VOLUME NINE: The story of the early civilisations in the world’s history – how learning and understanding spread from the Mediterranean; How Britain and other countries of the world are governed – concerning Parliaments and people: Local government and courts of law; A children’s treasury of verse – Little masterpieces of to-day and yesterday; Your own special corner: Reading, writing and arithmetic – a helping hand for tiny folk; First steps in drawing, “How to make” and geography – a helping hand for tiny folk; Familiar things and how they are made – industries that serve our everyday needs; The secret of man’s supremacy – about the mental equipment of the human being; Questions and answers on things that interest you and me
H. M. BROCK
Page 2 Art by H. M. BrockPage 10 Art by H. M. Brock
I’ve not written about H. M. Brock as I feel he is too well known to worry about and placing these images here helps others who are interested to investigate further. In case you want more information on Henry Matthew Brock, try The Saturday Gallery, and of course Wikipedia. The University of Reading has an archive of around 2000 books in which his work appeared.
ELLIS SILAS
Page 44 Art by Ellis SilasPage 69 Art by Ellis Silas
I feel the Shambles in York may have been an inspiration for the first piece above. Silas, of course has work in almost every volume of the Newnes Pictorial Knowledge, and I’ve said a lot about him already.
TREYER EVANS
Page 92 Art by Treyer Evans
Treyer Meredith Evans (1889–1958), was most famous for cartoons in Punch and illustrating some of Enid Blyton’s books. In this book, he does quite a few illos. He contributed to Girls’ Realm, The Humorist, Little Folks, London Magazine, Punch, Scout, Sketch, Strand, and Tatler. But despite this, his biography is sparse on details. There are From: Alan Horne, Dictionary of Twentieth Century British Book Illustrators [with additions I found that Horne omitted]
EVANS, Treyer Meredith b.1889 Born in Chichester, [the son of a dentist]. Evans worked as a commercial illustrator for Pearson [1909] and Hulton [1910]. “He was a bright, stylish illustrator who worked in pen and ink or pencil, often with broad expanses of shading.” (Peppin, 1983.) [He lived at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire] Books illustrated include:
A. Brazil: Loyal to the School (Blackie, nd),
A Fortunate Term (Blackie, 1921),
Monitress Merle (Blackie,1922);
F. Inchfawn: Will You Come As Well? (Ward Lock, 1931),
The Verse Book of a Garden (Ward Lock, 1932);
E. Blyton: The Christmas Book (Macmillan, 1944);
A. Armstrong: England Our England (Dakers, 1948);
G. Trease: The Hills of Varna (Macmillan, 1948);
E. Blyton: The Mystery of the Strange Bundle (Methuen, 1952), The Mystery of Holly Lane (Methuen, 1953), The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage (Methuen, 1954);
M.E. Procter: Three Wise Men (Blandford Press, 1958).
Having had a look at his work in various books and magazines online, I think I can see why Peppin and Micklethwait mention his changing style according to the work he was doing. Some is almost Art Deco; others are pure pen and ink work typical of the day and yet others have a designer quality.
MARJORIE M. THORP
Page 159 Art by M. ThorpPage 173 Art by Marjorie M. Thorp
If it hadn’t been for eBay and those wonderful sellers who list properly, I might have had another blank on my hands. But a copy of News Chronicle’s Boy’s & Girl’s Story Book No.5 by Enid Blyton (1937) shows clearly this is the same person. Then of course I checked the marvellous Enid Blyton Society pages and found “The artist illustrated 66 magazine covers. Also credited with illustrating 156 magazine stories.” and in this context we are talking about “Sunny Stories”. She does a few more illustrations in this volume.
I wonder if she is Marjorie Marie Thorp who was born on 17 March 1911 in Kingston, London, as her Father is listed as a Draughtsman in the 1921 Census and she married in April 1933 in East Sheen, Surrey to Roy Charles Bloomfield, where her father is now “Artist” and she has no occupation listed. In 1939 she is living with her in-laws’ extended family at “Story Patch”, Stanners Hill Manor, Mimbridge – i.e. Chobham, Woking. Her father-in-Law is listed as having the occupation of “Service Station & Garage Proprietor” and her husband was also involved unsurprisingly in garage work. She died in October 1993 in Kingsbridge, Devon. Let’s hope I’ve got the right Marjorie!
