Books illustrated by Mervyn Peake
B1 RIDE A COCK-HORSE and other nursery rhymes
a.
First edition London: Chatto & Windus 1940
Cream paper-covered boards, 252 x 191 (quarto format but gathered as if folio),
lettered in black on the front and down the spine. Front cover reproduces the
illustration from p.13 (‘Ride a Cock-Horse’); rear cover the illustration
from p.17 (‘I Saw a Ship A-Sailing’), though the wall is not coloured
brown as it is in the book. Frontispiece and 14 full-page illustrations on cream
text-paper, highlighted with stencilled colour. One of Peake’s finest works. At the last minute he had it dedicated to Sebastian, which means that some copies were released without the dedication.
Twelve of the illustrations
were exhibited at the Leicester Galleries in December 1941.
Reviews
New Statesman, 7 December 1940, p.588, by Frances Bird (‘macabre and imaginative pictures . . . recommended for children’)
TLS, 7 December 1940, p. xxi (‘a sort of window onto the unknown’)
Spectator, 13 December 1940, p.658
Observer, 29 December 1940, p.4 (‘weird, almost macabre manner’)
Studio, March 1941, vol.121, pp.95–96 (‘MP’ s pen drawings . . . are of exceptional merit’)
British Book News, 1948, pp.14–15 (‘MP’ s caricature – of particularly macabre and ghoulish brand – is delightfully applied’)
b.
Reissue; first Canadian Toronto: Macmillan 1940
Imported copies of (a). Not seen.
c.
Second edition, first American New York: Transatlantic 1944
Not seen.
d.
Third edition London: Chatto & Windus 1972
A close approximation to (a) in white paper-covered boards 254 x 185, with the
lettering and illustrations in the same places. But the colours are less delicate
and subtle, both inside and outside the book. White d/w printed as cover with
quotes from reviews of the first edition on the front flap and on the back a brief
notice of the author (‘A story for children written and illustrated by MP
in 1946 [sic], Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor, was recently reissued
in its original form’ – if only it had been!).
Reviews
Spectator, 11 November 1972, vol.229, p.764, by Ruth Marris (‘illustrated with great depth and perception’)
Times, 30 November 1972, p.vii (‘recent reissue . . . most welcome’)
Observer, 17 December 1972, p.32
Children’ s Book Review, 1973, vol.iii, no.1, pp.19–20, by Brian W. Alderson (‘powerful drawings’)
Mother & Baby, August 1974, p.17, by Elaine Moss
Publisher’ s Weekly, 29 October 1979, vol.216, p.83 (‘each picture harmonizes perfectly with the poem it accompanies’)
e.
First paperback impression London: Chatto & Windus 1972
A simultaneous issue of (d), bound in limp covers 247 x 181.
B2
Lewis Carroll, THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK : An agony in eight fits
By
kind permission of Dr. Selwyn Goodacre, this entry is adapted from his description
of all the impressions of this title listed in the Centennial Edition of
Lewis
Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark, Wm. Kaufmann Inc., 1981.
a.
First edition London: Chatto & Windus 20 November 1941
Yellow paper-covered boards 187 x 117, the front cover reproducing
in black the title and picture from p.19, the back cover the illustration from
p.26, with title above, and refrain verse and publisher below; title, author and
illustrator lettered in black down the spine. No.26 in the series ‘Zodiac
Books’.
Reprinted 1942, styled ‘Second Impression’ on the reverse
of the title-page.
The illustrations for the Bellman’s speech (p.19) and the Butcher
and the Beaver (p.33) were exhibited at the Leicester Galleries in December 1941.
b.
Reissue; first Canadian Toronto: Macmillan 1941
Imported copies of (a). Not mentioned by Dr. Goodacre. Not seen.
c.
Second impression London: Chatto & Windus 16 December 1941
Pink cloth boards 214 x 137, with title and author lettered in gilt
down the spine. The front of the grey d/w repeats the title-page design but without
the date; the back has the p.40 illustration (enlarged), with publisher’s
name; title, author and illustrator lettered in black down the backstrip, as in
(a). Internally identical to (a) except for the omission of ‘Zodiac Books’
on p.[ii] and the title-page which is enlarged to bleed as in (a). A deluxe issue,
price 5 shillings. 1400 copies printed, but not a limited issue as such.
d.
Fourth impression London: Lighthouse Books (Chatto & Windus) 1948
Very similar
to (a). Name of publisher adapted to new impression. No.4 in a series of six titles.
e.
Fifth impression London: Chatto & Windus 1953
Blank yellow paper boards 190 x 128 simulating cloth, with title
and publisher’s device on the spine in silver. Issued in a d/w which copies
the binding of (a), but with nothing below the refrain on the back. Calls itself
the ‘Fourth Impression’; reprinted 1958 (‘Fifth Impression’);
1964 (‘Sixth Impression’); 1969, styled ‘Fourth Impression’,
the point of reference being 1953; actually the ninth impression; 1973 (‘Fifth
impression’); 1975 (‘Sixth Impression’) – the first to include
a full listing from 1941; 1987, ‘Seventh impression’, actually the twelfth.
f.
Seventh impression London: Reprint Society 1960
A special issue for the Reprint Society Book Club ‘by arrangement
with Chatto & Windus’. Slightly smaller than (e), in limp beige cloth;
front cover has in black the title, author and illustrator, and part of the p.45
illustration; back cover has title, etc., and p.10 illustration, with note of
the Book Society.
g.
Second edition London: Chatto & Windus 1993
Almost square format, 150 x 115, of the new Chatto Pocket Library;
white laminated paper-covered boards, printed in black and yellow with a yellow
cloth spine lettered in gilt within a frame.
The title-page design is omitted and the illustrations have been
squashed (i.e. reduced by 75% in height but only 10% in width) to fit the new
page format: a disaster.
Published in September 1993. Number of copies not known.
h.
Third edition London: Methuen 2000
Dark maroon paper-covered boards, lettered in silver down the spine, in a coated d/w reproducing the original title page drawing (in black) with new titling (in maroon). Pages [37] to [70] reproduce MP’s preparatory sketches and designs for the book, making it a most valuable tool for the study of his working methods.
B3 C[yril] E[dwin] M[itchinson] Joad, The Adventures of THE YOUNG SOLDIER in search of THE BETTER WORLD
a.
