It's August, it's time for News of Note and we won't keep you this month as we've lots to talk about. So let's crack on and get down to it. This latest missive gives you the lowdown on some of the latest library happenings including images from an iconic African magazine, news of a second Norman conquest and a Manchester photographer's work on an album cover in Paris. Ooh la la.

Drum Beats

Drum magazine was founded in South Africa in 1951, (originally as African Drum), by test cricketer and author, Bob Crisp, and Anglo-South African pilot and publisher, Jim Bailey. Their aim was to create a publication for a black readership, covering stories on entertainment, lifestyle, music, culture, politics and current events, with a particular focus on township life under apartheid. With lively writing and insider reportage photography, Drum was a seedbed for some of South Africa's most talented journalists and an optimistic celebration of black urban culture. In its heyday, its circulation was estimated at around 240,000, with the magazine being read in countries beyond South Africa including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Ghana. We have recently added several hundred covers from Drum magazine to our website, as part of our representation of Africa Media Online (which also holds an archive of black and white photographs taken for the magazine). Dating from the 1950s through to the 1980s, we love the early issues with their montages of black and white photography, bold primary colours and retro font. A browse through will reveal an eclectic mix of cover stars including Steve Biko, Muhammad Ali and Donna Summer.

Stormin' Normans

In case it's escaped your notice, the Normans are having a moment. Following hot on the heels of the news that the Bayeux Tapestry will go on show at the British Museum next year, is the announcement of a new drama, King and Conqueror, beginning this month on BBC1, with James Norton as Harold of Wessex and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Duke William of Normandy, cast as enemies in a feud that will define the future of Europe. We're looking forward to this, and with eight parts, expect a meaty retelling of a story which is often too prone to simplification. James Norton as Harold will, we hope, play the last Anglo-Saxon king as an able and brave warrior, not some loser who clumsily caught an arrow in the eye on the battlefield. Let's not forget that the vagaries of the British weather delayed William's invasion of England, and consequently, Harold was forced to ride north to confront the troops of Harold Hardrada where he won a decisive victory at Stamford Bridge. If William had landed on these shores a few weeks earlier, he would have been met by a much more powerful English army instead of the exhausted and depleted one that eventually succumbed to the Norman invaders. We're sure this, and all the dynastic squabbling will be brilliantly played out. Here's our round-up of 1066 and all that with excellent pics of the Bayeux Tapestry by roving photographer Manuel Cohen, illustrations of the Battle of Hastings by Historic England artist Ivan Tapper, and a thrilling re-enactment captured by snapper of all things strange, David Lewis Hodgson.

Music and Memory - From Manchester ... to Paris

We always like to see our images out in the wild, so were particularly pleased when musician Chris Remick, singer and lyricist of the band, Monitors, sent us this snap of him posing with their debut album, The Madelaine Affair, in front of the Eiffel Tower. As locations go, it's pretty impressive. The album cover features a Shirley Baker photograph of girls skipping in a Manchester street, and was chosen by the band because it evoked memories of both Chris's Irish roots and bassist Emil's Balkan heritage. The album's title also references Marcel Proust's famous excerpt from Remembrance of Things Past, so all in all, this was a picture choice loaded with powerful meaning. Monitors have been described by Rolling Stone magazine as, 'producing an outstanding musical fusion' and we love that this memory of Manchester from 1962 is finding a spot on an album made by a band formed of English, French and Bosnian musicians. It's released in October and you can find out more here - Monitors - The Madelaine Affair | Available now via AnalogueTrash

VJ Day

VJ Day 2025 will be observed on 15th August and will mark the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan, which effectively ended World War II. The day is to be commemorated in the UK with various remembrance activities including bell ringing to honour those who served in the Far East, and a National Commemorative Event organised by the Royal British Legion to be held at the National Memorial Arboretum. We've pulled together a selection of images recording VJ Day here.

To a Tee

To date, we have licensed 20 different designs from our archive for T-shirts by fabulous retro clothing purveyor, Joanie. The latest, 'Good Boy' (modelled here by Luci) features a cute doggy taken from an original 1950s printer's stock block catalogue. Other recent additions include 'Modern Music' using a 1970s magazine slogan, 'Stop, Look and Listen' featuring the message from an original road safety campaign badge, and 'Evening in Paris' which has a drawing of the Eiffel Tower taken from 1950s soap packaging .Visit www.joanieclothing.com to see more.

Dawson's Drawings

We have represented the delightful work of artist Muriel Dawson for some years. Dawson specialised in drawing children with her pencil and pastel pictures of curious, chubby toddlers gracing the covers of women's magazines during the 1930s, 40s and 50s. We were contacted last week by a gentleman who owned an original work by Dawson and asked if we knew anything about it. We didn't seem to have it ourselves, but Tom turned art detective and discovered a near identical preparatory drawing among the scanned pages we have of Dawson's sketchbooks. These little books are full of charming vignettes the artist observed of mothers, nannies and children, and it's satisfying to know that Dawson obviously used these as the basis for some of her finished, published works. You can view the sketchbook drawings here, or search 'Muriel Dawson' to see the entire collection.

Wedding Belle

We could hear the distant peal of wedding bells at the library on Friday 13th June when our finance manager Dawn married Steve wearing what can only be described as the MOST splendiferous dress, designed and made by Victoria Adams, a recent costume design graduate, and daughter of one of Dawn's friend. We think Dawn looked fantastic (and Steve didn't look bad either) so please join us in wishing them all the best as they embark on married life together.