DENNIS ADAMS
The Aboriginal dance (top) is a nice colourful work as is the Barrier Reef (shown here in an earlier volume) by Australian artist Dennis Adams (1914 – 2001). His biography can be found on the Naval Historical Society of Australia website.
Coincidentally for me, he was stationed at Thorney Island (as was my Dad later). The photo below shows Adams in 1944 painting “a motif on the Mosquito aircraft flown by Wing Commander Peter Panitz, Commanding Officer of 464 Squadron RAAF. Panitz then had the squadron sign writer print ‘Bash The Plurry Hun Boss’ under it. The painting was completed a few days before Panitz and his navigator were killed in action over Dijon, France.” – thanks to the Australian War Memorial site. If you wonder what ‘plurry’ means, it’s a euphemism for “bloody,”
HELEN JACOBS (1888-1970)
Page 331 Art by Helen Jacobs
Does Helen Jacobs need any introduction? Well Chris Beetles has covered that for me here.
NEAVE PARKER(1909-1961)
Lastly for this volume we have an interesting illustration which is credited to Illustrated London News. I’ve obtained a copy of that version as the reproduction is better than that of the image on page 392 of this volume.
My fascination with the BBC annuals has been told in a previous post and here we continue and having dated the books, I want to present the evidence for the dating and also the contents of this particular book.
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Story Book [1948], 1947, artwork by Bruno Kay
This book was published by Sampson Low at 7s 6d as can be seen above in 1947 – thus my labelling of the annual as 1948. The cover shows various tales to entice the reader in. Because of the difficulty in dating these Uncle Mac books I call this one the ‘pirate one’. However, adverts in The Bookseller show a book with the same title was published for the Christmas 1947 market along with Uncle Mac’s Fairy Tale Book. The article also mentions Enid Blyton’s Second Holiday Book which the Enid Blyton Society confirms was published in 1947. The book listing when published states it has 126 pages – which this one does.
Interestingly one dustjacket I’ve seen (see below) shows an Uncle Mac line drawing with space for “This Book Belongs to…” and “A gift from…” and in the corner with the 7s 6d price it says “If this book is intended as a gift, the price can be snipped off by cutting along this line”. So we can see here and in other annuals they were reprinted during their sales period as this text is missing from my copy, which I find interesting – why not just reprint the dustjacket as it was? Or have I got this the wrong way round and the plain dustjacket was first?
The endpapers for this book aren’t worth showing (the left hand page can be seen here), but the title page and Contents are.
Dustjacket with price plus textUncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947– Title page – Art by Helen Jacobs?Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Contents Page – Art by Helen Jacobs?
But who drew the two images above? They certainly look like Helen Jacobs’ work to me but usually she would sign her work as she does for one story in this book..
Compare the two title pages below. The first from a later title in this informal annual series (Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book[1949, 1948] with the ‘balloons’ cover) – and the second from this (Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947) – the ‘pirate’ cover). Look carefully – Bruno Kay drew the left hand page of the latter but both editions have used Emil Weiss’ art on the right hand page – the signature’s there for all to see – as is Kay’s on the left hand page! Strange goings on!
No artists are credited in this particular book but fortunately some have signed their work and others are already known to me. Where I have ANY doubt I have added question marks after their credit but this has been one of the worst for lack of credits both by the publisher and myself!
CONTENTS
THE CREAKY CARAVAN, by KEN FRANCIS; Drawings by Norman Meredith
CHRISTMAS IN OTHER LANDS, by DEREK MCCULLOCH; Drawings by ?
LUCY, by MERYON VANCE; Drawings by ?
SELINA THE SWISS COW, by NORAH LEWIS; Drawings by ?
WATCHING BIRDS FROM A HIDE, by ERIC HOSKING, F.R.P.S., AND CYRIL NEWBERRY; Drawings by J. N. A. Rignall
PUZZLES, by LIEUT.-COMMANDER R. T. GOULD; Drawings by ?
THE CHAMELEON, CAMOUFLAGE AND ALL THAT, by DR. VEVERS; Drawings by ‘Willett’
THE GREEN VEIL, by OLIVE DEHN; Drawings by ?
MISCHIEVOUS MICHAEL, by EDWARD D. DICKINSON; Drawings by ?
THE MOUSE ON THE SCROLL, by DAPHNE LEA; Drawings by ?
NANKI, by MERYON VANCE; Drawings by ?
MORE PUZZLES, by LIEUT.-COMMANDER R. T. GOULD; Drawings by ?