First edition London: Faber & Faber [August] 1943
Drab khaki cloth 206 x 135 lettered in blue down the spine. Thin grey paper d/w
with title and author in red; ‘with / drawings by / MP’ in black beside
a drawing of the young soldier (from p.93). The back of the d/w reproduces the
frontispiece drawing. First printed in July 1943; reprinted September 1943 and
twice in 1944. The fifth impression (1945) is bound in red. Reprint d/ws have
quotes from reviews on the front flap.
Reviews
Birmingham Post, 31 August 1943, by G. A. S.
TLS, 4 September, 1943, p.424 (‘nearly all these drawings show a strong and
extraordinary imagination. Most of them here represent the contemptible, the
ugly, or the incredible, but they have in themselves, at their best, a quality
that might almost be called beauty.’)
Church Times, 10 September 1943, p.465 (‘these pictures . . . double the value of the book’)
Listener, vol.30, no.771, 21 October 1943, p.478 (‘rather silly illustrations’)
Observer, 12 September 1943, p.3, by Simon Harcourt-Smith (‘mock-Tenniel illustrations’)
Time & Tide, 25 September 1943, pp.784–85, by Martin Tindal (‘marvellously portrayed by MP’)
b.
Reissue, first Canadian Toronto: Ryerson Press 1943
Presumed to be imported copies of (a). Not seen.
c.
Second edition; first American New York: Arco 1944
Duck-egg cloth 218 x 148 with figure of the soldier from p.51 of (a) stamped and
printed in red on the front. Author and publisher lettered in red across the spine
at head and foot (respectively), title running down the spine. A photograph of
Joad precedes the title-page which spreads across two leaves, including the same
drawing of the soldier as on the cover. Design by Ben Raeburn. (Not seen in d/w.)
The illustrations are
not in exactly the same places as in (a) – the frontispiece becomes an endpiece,
for example – but they are carefully placed.
B4 Quentin Crisp, ALL THIS AND BEVIN TOO
a.
First edition London: Nicholson & Watson 1943 [registered January 1944]
A paper-covered, stapled booklet 212 x 138, lettered in red on the front with
drawing of kangaroo in a frame. Spine barred with red.
Seven finely-crosshatched full-page illustrations.
b.
Facsimile impression London: Mervyn Peake Society 1978
Reproduced from GPW’s copy. The red bars across the spine were redrawn to
avoid a bleed but appear no different to the naked eye. The position of the first
illustration (of the kangaroo in a paper-filled government office) was shifted
from the verso of the title-leaf to the verso of the half-title, facing the first
page of the poem, to avoid risk of strike-through on the title-page and enabling
publication details to be placed, correctly, on the verso of the title leaf.
The printing of (a) was
not good (to say the least of it) and Pierre Echenard, who prepared the offset
negatives for the facsimile, cleaned up the print and removed the impression of
nail heads (!) from the corners of the illustrations, etc. (Additional
note)
Published 17th November 1978 at £2. 1000 copies printed.
c.
Facsimile impression; signed, limited edition London: Mervyn Peake Society
1978
Printed on
special paper (High Speed 100 gsm) with the addition of limitation to 40 numbered
copies on p.[2]; otherwise identical to (b). Signed on the title page by Quentin
Crisp.
Published
17th November 1978 at £5. 41 copies printed, of which No 41 remained with
the printer.
B5 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER
a.
First edition London: Chatto & Windus [October] 1943
Pale blue cloth 193 x 131 with title, author and publisher’s initials in
gilt down the spine. Black-and-white d/w reproduces the illus. from p.[14] of
the Mariner with the Albatross slung round his neck; title and author within a
frame beneath. The back of the d/w reproduces the final illustration, ‘I
pass like night, from land to land’, from p.[37], with ‘Illustrated
by / MERVYN PEAKE’ below, framed as on the front.
Price 5s. on front flap.
Fore-edges of pages uncut: bottom edge irregular in height. Dated on p.[40].
b. Reissue; first
Canadian Toronto: Macmillan 1943
Imported copies of (a). Not seen.
c.
New impression London: Lighthouse Books (Chatto & Windus) 1949
The title-page gives
the publisher as ‘Zodiac Books / LONDON’; the
verso of the title-page reads ‘Published by / LIGHTHOUSE
BOOKS LTD / and distributed by / CHATTO & WINDUS /
LONDON’. Bound in paper-covered boards 187 x 117 in duck-egg grey,
with the same pictures as (a) front and back. Title, author and illustrator lettered
in black on the front (in a double frame including the drawing) and down the spine.
Dated on title-page.
Internally identical to (a) except for prelims which list the 12 Zodiac titles.
d. Reissue; second
Canadian Toronto: Clarke, Irwin 1949
Imported copies of (c). Not seen.
e.
New impression London: Chatto & Windus 1971
Bright turquoise cloth 184 x 120, lettered in gilt down the spine with a similarly
coloured d/w that follows the design of (c), with new lettering beneath the picture.
According to the verso of the title-page, ‘This edition [was] first published
1949’ and ‘illustrations © Chatto & Windus 1949’. Reprinted
in 1972, 1973 and 1976.
f.
Reissue; third Canadian Toronto: Clarke, Irwin 1971
Imported copies of (e). Not seen.
g.
Second edition London: Chatto & Windus 1978
Bound in black cloth 344 x 215 lettered in gilt down the spine, in a bright orange-red
d/w reproducing the same illustration. On the front the author is lettered in
white and the title and illustrator in black, as are the title, author and publisher
down the spine. Title-page overprinted in yellow. Verso of title-page perpetuates
the erroneous ‘First published by Chatto & Windus in 1949’.
This large edition, with
text reset and the illustrations printed from new and much larger plates, is the
first to include the illustration of Life-in-Death which Chatto declined to print
when the drawings were received in 1943.
Reviews
Bookseller, 16 September 1978, p.2269
Irish Times, 23 September 1978
British Book News, December 1978, p.962, by Naomi Lewis (‘one of the finest of all P’ s works as illustrator’)
MPR, Autumn 1978, no.7, by Peter Stap
Observer, 3 December 1978
New Statesman, 16 February 1979, pp.222–23, by Jonathan Keates
h.
Reissue Toronto: Clarke, Irwin 1978
Imported copies of (g).
i.
Third edition London: Chatto & Windus 1993
Almost square format, 150 x 115, of the new Chatto Pocket Library; white laminated
paper-covered boards, printed in black and green with a green cloth spine lettered
in gilt within a frame. Contains the Life-in-Death illustration; persists in believing
that the first edition was © Chatto & Windus 1949.
Published in September 1993. Number of copies not known.
j.
