Thursday 27 April 2017

"English Villages And Hamlets" By Humphrey Pakington, Cover By Brian Cook, Illustrated By Sydney R. Jones (published by B. T. Batsford Ltd, London 1934, this edition 1941) Part 3



Some of the black and white illustrations in this book by Sydney R. Jones - an excellent draughtsman capturing the atmosphere as well as all architectural details from all those beautiful and unspoiled parts of pre-war England. The book also includes a number of really good photographs but I feel these drawings bring them to life. It is interesting to see how the humble roads enhance the architecture of the villages - by comparison, today's heavily tarmacked roads (made to serve the enormous haulage lorries passing through), ugly lamp posts, pedestrian crossings, signage etc managed to completely ruin the character of most rural areas. Town planners call it "progress"!





Wednesday 19 April 2017

"The Puffin Book Of Nursery Rhymes" By Iona and Peter Opie, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes (published by Penguin Books Ltd, 1963) - Part 3



The fabulous and inspiring illustrations of British artist, Pauline Baynes (1922-2008). She is of course better known for her work on J. R. R. Tolkien's books ("Farmer Giles Of Ham"1949, "The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil"1962, "Smith Of Wootton Major"1967 and "Tree And Leaf"1964) and C. S. Lewis's "The Chronicles Of Narnia"(1950-56). This book contains dozens of these beautiful pen & ink drawings. Her lines are so elegant and effortless but so descriptive of the subject. Not many illustrators can draw to such high standard.  Here's the link for her own website and biography which has a huge collection of her work: http://www.paulinebaynes.com/?what=about&id=2