Marten Toonder (1912-2005)

Proof De Keuken van Slot Bommelstein. Marten Toonder. Assisted by Peter Abel, Johannes van Dam, Hubrecht Duijker and Marianne Stuit. De Bezige Bij, 1997. 88 pp. Proof of which 3 copies existed; for Eiso Toonder, Johannes van Dam and Marten Toonder himself. This is Toonder's copy, full hand-written notes and instructions.

Toonder was far from mild in his comments, which were short, blunt and clear. A deleted picture with "Doesn't make any sense". He disagrees with the frames around the illustrations. After having voiced his displeasure several times he writes on page 50 "I won't talk about frames anymore - but why so heavy? And so left of the page? and so ugly?" Toonder criticises not only the design, but also the content, from the characters he created. At the dinner inspiré par le marquis (p. 63) he writes "This is out of character; it looks like showing off. If the marquis need to be impressed, the dinner will be named after Bommel". *Unique look at the work of Toonder, who doesn't mince his words and at age 85 unabatedly takes control when it comes to his creation.