Fourth (limited) edition Marlborough: Libanus Press 2003
An inch taller than A4, in brilliant red cloth cover with THE
RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER lettered in gilt across the front and down
the spine. Top edge
gilt. Reproduces Peake’s drawings in their final state, restored. Introduction
by Fabian Peake.
Published in September 2003 in an edition of 130 copies,
of which 50 boxed with a separate portfolio of prints.
k.
Fifth edition London: Vintage 2004
Paperback, with the illustrations reduced
to about a quarter of the original size. Ten-page introductory essay by Marina
Warner.
All but one of these illustrations have now been acquired by the Wordsworth Trust and can be seen at Dove Cottage.
B6 Allan M. Laing (comp.), PRAYERS AND GRACES: A little book of extraordinary piety
a. First edition
London: Gollancz [December] 1944
A squarish 165 x 130, bound in blue cloth with a head-and-shoulders picture of
a man praying (not in the book) stamped in gilt on the front. Title lettered in
gilt up the spine. The front of the pink d/w carries the title lettered in black,
the drawing of Queen Victoria from p.[62], and ‘This is the front: turn to
the back’; on the back, the title, subtitle, author and illustrator are lettered
in black, plus ‘This is the back: turn to the front’.
According to the d/w of More Prayers and Graces (B20a), this was ‘the
Christmas gift book for 1944, selling close on 40,000 at its first fling; but
it has continued to sell ever since, with undiminished popularity.’ Consequently it
can be seen in a number of issues, with the binding varying from dark blue coarse
linen to pale blue fine cloth, and with either 4/6 or 2/6 on the back of the d/w.
Also reported lettered in creamy blue up the spine.
Reviews
Daily Herald, 13 December 1944, p.2, by John Betjeman (‘You may safely give this book to a clergyman’)
Time & Tide, 23 December 1944, p.1136, by C. V. Wedgwood
b.
Second edition London: Pan Books 1981
Laminated paper cover 178 x 111 lettered in red and black down the spine and,
on the front, above a drawing of a quizzical parson from More Prayers and Graces,
which is also reprinted in this edition. The compiler’s name is misspelt
on the spine and on the back but not on the title-page.
All the drawings are present, though with somewhat coarser lines than in (a).
B7 Christina Hole, WITCHCRAFT IN ENGLAND
a.
First edition London: Batsford [February] 1945
Bright red, fine linen binding, 225 x 155, with title, author and publisher lettered
in gilt across the spine. Top-edges red. In the grey-and-brown d/w painting by
MP, a witch contemplates a wax figure through which she has stuck a nail; title
and author lettered in white across the front and up the backstrip. Owing to the
shortage of paper at the time, the d/w was printed on the back of what appears
to have been a large poster printed with faces in yellow on white. The inside
flap carries the price (21s.) and the publisher’s blurb which concludes that
MP’s ‘drawings are, we believe, a very notable addition to the art of
English illustration.’
55 illustrations of various sizes and techniques: line drawings, fine crosshatching,
and line with brown or grey wash.
First printed in the spring of 1945, the book was very successful, requiring a
reprint. The second impression is identified by the words ‘Second Impression
Autumn, 1945’ on the verso of the title-leaf; the reverse of the d/w is plain
(a slightly lighter weight of paper). The inside front flap carries quotes from
reviews in place of the publisher’s blurb quoted above. It appears that to
satisfy local demand another impression was made in the late 50s or early 60s
for the Home Counties branch of the Library Association.
Reviews
TLS, 24 March 1945, p.142 (‘The illustrations may give bad dreams to those who study them too long’)
Listener, 19 April 1945, vol.33, p.442, by Harry Price (‘striking drawings’)
The Countryman (Idbury, Nr Kingham, Oxon), vol.31, no.2, Summer 1945,
p.232, reproduces ‘White witch pondering on the illness of a sow’ as ‘One of the
many remarkable illustrations in a remarkable book.’
Life & Letters, October 1945, vol.47, pp.60 & 62, by Winifred Graham Wilson (‘I would prefer the artist to have expressed human beings more often, as he does so well in the case of Old Chattox’)
b.
Reissue; first Canadian Toronto: Clarke, Irwin 1945
Apparently imported copies of (a). Not seen.
c.
Another impression; first American New York: Scribner’s Sons 1947
Slightly larger than
(a), 240 x 160, and bound in dark blue buckram with title and author lettered
in gilt down the spine; publisher in gilt across the foot. Same d/w design as
(a) but from the blurring and loss of contrast it cannot have been printed from
the original artwork. Same blurb, reset, on front flap. Internally the same as
(a) – i.e. the text was not reset, although printed in America – except that some
plates face left instead of right and vice versa.
Review
American Historical Review, vol. 53, No 1, October 1947, pp.325–6, by C. L’Estrange Ewen
Journal of American Folklore, No.242, October 1948, pp.408–09, by Louis C.
Jones (‘excellent illustrations by MP’)
d.
Second edition, revised London: Batsford 1977
Bound in black imitation cloth 222 x 143 with author and publisher lettered in
gilt across the head and foot of the spine, the title running down. Laminated
d/w lettered in green and white with drawing of Elizabeth Francis (from (a) p.51)
in red (reversed tone values). Four different drawings on the endpapers, white
on grey.
There
is no mention in the book that this is a revised edition; only the d/w mentions
that the illustrations ‘were specially drawn, over twenty years ago [sic],
by Mervyn Peake for the book’s first edition.’ Contains only 28 illustrations,
some of them reproduced very clumsily (for further details, see MPR 5,
Editorial and pp.26-30). An edition unworthy of the publisher, it was remaindered.
Reviews
Oxford Mail, 25 August 1977, by Jayne Gilman
Western Evening Herald, 20 September 1977,
MPR, autumn 1977, no.5, pp.26–30, by Hugh Brogan
e. Another issue
Swindon: Book Club Associates 1977
Identical to (d) but for the BCA logo on the spine.
f.
First paperback impression London: Granada 1980
Despite a change of title to Witchcraft in Britain, this is just another
impression of (d) in a laminated paper cover 197 x 128 designed by Linda Garland.
The defects of (d) are merely exacerbated: Old Chattox (p.102), after being blown
up and bled off the page, is now chopped to fit the margins and loses even more
of her hands. A travesty of the illustrations that the original publisher was
so proud of in 1945.
Reviews
Luton Evening Post, 25 October 1980 (‘splendidly ghoulish illustrations’)
Sussex Express, 5 December 1980, by Judith Glover
g.
