrows is remembering happier times"'; 2 priests gossiping, 'The Latest'; a monkey with an organ grinder, 'Seated one day on the organ, I was weary & ill at ease!'; a drunkard boring an old man, 'Shakespeare Illustrated'; and an actor as Hamlet holding the skull, pen and ink on thin card, v.s., 190 x 170mm. to 340 x 300mm., all signed, four dated, the second cited mounted on contemporary card support, 1893-1896 (8) Phil May (1864-1903) was born near Leeds, and grew up in difficult circumstances following his father's premature death. From an early age he found work in the theatre, as a design assistant, as well as producing portrait sketches of the actors for posters, and for sale, and occasionally performing. He moved to London in the early 1880s, and found work sketching for the St Stephen's Review. Here he was spotted by an agent who found him work in Australia, where his talent and success flourished from 1885 until his return in 1888. He soon became a household name, being engaged by the Daily Graphic, and later by Punch. A flamboyant character, with a lifestyle to suit, he died of alcoholism and tuberculosis at the age of just 39, having been greatly admired by his contemporaries, and credited by his successors as one of the biggest influences on post-victorian illustration.