Tales of the Weirrd

Genuine weirdness is a rare quality To be truly weird demands character and wanton disregard for the social mores of the day

Unleashed in Tales of the Weirrd is Ralph Steadman's fantastic interpretations and biographies of nineteenth century grotesques, oddities, imposters and eccentrics The book is a hilarious catalog of nature's freakish humor and, in the best Victorian tradition, it instructs as well as entertains This crazy collection of dwarfs, and gluttons, wits and water-spouters includes:

• Charles Charlesworth, who grew a beard at age four and died of old age at the age of seven
• Old Boots, who could hold a piece of money between his nose and chin
• Barbara Urselin, the hairy-faced woman
• Henry Lemoine, an eccentric bookseller
• Guillaume de Nittis, who tried to eat himself
• Fakir Agastiya, who kept his arm in the air for ten years
• Neville Vadio, the blind caricaturist, who was claimed by many to be a better draughtsman than Rembrandt

Tales of the Weirrd is an extraordinary celebration of the bizarre brought to life by the astonishing energy, imagination and power of Ralph Steadman's pen

Ralph Steadman's illustrations have appearing in newspapers, magazines and dozens of books including Hunter S Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Animal Farm, Alice in Wonderland and Sigmund Freud He recently traveled the world's vineyards and distilleries for Oddbins, which culminated in his two prize-winning books, The Grapes of Ralph and Still Life With Bottle He has an Honorary D Litt from the University of Kent He has won numerous awards including the W H Smith Illustration Award and was named Illustrator of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1979