Second English edition, second impression London: Fitzhouse Books [an imprint
of Batsford] 1990
Black paper-covered board simulating cloth, 220 x 132, lettered in gilt down the
spine. Laminated white dustwrapper printed in black, with portrait of ‘Agnes
Waterhouse and her spotted cat’ in yellow on the front. Back flap of d/w,
unchanged from (f), says front cover illustration is of Elizabeth Francis.
Reprinted by offset from
a copy of the 1977 edition and not from the original films: the half-tone illustrations
have degenerated to a grey blurr. Batsford were obviously too ashamed to put their
own name on it. Internally identical to (f) except for the name of the publisher.
B8 Lewis Carroll, ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS
a. First edition
Stockholm (Sweden): Zephyr Books (The Continental Book Co.) 1946
Bound in pale khaki card covers 184 x 120 lettered in blue and red across the
front, with a reproduction of the fish footman, and in blue across and down the
spine. D/w as cover, with ‘The charm of Carroll’s writing is intensified
by the discerning drawings made specially for this edition by Mr Mervyn Peake.’
A more detailed bibliographical description of the book can be found in MPR
7:30.
There is a most informative site by Peter Andrén about Bonnier’s Zephyr Books.
Collectors please note: The ink used on the cover of this book is susceptible to fading – it is what is called ‘fugitive’ in the trade – and can disappear completely with too much sun. If too intense, the light even gets through the dust wrapper to reach the spine, which has given rise to suspicions of a variant issue. There was only one.
b.
Second edition; first English London: Allan Wingate 1954
Dark blue simulated cloth 190 x 128 lettered in gilt across the spine with a drawing
of the mouse (from the backstrip of the d/w) on the spine. Another issue is bound
in light blue and lettered in dark blue. Cream d/w lettered in red and green framed
by a composite picture by MP of major characters from the book above a sleeping
Alice (drawn 1954 for this ed. and signed in bottom right corner). Lettered in
green across the backstrip, with the drawing of the mouse.
The title-page reproduces in red (reduced) the drawing of Alice chewing her little
finger from the head of Chapter 1. Verso of title-leaf claims, ‘first published
in 1954 by Allan Wingate’. It is true that this ed. differs slightly from
(a): one drawing, of a hand holding a kitten from chapter 11 of T.L-G. in (a),
was omitted; some of the illustrations were redrawn and others modified slightly
- see MPR 7:26-29 and (for further details), Jabberwocky (The Journal
of the Lewis Carroll Society), Summer
1979, Vol.8, No.3, pp.70-73. The size of the reproductions also differs from
(a).
Foreword
by Malcolm Muggeridge. (A bibliographical description appeared in MPR 7:30.)
The d/w claims that the
illustrating ‘has been a labour of love which has occupied several years’;
this is belied by a letter to the TLS from the publisher of (a): ‘an
agreement with Peake was made early in 1945’ (TLS, 17 March 1972,
p.308). So he can have had a year at most in which to prepare the drawings.
c.
Third edition; second English London: Methuen 1978
Dark blue cloth 240 x 160 with the sleeping figure of Alice from the d/w of (b),
reversed L to R, stamped in gilt on the front, lower right. Title and author lettered
in gilt down the spine. Blue-and-cream d/w follows that of (b) except that the
mouse has disappeared from the backstrip, which is cream, lettered in black running
down. The frame picture is repeated on the back of the d/w. Blue endpapers. Title-page
repeats MP’s 1954 d/w design. Foreword (‘About this Book’) by Brian
Sibley. Printed on cream paper.
The d/w blurb relies heavily on that of (b), repeating the myth that MP ‘took
several years to complete this work which he regarded as a labour of love.’
Reviews
Bookseller, 15 July 1978, p.257
Times Educational Supplement, 24 November 1978, p.45 by Mary Hoffman
Financial Times, 25 November 1978, by Anthony Curtis
British Book News, December 1978, p.962, by Naomi Lewis (‘the White Knight clearly moves his imagination more than anything else in the book‘)
Women’ s Journal, December 1978, p.147 (‘classic edition for our times. MP’ s mystic imagination and dazzling draughtsman caught perfectly the spirit of Carroll’)
Coventry Evening Telegraph, 7 December 1978, by Terry Cross
Scotsman, 16 December 1978, by Isobel Murray (‘visual feast of the year‘)
Morning Telegraph (Sheffield), 15 March 1979 (‘a worthy successor to Tenniel’)
Jabberwocky, summer 1979, vol.8, no.3, pp.74–76, by John Davis
d. Facsimile impression;
first American New York: Schocken 1979
Red cloth 234 x 158 lettered in gilt down the spine. Same d/w as (c) except that
the drawing is printed black on white and the central area lettered in black-and-red
on biscuit cream; lettered in black on white down the backstrip. The frame picture
has unfortunately been trimmed so that half the signature is lost – the same occurs
on the title-page. Red endpapers. Reproduces the contents of (c) same size on
white paper.
e.
Fourth (limited) edition; third English with restored drawings Marlborough:
Libanus 2001 (further
information)
Drawings only in a portfolio (100 copies); or book in solander
box (60 copies); or book (120 copies) in light blue cloth 330 x 224, titled Peake’s
Alice in gilt across the front and down the spine.
Reproduces the illustrations
original size, with brief extract from the book on facing page.
f.
Fifth edition; fourth English London: Bloomsbury 2001
Two vols, sold
separately or in an ivory paper-covered slipcase 201 x 135 lettered in various
colours across the spine. Each vol in ivory paper-covered boards 192 x 130; Wonderland
title lettered in gilt down the spine, author and illustrator across; ivory d/w
lettered in black and brick orange across the spine. Same presentation for Looking-Glass
except that the colour is dark violet.
Uses the digitized drawings from
Libanus (B8e).
g. Fifth edition; first English paperback impression,
in one volume London: Bloomsbury 2003
All the original artwork for Alice was acquired by the British Library in the spring of 2010.
B9 Maurice Collis, QUEST FOR SITA
a.
First edition London: Faber [March] 1946
A sumptuous production, bound in darkest blue buckram (some copies black buckram)
a mere 293 by 216, with a picture of Sita, from p.[113], stamped in red on the
front, and the title (on a red ground in a gilt frame), author and publisher stamped
and lettered in gilt down the spine. Duck-egg grey d/w with the same portrait
of Sita (at a less dejected angle than elsewhere) above the title (in red), author
(in black) and ‘With drawings by Mervyn Peake’ (in red). Blurb on front
flap.