BILL AYLESBURY GOES ON THE STAGE, by GEOFFREY DEARMER; Drawings by ?
A TREAT FOR MRS. TOLLINGTON, by GERALD BULLETT; Drawings by ?
MISS BUSHMAN-CALDICOTT, by ROSEMARY TONKS; Drawings by Helen Jacobs
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES, by LIEUT.-COMMANDER R. T. GOULD; Drawings by ?
ANSWERS TO MORE PUZZLES, by LIEUT.-COMMANDER R. T. GOULD; Drawings by ?
THE CROCODILE WHO HAD TERRIBLE TOOTHACHE, by EILEEN POYNDER; Drawings by Anne Anderson?
ART GALLERY and Norman’s comments!
A drawing by “Astrid” on one of the introductory pages – but who is he or more likely she?
The first story in this book is signed very helpfully by Norman Meredith and is dated 1947 which helps me with dating this book. He is remembered for his cute animal art and the Chris Beetle Art gallery has a short biography plus examples of his artwork
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 10 – Art by Norman Meredith for the “Creaky Caravan”
There aren’t many others who have signed or are credited, so here goes.
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 20 – Art by ? – “Christmas in Other lands”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 24 – Art by ? – for the story of “Lucy”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 32 – Art by ? “Selina the Swiss Cow”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 46 – Art by ? This accompanies the first puzzle pageUncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 56 – Art by ? “The Green Veil”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 64 – Art by ? “Mischievous Michael”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 72 – Art by ? “The Mouse of the Scroll”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 76 – Art by ? for “Nanki”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 88 – Art by ? “Bill Aylesbury goes on the stage”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 96 – Art by ? “A treat for Mrs. Tollington”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 108 – Art by Helen Jacobs for “Miss Bushman-Caldicott”Uncle Mac’s Children’s Story Book [1948], 1947- Page 119 – Art by ?
So as you can see I’ve not had much success with this early “Uncle Mac” book. The single colours overlaying the art doesn’t help clarity but if you can hazard a guess and help me out, I’d be grateful for any identifications. Artists need crediting for their work and not be forgotten! Thanks, Norman
I started writing about the BBC annuals in a previous post and felt it was getting too big, so have decided to focus on each book separately which gives me a chance to look in more detail and correct/amend things.
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – Cover by William GaleUncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – Back cover by William Gale
Glenn Reuben told me that “The front cover was drawn by William Gale, born 1894 (not sure about his death), not to be confused with an artist of the same name from 1823 to 1909.” I had a look in various art dictionaries and drew a blank too. Can anyone say more?
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949 ] – Endpapers by Helen Jacobs
Helen Jacobs was a very prolific children’s illustrator who lived from 1888-1970. Chris Beetles has a longer biography plus original artworks for sale.
It’s unfortunate that there is no publication or copyright date on this annual. It’s published by Sampson, Low, Marston & Co. Ltd and apparently edited by Uncle Mac himself – Derek McCulloch. I say apparently only because I would think he was far too busy to edit this himself, but I might be wrong! BUT I do have a bit more confirmation of the date of this annual. Checking the Bookseller for any instances of Uncle Mac’s works I found the following in July 1948 – working in advance of Christmas 1948.
Now, of course we don’t know WHICH Book they are talking about but fortunately they boasted later of having supported the trade by doing some advertising in Picture Post and the Illustrated magazines. My good friend and librarian Theresa C. found the advert in Picture Post:
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – Title page – Art by Emil Weiss
The page facing Uncle Mac himself has an artist’s signature and Glenn Reuben suggested this might be Czech illustrator Emil Weiss (1896-1965). Looking at examples of his art online, I agree. Emil Weiss has a Wikipedia entry which makes interesting reading.
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – Contents Page – art by Helen Jacobs
As usual with these outline of Annual contents. I’m adding this as text so it’s findable by search engines and future historians and whilst doing that trying to identify artists – my primary interest! But as the Contents page here has gorgeous artwork decorating the border drawn by Helen Jacobs, I’m adding that too. The endpapers (see above) are by her as well with her wonderful identifying signature in a ribbon.
CONTENTS
Bill Aylesbury at the Circus Parties by Geoffrey Dearmer; [illustrated by ?]
Parties that go by Derek McCulloch; [illustrated by ?]
Competitions by Derek McCulloch; [illustrated by ?]
