In 1932 Tunnicliffe’s wife Winifred suggested he should illustrate Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter, first published in 1927, after he had enjoyed reading it. He sent four proposed etchings to the publishers. Although they did not feel they were appropriate for the book, they agreed to show them to the author. They later wrote again saying the author also liked the images finding them ‘specially attractive and true to the spirit of the book’ and asked him to produce prints that could be cheaply reproduced for a mass-produced book. He soon after provided wood engravings for this purpose that beautifully convey the liveliness of the animals.

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