Top-edges
gilt; fore-edges rough-trimmed; lower-edges uncut. Title-page reads
‘OF
RAVANA / THE DARK ANGEL / AND HIS PARADISE AT LANKA / QUEST FOR SITA / OF HANUMAN
/ AND THE DIVINE VULTURES / JATAYUS AND SAMPATI / BY / MAURICE COLLIS / WITH DRAWINGS
BY / MERVYN PEAKE’ plus a vignette of Sita.
Loosely inserted is a slip reading, ‘This edition, printed on English handmade
paper, is limited to 500 copies for sale.’ The price was 84s (four guineas).
The illustrations were
exhibited at the Leicester Galleries in November 1945.
Review
Library Journal, vol. 72, May 1947, p.806
(‘Numerous mannered illustrations’)
Time & Tide, 1 June 1946, p.520, by Martin Tindal
Library Journal, July 1947, p.1035 (‘interestingly illustrated by MP’)
Burlington Magazine, November 1947, p.325, by Basil Gray (MP’s ‘Sita
shows innocence as well as beauty and his Hanuman loyalty and courage, but they
somehow fail to reach the level of the Divine on a par with the level of the
Devilish with which they are matched.’)
b.
Facsimile impression (reduced); first American New York: John Day 1947
More commercial but nonetheless
a handsome production in a slightly lighter shade of blue buckram 219 x 154, with
the same portrait stamped in red on the front, and the title, author and publisher
lettered in gilt across the spine. Grey d/w with portrait of Sita from p.[59]
between author (in black) and title (red) followed by subtitle and ‘Here
is the central section of the Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana, as seen through the
imagination of two master craftsmen’ (in black) and ‘WITH
DRAWINGS BY MERVYN PEAKE’ (in red). Blurb on front flap differs from
(a).
Internally
the book is identical to (a) except for the change of publisher and the reduction
in size: at three-quarters the size of (a), it is still generously proportioned
(13.5 point leading) and easy on the eye, which says much for the scale of (a).
Fore-edges uncut.
Reviews
Christian Science Monitor, 2 August 1947, p.10, by
Pearl Strachan (‘Altogether charming...’)
Atlanta Journal (Ca.), 10 August 1947
Boston Globe (Mass.), 13 August 1947
Hartford Courant (Conn.), 17 August 1947 (‘with illustrations perfectly married to the text, this is a literary work of art‘)
San Francisco Chronicle, 31 August 1947, p.11, by Edith James (‘MP’s
delightfully risqué illustrations ... add immeasurably to the enjoyment of the
text.’)
c.
First paperback impression New York: Capricorn 1965
Bound in laminated paper covers 203 x 131 with the original cover portrait (reversed
L to R) in red on a yellow-grey ground, title remaining white, author and illustrator
in red. Internally the same as (b) but now cramped because of the smaller trim
size; some illustrations bleed. A poor substitute for the hardback editions, yet
it has (or had) the virtue of making this magnificent series of illustrations
more widely available.
Reprinted several times.
B10 The Brothers Grimm, HOUSEHOLD TALES
a.
First edition London: Eyre & Spottiswoode [October] 1946
Bound in bright lemon cloth 214 x 175 decorated top and bottom with stars between
rules and with ‘GRIMM’S / HOUSEHOLD / TALES /
Illustrated by Mervyn Peake’ printed in dark green across the front. Across
the spine reads ‘GRIMM’S / HOUSEHOLD / TALES / * /
Drawings / by / Mervyn / Peake’. The d/w reproduces (enlarged) part of the
b&w illustration on p.[210] of a boy and a girl on a griffin, with ‘GRIMM’S / Household Tales / Drawings by / MERVYN PEAKE’
lettered in white on a pink ground. The wording across the spine of the d/w, lettered
in black on pink, is the same as on the spine of the book.
Contains 60 drawings in b&w and five coloured plates, one of which is the
double title-page 194 x 288 in green, yellow, brown and orange, lettered by MP.
The colour plates face pages 53 (‘The Queen Bee’), 104 (‘The Many-Furred
Creature’), 288 (‘Snow-white and the Seven Dwarfs’) and 298 (‘Asphodel,
or Cinderella’).
Reviews
Observer, 27 October 1946, p.5, by J. C. T.
Scotsman, 21 November 1946, p.7
Tatler & Bystander, 27 November 1946, p.293, by Elizabeth Bowen (‘What an inspiration! . . . The conjunction of Grimm and Peake has resulted in a remarkable volume. . . . A book to snap up while it can still be had: unique, it should have a place in every collector’ s shelves.’)
John O’ London’ s Weekly, 29 November 1946, p.123, by Mary Crosbie
Time & Tide, 7 December 1946, pp.1189–90, by Maurice Collis (‘Grimm’ s Tales, though they call for some of his gifts, hardly extend his talent.‘)
Dublin Magazine, October–December 1947, N.S. vol.22, no.4, p.65, by Patricia Lynch
‘The illustrations by MP are clever, very clever. They capture the crudeness and
simplicity of peasant tales. But there could have been more of this artist’s
fantastic beauty... His witches are convincing, but his princesses are unreal,
his horses sinister.’)
b.
Reissue; first Canadian Toronto: Collins 1948
Imported copies of (a). Not seen.
c.
Second edition London: Methuen 1973
Rich brown cloth 241 x 167 with ‘Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm’
lettered in gilt down the spine. Salmon pink d/w reproduces the left-hand side
of the original title spread, with the title in a new window in the branches of
the tree, using MP’s lettering for the first two words. Picture of the Lion
from ‘The Twelve Huntsmen’ on the back. Café au lait endpapers.
The original title-page spread appears as the frontispiece, 213 x 312, preceding
the title-page, the lines crispened by modern printing techniques. The title-page
reproduces MP’s lettering for ‘HOUSEHOLD / TALES’.
Contains 58 of the original
60 illustrations but omits the colour plates. For further details and reproductions
of the missing drawings, see MPR 5:35-37.
Reviews
TLS, 15 June 1973, p.688
Nursery World, 26 July 1973, (‘not suitable for younger children’)
Withenshawe Express & Recorder, 30 January 1975, by Margaret Stanway
d.
First paperback edition London: Pan Books (Picador) 1977
Laminated paper cover 196 x 128 reproducing the left half of the original title-page
with the word ‘TALES’ shifted into the branches of the tree – an elegant
solution. But the colouring is less satisfactory. Lettered in black on white down
the spine.