A Piano for Jean-Jacques by Antonia Ridge; [illustrated by Barbara C. Freeman]
The Mystery of Migration by Lt. Cmdr Peter Scott MBE, DSC; [illustrated by Alex Jardin – and Peter Scott]
Anna’s Christmas by Harry Farjeon; [illustrated by Helen Jacobs]
With George in the Balkans by Bernard Newman; [illustrated by ?]
Ponds are Wonderful by Jack Lester FZS; [illustrated by ?]
Four Poems by Olive Dehn; [illustrated by Cicely Steed]
Monday the Rabbit by W. A. Rathkey; [illustrated by Cyril Cowell]
Sketching is Good Fun by W. R. Dalzell; [illustrated by ?]
H.M. Tower of London by Col. E. H. Carkeet-James O.B.E., M.C.; [illustrated by ?]
Lear Cottage by Olive Dehn; [illustrated by ?]
Two Creatures of the Night by Brian Vesey-FitzGerald FLS; [illustrated by ?]
Rinloon the Hare by H. Mortimer Batten; [illustrated by Alex Jardine]
The Yellow Balloon. by Ken Francis; [illustrated by William Gale]
“Jezebel” by Meryon Vance; [illustrated by Helen Jacobs]
Paddy and His Cat by Alan K. Taylor; [illustrated by ?]
Odds-Bobs-and-Mackerel by George Baker; [illustrated by ‘Bruce’]
ART GALLERY and comments
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – p.90 illustration by Alex Jardine
I’d never heard of Alex Jardine – or more accurately I remember nothing about this name – and his work, which can be found easily online. He was born Alexander William Jardine (1913-1987) in Essex, where he attended Brentwood School. Jardine studied at St. Martin’s School of Art and in Brussels. He was responsible for a river fish series of stamps for the General Post Office (1983), also completing commissions for Imperial Chemical Industries, Bakelite Ltd, Swedish Travel Bureau and publishers such as Collins, Eyre & Spottiswoode and Hutchinson. He was a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists and Society for Wildlife Art of the Nations and showed widely internationally. Lived in Chislet, Kent.
He appears to have little listed in magazines, although that may be an indexing issue, and many dustjackets for novels, particularly, early on in his career, crime fiction. One wonders whether Ethelind Fearon requested him to do the art for her books as he seems to have illustrated at least seven of her titles
A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ALEX JARDINE’S PUBLISHED ARTWORK
The Adventures of a Gadabout, George W. Houghton, London: Selwyn & Blount, 1936
The Case of the Bonfire Body, Christopher Bush, London: Cassell, 1936
Mystery at the Rectory, A. Fielding, London:Collins Crime Club, 1936
Black Cats are Lucky, A. Fielding, London:Collins Crime Club, 1937
The First Adventure Featuring Woozy, a Thing Found by Jane and Pip lying by the Roadside., F. A. M. Webster, London: Juvenile Productions 1937
Jewels in the Dust, Joan Conquest, London: Jarrolds, 1937
Cafe Royal Cocktail Book W. J. Tarling, London: Pall Mall Ltd.,1937
The Quest for Lost Legend, F. A. M. Webster, London: Juvenile Productions, 1937
These Names Make Clues, E.C.R. Lorac, London:Collins Crime Club, 1937
Island of Spies, J. M. Walsh, London: Collins Crime Club, 1937
The Six Queer Things, C. St. John Sprigg, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1937
Murder in the Dispensary Jolyon Carr, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1938
Keep on Dancing, F.E. Baily, London: Odhams, 1938
The Marrowby Myth, Wyndham Martyn, London: Herbert Jenkins., 1938
Scotland Yard Alibi, Don Betteridge, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1938
Figure Away (An Asey Mayo Mystery) Phoebe Atwood Taylor, London: Collins, The Crime Club., 1938
Freak Museum, R. R. Ryan, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1938
Raven among the Rooks S. P. B Mais, (Stuart Petre Brodie), London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1939.
Freedom for Two, Jolyon Carr, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1939
Secret Errand, Norman Deane, London: Hurst & Blackett, 1939
Slow Poison, John Rowland, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1939
Death Visits the Summer-House, Gret Lane, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1939
The Man who Murdered Goliath, Geoffrey Homes, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1940
Stop that Man, Robert ladline, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1940
Broadcast, Michael Hayes, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1940.
