A collection of books from the personal library of Raymond Briggs, the English author and illustrator best known for creating The Snowman, has gone on sale at a charity shop in East Sussex. More than 1,000 books, which were donated by the author’s estate after his death in 2022, are now being sold at an Oxfam bookshop in Hove, raising money for the charity’s work.
Among the donated items are cartoon annuals, illustration reference books and a first edition signed by author Graham Rawle, which likely inspired or informed Briggs’ own work. The collection spans a wide range of illustration, cartoons, comics and social history with works by Aubrey Beardsley, E. H. Shepard, Charles Schulz, Edward Gorey and Posy Simmonds.
The creator of the much-loved classic, The Snowman (1978) lived in Westweston in East Sussex until his death aged 88. Raymond’s final publication, Time for Lights Out, in which Raymond contemplates ageing and death, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2019.
To this day, Briggs’ books have sold over 8.5 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 24 languages. The Snowman was adapted into a Bafta award-winning animated TV film, which still airs every Christmas in the UK, and is a festive family favourite.
As well as The Snowman, many of Briggs’ works including: Ethel and Ernest, Father Christmas, Fungus the Bogeyman, and The Snowman and the Snowdog, have also been adapted for screen.
Martin Hill, a volunteer with Oxfam, who has been cataloguing the vast library of books, said: “This collection offers a wonderful glimpse of the visual and intellectual world of one of Britain’s most distinctive illustrators.
“What’s fascinating is the range. You begin to see connections between the books Raymond Briggs created and the books and artists he chose to have around him.
“There are great illustrators and cartoonists, but then you find books about ageing, bathrooms and domestic life.”