The
book reproduces the contents of (c) slightly reduced in size (89%), with the pages
renumbered to accommodate a new Introduction by Russell Hoban. Contains no colour
plates.
Reviews
Hereford Evening News, 11 June 1977, by C. S. (‘will be largely sought after for MP’ s whimsically grotesque illustrations‘)
Times Educational Supplement, 17 June 1977, p.39, by Marion Glastonbury (‘MP’ s images not only intensify the drama of suspense and climax but expose the characters’)
Yorkshire Post, 23 July 1977, by Michael Holman (‘superbly and sympathetically illustrated‘)
MPR, autumn 1977, no.5, pp.34–37, by Belinda Humfrey
Yorkshire Evening Press, 21 March 1978
e.
Facsimile impression; first American New York: Schocken 1979
A slightly smaller version of (c), bound in orange cloth 270 x 747 with ‘Grimm
HOUSEHOLD TALES Schocken’ in gilt down the spine,
using MP’s lettering for the middle two words. D/w in the same shade of salmon
pink as (b) and with same design except for the lettering down the backstrip,
which follows that of the spine. Dark brown endpapers. Reproduces the contents
of (c), slightly reduced in size (95%), minus the reproduction of the original
title-page.
Simultaneously
issued in paperback 201 x 134; the soft cover follows the design of the hardback
d/w.
f. Facsimile impression: London: British Library 2011
Bound in bright red cloth the same size as (a) lettered in gilt down the spine, with grey endpapers. The closest you can get to the first edition: text and images offset from (a), only the colour plates are greyscale – but they are also reprinted in colour (as a multi-frontispiece) as is the original titlepage spread. New Introduction by Sarah Waters.
B11 Robert Louis Stevenson, DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE
a.
First edition London: The Folio Society 1948
Bound in cloth, 221 x 141, divided vertically half black, half cream, with the
outline of the shapeless figure from p.[90] stamped centrally in gilt on the front;
title, author and publisher’s device lettered in gilt across the spine. The
d/w is similarly designed, half black, half yellow, but with the shapeless figure
reversed L to R; title and author lettered in yellow and black across the front
above the figure; ‘ILLUSTRATIONS BY MERVYN PEAKE / INTRODUCTION
BY JOHN HAMPDEN’ lettered in yellow and black below, title, author
and publisher’s device lettered in yellow across the backstrip; blurb on
rear flap; advertisements on back. Also reported in a wholly yellow/cream d/w, without the black on the left.
Twelve illustrations, including frontispiece facing the title-page, printed in
black and yellow.
Blog review by
Brian Sibley, 19 November 2006
b.
Another issue; first American New York: Duchesne 1948
Presumed to be imported copies of (a). Not seen.
c.
Facsimile impression London: Folio Press and Dent 1974
A photo-litho facsimile of (a) bound
in black cloth 223 x 146, the same figure stamped centrally on the front (rather
coarsened), half in outline as before, half in solid gilt. Author lettered in
gilt across the spine, title down, publisher across. Seen with two different d/ws:
(i) yellow paper lettered
in black with author and title across the front, and the shapeless figure, half
yellow, half black, in the bottom right-hand corner, same size as on cover; lettered
in black on backstrip with author and publisher’s device running across and
title running down; blurb on rear flap differs from (a).
(ii) Transparent front and back, with card flaps identical to those of the paper
d/w.
Review
Book Exchange, February 1975
d. Second
edition London: Folio Society 1994
Not seen by GPW. Pete Bellotte reports: ‘Completely reset and printed on
Hamilton Wove paper by The Bath Press, Avon and bound by them in the style of
the first edition. Slip case is entirely black with a slight curvature on ends
for ease of removal. Paste-down endpaper at beginning of book is cream as is following
free endpaper whereas paste-down at back of book is black and preceded by two
regular endpapers followed by one black endleaf.’
N.B. There is another unpublished series of seven illustrations to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (showing other scenes) that Peake made with pastels on large sheets of thick paper or card (up to 465 x 592 mm, almost 24 inches!). They came up for sale in December 1971 and were acquired by the R. L. Stevenson centre in the US called Silverado.
B12 Robert Louis Stevenson, TREASURE ISLAND
The proof of this book sports a title page illustration that is quite different – a parrot (‘Captain Flint’) perched on the top of a crutch (reproduced on the back of PS vol 9 no. iv). The publishers must have decided it was more appropriate to show Long John Silver himself, rather than objects associated with him. The faces of the sailors in the illustration on p.199 are also slightly different, and the leftmost sailor has gained a fly button in the published version.
a.
First edition London: Eyre & Spottiswoode 1949
Bright blue cloth binding (also reported in ‘royal blue’) 220 x 147
with title, ornament, and author lettered in silver on a black lettering piece
across the spine; publisher also lettered in silver across the base of the spine.
Top-edges blue. The bright red d/w, lettered in white, reproduces the illustration
of Silver looking over his shoulder that heads Part 6, p.[191].
Contains 41 illustrations (of which a well-known depiction of Blind
Pew) including the title-page portrait of Long John Silver.
Review
Scotsman, 24 November 1949 (‘his drawings – tense, eerie and dramatic – abate nothing of the power of the narrative’)
b.
Another issue London: Eyre & Spottiswoode 1949
Light blue – i.e. slightly darker than (a) – paper-covered boards 222 x 146, with
title and author clumsily stamped and lettered in gilt across the spine (no mention
of publisher). D/w identical to (a). Internally identical to (a). Top-edges uncoloured.
Peter Allan comments: ‘The amateurish boards are amazing (I’d almost
say impossible) from a major publisher – especially since they had the brasses
ready-made for the spine blocking. It looks to me as though they sold off sheets
to someone like Woolworth’s... If so, at what date? And were both issues
on sale at the same time? I suspect they were.’
c.
Another issue London: Eyre & Spottiswoode 1949
Copies of (b) bound
in red.
d.
Second edition London: Methuen 1976
Bound in yellow ochre cloth 241 x 162 lettered in gilt down the spine. The front
of the d/w, lettered in black on red, reproduces part of the illustration (enlarged)
from ch.33 of Silver straining at a rope between his teeth; on the back is the
picture of the pirates swarming the palisade. Cream endpapers. This ed. reprints
all the illustrations of (a) with some minor changes in the order. They are also
very slightly smaller in size, leaving rather wide margins through which the text
on the back can sometimes be seen. For further discussion of this ed. see MPR
3:21-26.