Murder At Night, James Corbett, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1940
Dark Nights. Thomas Burke, London: Herbert Jenkins 1944
Shake Hands For Ever, Edward Woodward, London: John Long, 1946
Ladysfingers, A. A. Thomson, Falkland L. Cary, London: Herbert Jenkins., 1947
Murder Too Late, Gordon Ashe, London: John Long, 1947
The Unfolding Years, Arthur Gask, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1947
House of Mist, Maria-Luisa Bombal, London: Cassell, 1948
Dark Mystery, Gordon Ashe, London: John Long, 1948
“The Story of the Circus”, W. Buchanan-Taylor in Christmas Pie [December 1948]
“Drink and the Devil” L. R. Burrage in Summer Pie [June 1948]
The Fairy Tradition In Britain, Lewis Spence Rider and Company, 1948
The Making of a Garden Ethelind Fearon, London: Macdonald, 1948.
At Dawn I Die, James Corbett, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1949
Mascarade: Four Short Stories, Gabriel Chevallier, London: Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd., 1950
Itchen Memories G. E. M Skues, (George Edward Mackenzie), London: Herbert Jenkins, 1951.
The Survivor. Jules Supervielle (Translated from the French by John Russell). London: Martin Secker and Warburg Limited, 1951
Murder Out of School, Miles Burton, London: Collins Crime Club, 1951
The Wild Swans and other tales based on the ancient Irish. Ethel Mannin, London: Jarrolds, 1952.
The Reluctant Gardener Ethelind Fearon, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1952.
The Reluctant Cook Ethelind Fearon, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1953.
Luron for Angling, Published by I.C.I. Ltd. Welwyn Garden City, Herts. 48 pages with 5 full-page illustrations by Alex Jardine, vignettes & drawings of knots 1953.
Murder with Roses, Adeline McElfresh, London: Foulsham, 1953
The Reluctant Hostess, Ethelind Fearon, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1954.
The Face Of Innocence, William Sansom, Reprint Society, 1954
Jules Verne, Marguerite Allotte De La Fuye, Staples,1954
For poachers only, and, the Giles stories. Jack Chance, London: Adam & Charles Black, 1955.
How we got our flowers. Formerly entitled: The Coming of the Flowers. A. W. Anderson, London: Ernest Benn., 1956
How to keep Pace with your Daughter Ethelind Fearon, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1958.
A geography of Canada, Elmer Sager, Toronto: [s.n.], 1960.
Flower Growing for Ungardeners Ethelind Fearon, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1963.
A Privy in the Cactus Ethelind Fearon, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1965.
Shooting Woodpigeons, Published by Birmingham: Imperial Metal Industries (Kynoch) Ltd. 1966.
A Bird in my hands G. M Glaskin, (Gerald Marcus), London: Herbert Jenkins, 1967.
Forestry and Pheasants (Eley Game Advisory Station Booklet 15. Shooting booklet.), Fordingbridge: Eley Game Advisory Station. 1967
Travels in the Balkans, John Higgins, The Travel Book Club., 1973
Country calendar. Godfrey Baseley, London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1975.
A country compendium, Godfrey Baseley, London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1977.
Fishing with Terry and son: from the Daily Express, Conrad Frost. Illustrated by Ronald Embleton and Alex Jardine, London: Express Newspapers, c1987.
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – p.28 illustration by Alex JardineUncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – p.29 illustration by Peter Scott
Interestingly, this is the only date I could find in this annual – 1948. So we can definitely take that too as corroborative evidence it was published after 1948!!
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – p.39 illustration by Helen Jacobs
A lovely piece here by Helen Jacobs for the story “Anna’s Christmas”
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – p.74 illustration by Unknown
Here again I feel I should know who this artist is. The image accompanies “Lear Cottage” and a lovely focus on the picture – crucial to the story. But who drew it? Is it Eileen Soper??
The next one is a puzzle too, and I’ve decided to add all the art for this story, Odds-Bobs-and-Mackerel.
Uncle Mac’s Children’s Hour Book [1949] – p.120 illustration by “Bruce”
This last images show our old Children’s Hour favourite Odds-Bobs-and-Mackerel. The artwork is very detailed and signed “Bruce” and I have not been able to track down who this artist is, or whether this is a first name or surname! Notice how forthright their signature is, even appearing at the top space of an illustration – no hiding here! But who is this? Please do let me know if you find out.
Visual Rants 