Nicolas Clerihew Bentley (14 June 1907 – 14 August 1978) was a British writer and illustrator, best known for his humorous cartoon drawings in books and magazines in the 1930s and 1940s.
He then enrolled at Heatherleys School of Fine Art, a prestigious private college, but left after a few months.
He also wrote and illustrated Golden Sovereigns – and some of lesser value – from Boadicea to Elizabeth II (1970), a humorous book about the English/British monarchy.
[2] Bentley had enrolled as an auxiliary fireman in 1938 and served in the London Fire Brigade during the Second World War.
In later life he was the illustrator for Auberon Waugh's Diary in Private Eye and contributed other cartoons to the magazine.
On his death, Auberon Waugh wrote in Private Eye: "Nick was a gentle, modest, humorous man, with none of the usual characteristics of the highly individual genius which inspired his quiet professionalism and supreme technical ability.