Reviews
Times, 14 July 1976, p.7 (‘one of the few editions that have come near to meeting the demands of the author’ s text‘)
Sunday Times, 29 August 1976, p.29 (‘extraordinary pen-and-ink illustrations . . . one of the finest draughtsmen of his day’)
New Statesman, 3 September 1976, p.311, by Hilary Spurling
TLS, 1 October 1976, p.1245
Children’ s Book Review, October 1976, vol.vi, final issue, p.5, by Valerie Alderson (‘good to have it reissued‘)
MPR, autumn 1976, no.3, pp.21–26, by Hugh Brogan
Books & Bookmen, December 1976, p.75, by Auberon Waugh
Brentwood & Billericay Argus, 16 December 1976 (‘disturbingly powerful illustrations’)
Daily Mail, 2 July 1977, by June Southworth
Bookseller, 30 July 1977, p.445. ([Sir Bernard Miles, opening the Children’s Books of the Year Exhibition:] ‘one of the great books of the world‘)
Contemporary Review, January 1978, vol.232, no.1344, p.48, by Rosalind Wade (‘evocative though often frightening illustrations’)
e.
Facsimile impression; first American New York: Schocken 1979
Simultaneously published in hardback and paperback; the hardback is 211 x 146
in light brown cloth lettered in gilt down the spine, following the design of
(d). Café-au-lait endpapers. D/w as (d), reduced to 80%.
The text is litho offset
from (d), slightly reduced (90%), but the size of the illustrations remains unchanged:
they fill the text area (no see-through margins!) and thus gain in impact.
The soft cover of the
paperback, measuring 203 x 135, repeats the hardback d/w design.
f.
Third edition Everyman’s Library, New York, Toronto and London 1992
Royal blue cloth cover,
210 x 153, lettered in gilt across the front and the spine, with paste-on portrait
of Long John Silver in black and white on the front. Matching endpapers printed
in black-and-white diamond pattern with vignettes and (front only) imitation book
plate.
The British
edition reads ‘EVERYMAN’S / LIBRARY / CHILDREN’S
/ CLASSICS’ across the spine and at foot of title-page, The American
(and Canadian) edition adds ‘KNOPF’ at the foot
of the spine and ‘Alfred A. Knopf New York Toronto’ at the foot of the
title page. Both printed in Germany.
Published in October 1992 at $12.95. British price and number of copies not known.
B13 Dorothy K. Haynes, THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER A WITCH and other stories
a.
First edition London: Methuen 1949
Bound
in creamy-grey cloth 222 x 140 with a prancing figure by MP (taken from the
illus. on p.[45], ‘The small men were holding high carnival’) stamped
in red on the front (bottom right). Title, author and publisher stamped and lettered
in red across the spine. The
d/w is cream and reproduces in grey the illus. from p.[199], overprinted with
title, author and illustrator in red.
Also seen bound in grey-blue
without the prancing figure stamped on the front – possibly a second
impression.
Contains 8 full-page line illustrations by MP.
B14 Johann R. Wyss, THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
a.
First edition London: Heirloom Library [1949]
Orange cloth 211 x 138 printed with palm trees and ships in alternating red and
green; title and author (with initial R. as above) lettered in gilt across the
spine between double rules on a green lettering-piece followed by ‘DRAWlNGS
/ BY / MERVYN PEAKE’, and publisher (at the foot), both lettered in
green. Top-edges green; red-and-green headband to spine; also seen with red-and-yellow
headband.
D/w
lettered in red with green-and-yellow picture (not by MP) framing part of the
frontispiece, ‘We bring off the animals from the wreck’, by MP. Title
and author (with initial), followed by ‘DRAWINGS / BY / MERVYN
/ PEAKE’, and publisher (at the foot), all lettered in green across
the back-strip. On the back are advertisements for other titles in the collection.
Endpapers light turquoise blue with vignettes from the illustrations in brown
with added orange colouring (?not by MP). On the title-page the author is Johann
Wyss (without initial R.) and the publisher at the foot of the title-leaf reads
‘THE HEIRLOOM LIBRARY’, There is a figure 3 bottom
left of the final page.
In an autobiographical article that appeared in The Author (Autumn 1994, p.101), Antonia Fraser recalls that the Heirloom Classics, produced by Weidenfeld
& Nicolson, were printed ‘in vast numbers’ – she mentions 100,000 copies per
title – to be sold at Christmas by Marks & Spencer’s. The various impressions no
doubt reflect annual reprints.
b.
Second impression London: Heirloom Library [n.d.]
A slightly larger book by 2–3 mm in height and 3–5 in width, identical in design
to (a); but (probably as a result of an accident with the type), the running-title
on pages 21, 23 and 27 is in larger type, that on p.29 has the last letter in
the correct smaller face and p.33 has the misprint ‘SHIPWRECKD!’
in the large face. The caption to the illustration on p.114 misprints ‘cargoe’,
and the pagination is not set in the same typeface as (a). There is no figure
3 at the foot of the final page. The title-page is unchanged. Bound in paper-covered
boards imitating cloth, with top-edges green or blue-green, with a red-and-yellow
headband to the spine. Endpapers several shades lighter than (a).
c.
Third impression London: Heirloom Library Ltd [n.d.]
As (b) but with the title-page revised to read ‘LONDON /
HEIRLOOM LIBRARY LIMITED’. Seen bound in cloth, with top-edges red
or green; no headband. Endpapers pale green.
d.
Reissue; first American edition New York: Chanticleer Press Inc. [1950]
Seen only in photocopy.
‘Printed in Gt. Britain by Harrison & Sons,’ (on verso of title
leaf) so American only in that it was made specifically for that market but not
manufactured there.
e.
Another ‘American’ issue New York: Albany Classics [n.d.]
Bound in cloth decorated
as (a); top-edges blue; red-and-yellow headband. Internally the same as (b), except
that the title-page is modified to read ‘LONDON / THE HEIRLOOM
LIBRARY / NEW YORK / ALBANY CLASSICS’.
e.
Second edition London: Treasure Library [Contact Publications, 1955]
Decorated paper-covered
boards imitating cloth, 213 x 141; basic colour blue; multiple dark blue and red
borders surrounding pale blue; in the centre is a ‘TL’ device lettered
in gilt on a dark blue ground surrounded with red decorations. Title, author (without
initial) and TL device lettered in gilt across decorated spine. Top-edges blue.
