Modern Types, by Geoffrey Gorer, illustrated by Ronald Searle. Cresset Press, 1955.

Portraits of British post-war types, from Lady Something to Professor Blank, which originally appeared in Punch. I forget how great Searle used to be--although actually it turns out I was thinking of Ralph Steadman. Did Searle also not get all spiky and disturbing later? No, but he did start drawing very debauched-looking cats. Anyway, the caricatures in this book are wonderful, although the whole thing leaves rather a depressing flavour. The types are either unhappy or held in contempt by the author. This was a birthday present to my dad when he was 23, one of the books that I rescued from my mother after their divorce--must see if my dad wants it back. I read it as a teen, and don't remember noticing that the portrait of Esmé, the balletomane, is gender-indeterminate.