"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

"The Puffin Book Of Nursery Rhymes" By Iona and Peter Opie, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes (published by Penguin Books Ltd, 1963) - Part 2

"The Puffin Book Of Nursery Rhymes" By Iona and Peter Opie, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes (published by Penguin Books Ltd, 1963) - Part 1

                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Baynes

"The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book" Assembled By Iona And Peter Opie, Additional Illustrations By Joan Hassall (Oxford University Press, London 1963 - first published in 1955), Part - 3

 

The vast collection of wood engravings in this book comes mainly from chapbooks and toy books dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Some, are the work of Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), a renowned artist from the North-East of England ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bewick ) who at that time was at the peak of his career.

When this edition was produced in the fifties, Joan Hassall, R.E. (at the time considered to be one of the best wood engravers working in Britain) was brought in to create new work for the rhymes that had no existing illustrations. Her collaboration on this project lasted for two years but, unfortunately, she was not credited on the specific pieces she created so it is not possible for us to tell which is her artwork! For example, on the "Old Mother Hubbard" rhyme, below, there were three missing engravings which she had to re-create in order to complete all nine verses. Her engraving skills and talent were of such high standard that they look like they were made some two hundred years earlier! Here is the biography of Joan Hassall (1906-1988) on Wikipedia:

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book" Assembled By Iona And Peter Opie, Additional Illustrations By Joan Hassall (Oxford University Press, London 1963 - first published in 1955), Part - 2

 

And now we know what happened after Jack and Jill fell down the hill...Beautiful and amusing woodcuts illustrating these ever popular nursery rhymes in this 1950's collection. The smacking of Jill would not have been allowed nowadays of course, as the Social Services would intervene and take her away!!

 

 

"The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book" Assembled By Iona And Peter Opie, Additional Illustrations By Joan Hassall (Oxford University Press, London 1963 - first published in 1955)