“KEM” (Kimon E. Marengo), Set of 5 World War II propaganda posters depicting adaptations of Shahnameh scenes, in Persian, printed posters on paper [London (for the Ministry of Information), 1942] 5 leaves (of 6 original), a few light creases to extremities, else excellent condition, versos blank, 342 by 228 mm. Despite a firmly held belief that this sale should include only manuscript materials, the two present cataloguers have decided that these items belong here, as fascinating modern tributes of the power that illuminated manuscripts of the Shahnameh (‘Book of Kings’) have had over Persian/Iranian populations up to the present day. Marengo was born in Egypt, but began his career in Paris, where he produced satirical cartoons and illustrations for both French and English newspapers (including both Le petit Parisien and the Daily Telegraph). At the outbreak of World War II, he was studying in Exeter College, Oxford, and turned his talents to aiding the Ministry of Information in London, producing over 3000 images on behalf of the British war effort. The Germans were increasingly using propaganda in Iran, and so Marengo was tasked with devising counter-measures. He drew on that nation’s rich manuscript heritage, and repainted six images from the Shahnameh, which replaced key figures with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin overseeing the downfall of Hitler. These were initially produced as posters, and then as booklets of postcards, and dispersed in the Tehran conference when the Allied powers signed a declaration that committed them to Iran’s independence. As mundane objects, produced to be pasted to walls and billboards they hardly ever survive in good condition (despite their printing in the UK, the British Library have only the postcards), and are rarely to be seen on the open market.
“KEM” (Kimon E. Marengo), Set of 5 World War II propaganda posters depicting adaptations of Shahnameh scenes, in Persian, printed posters on paper [London (for the Ministry of Information), 1942] 5 leaves (of 6 original), a few light creases to extremities, else excellent condition, versos blank, 342 by 228 mm. Despite a firmly held belief that this sale should include only manuscript materials, the two present cataloguers have decided that these items belong here, as fascinating modern tributes of the power that illuminated manuscripts of the Shahnameh (‘Book of Kings’) have had over Persian/Iranian populations up to the present day. Marengo was born in Egypt, but began his career in Paris, where he produced satirical cartoons and illustrations for both French and English newspapers (including both Le petit Parisien and the Daily Telegraph). At the outbreak of World War II, he was studying in Exeter College, Oxford, and turned his talents to aiding the Ministry of Information in London, producing over 3000 images on behalf of the British war effort. The Germans were increasingly using propaganda in Iran, and so Marengo was tasked with devising counter-measures. He drew on that nation’s rich manuscript heritage, and repainted six images from the Shahnameh, which replaced key figures with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin overseeing the downfall of Hitler. These were initially produced as posters, and then as booklets of postcards, and dispersed in the Tehran conference when the Allied powers signed a declaration that committed them to Iran’s independence. As mundane objects, produced to be pasted to walls and billboards they hardly ever survive in good condition (despite their printing in the UK, the British Library have only the postcards), and are rarely to be seen on the open market.
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