RA Collection: People and Organisations
The company traces its origins to 1867, when Henry Wills opened a bookshop in Loughborough, Leicestershire. Within a decade he progressed to printing and publishing guidebooks and street directories. He was joined by William Hepworth in 1904, and the company traded as Wills & Hepworth
By August 1914, Wills & Hepworth had published their first children's books, under the Ladybird imprint. From the start, the company was identified by a ladybird logo, at first with open wings, but eventually changed to the more familiar closed-wing ladybird in the late 1950s. The ladybird logo has since undergone several redesigns, the latest of which was launched in 2006.
Wills & Hepworth began trading as Ladybird Books in 1971.
Vera Southgate
Snow-White and Rose-Red / retold by Vera Southgate; illustrated by Eric Winter - Loughborough: 1969
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Vera Southgate
The magic porridge pot / retold by Vera Southgate; illustrated by Robert Ayton - Loughborough: [1971]
19/362
Vera Southgate
The wolf and the seven little kids / retold by Vera Southgate; illustrated by Robert Ayton - London: 1969
19/361