(Another issue: without coloured top-edges.) The blue-and-red d/w reproduces the
top two thirds of the illustration facing p.129 (‘Fritz and Jack climb the
cocoa-nut tree’); title, author and publisher (no device) lettered across
the backstrip. Blue-and-red decorated endpapers incorporating the TL device and
a window reading ‘THIS BOOK BELONGS TO’. Text
entirely reset; captions added to all the half-page illustrations.
B15 [Henry] Burgess Drake, THE BOOK OF LYONNE
a.
First edition London: Falcon Press 1952
Dark sand-coloured cloth 189 x 128 lettered in gilt across the spine: ‘THE
/ BOOK / OF / LYONNE / [design] / BURGESS / DRAKE’ with ‘[design]
/ FALCON’ at the foot. Sand-yellow d/w lettered in dark red with picture
of Lyonne in yellow-and-red from facing p.58; the backstrip, also lettered in
dark red, adds ‘Illustrated / by / Mervyn / Peake’ after the author’s
name and, at the foot, the publisher’s colophon, ‘FALCON
PRESS’ lettered around a falcon instead of design and ‘FALCON’.
Illustrated with 14 line
drawings, including a frontispiece facing the title-page which incorporates a
printed text: ‘Illustrated with eight coloured plates / and line drawings
by / MERVYN PEAKE’. The plates are tipped in facing
pages 42, 58, 86, 116, 126, 152, 182, and 258. The book is dedicated ‘To
/ Sebastian and Fabian Peake’.
This
issue has been seen with a typed label stuck onto the colophon page, reading
‘Owing to printing difficulties / the coloured illustrations / have not been
completed in / accordance with the design of / the artist’. This accounts,
perhaps, for the production of another issue (b) with the illustrations in different
places, the picture of Lynne himself being moved back to face the title-page.
John O’London’s, 26 March 1954 (Spring Books
Number), in ‘Tommy and Polly’ by Mary Crosby (Lyonne is ‘presented with
surprising plausibility by MP’
b.
Another issue London: Falcon Press 1952
Blue paper-covered boards 189 x 129 with, lettered in black across the spine,
‘The / Book of / LYONNE / BURGESS / DRAKE’ and
‘FALCON PRESS’ across the foot (no design). The
d/w is the same as (a), except that the swelled rule on the back has changed slightly.
The plates are tipped in facing pages (numbers in parentheses show the corresponding
location in (a)): title-page(58), 32(42), 64(152), 96(86), 129(182), 160(126),
192(116), 209(258).
c.
Reissue; first American edition New York: British Book Centre 1952
Presumed to be imported
copies of (a); not seen.
B16 E[rnest] Clephan Palmer, THE YOUNG BLACKBIRD
a.
First edition London: Allan Wingate 1953
Light green cloth 203 x 132 with the vignette of the blackbird from the title-page
stamped in gilt on the front; title, author and publisher lettered in gilt down
the spine with the same vignette of the blackbird (reduced) in the middle. White
d/w lettered in black within a green border; reproduces the frontispiece drawing
in black, yellow and green. The blurb on the front flap concludes with the information
that MP designed the book.
Contains 16 line illustrations, including the title-page vignette which is repeated
on p.12, several of them set in the margin encroaching slightly on the text area.
b. Another issue
London: Allan Wingate 1953
Light
blue, paper-covered boards 190 x 126 simulating cloth, stamped and lettered
as in (a) but in black; the reduced height requires the words on the spine to
be more closely spaced. The d/w is the same as for (a), trimmed to fit the smaller
cover. Unfortunately, the tighter trimsize causes some of the marginal illustrations
to bleed – on p.20, for instance, the left side of the arm is missing.
B17 Paul Britten Austin, The Wonderful Life & Adventures of TOM THUMB
a.
First edition
PART
ONE Stockholm: Radiotjänst (Radio Sweden) 1954
Cream
card covers 142 x 95, lettered in black and red (‘TOM THUMB’)
on the front; reproduces the illustration from p.15 (reduced); spine carries only
the words ‘TOM THUMB’ lettered down in black
between red-coloured ornaments. (The red pales to a lime colour if the book is left in sunlight.) On the back cover is a summary printed in black
below the title in red. Text: pages 9-107; English-Swedish vocabulary: pages 109-126.
Contains
23 illustrations, of which 13 are full page. The first letter of each chapter
is a decorated capital by Peake – for the 28 chapters of the two books, there
are 13 different capital letters.
A second impression (‘andra upplagan’) has been reported.
PART
TWO Stockholm: Radiotjänst (Radio Sweden) 1955
Matching
cream card covers 142 x 95, lettered in black and blue (‘TOM
THUMB’) above an illustration that does not appear elsewhere in either
book; spine carries the words ‘TOM THUMB’ lettered
down in black between blue ornaments and the figure 2 across the foot. On the
back is a summary printed in black and blue beneath the title in blue. Text pages
9-[111]; English-Swedish vocabulary: pages 113-134.
Contains 25 illustrations (including cover picture), of which 75
are full page. A decorated capital opens each chapter – see Part One, above.
This edition has been reported in hard covers, but no confirmed sighting has come my way.
‘My first contact with him was when a friend of mine recommended I write to Quentin Crisp – this was in 1946 – and ask him to write an article for a magazine I was rather temerariously launching in Bristol, called Facet. Well, Crisp wrote an article on Peake which you may have seen. [It was reprinted in MPR 14.]
‘Years later I was working for the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation and had written, for my own amusement, a kind of serial trying to evoke, even at cost of pastiche, the general atmosphere of English children’s books I had read as a child. And a friend of mine got the radio people here to use it as a text for a language course on English idioms. Hence the vocabulary at the end of the book. This happened two summers running – the books came out, I believe, in something like 60,000 copies. Well, needing someone to illustrate Part I, I wrote to Peake and asked him to. I believe he was already beginning to suffer from the disease which was so fatal, because one or two of the cognoscenti here observed that there were errors in some of the drawings. Be that as it may, the drawings produced the authentically English impression I was looking for – Peake is about as British as can be in his drawing style, and his imagination too is utterly sunk in what might be called the ‘ghosty’ aspect of Britishness, don’t you agree?’ (Letter to GPW, 15th November 1981)
B18
Allegra Sander, MEN: A dialogue between Women
‘Translated from the French by VYVYAN HOLLAND
/ with a Prefatory letter by GRAHAM GREENE’
a. First edition
London: Cresset Press 1955
Grey cloth 190 x 120 with the title on the front lettered in gilt on blue in a
gilt frame; author and publisher lettered across the head and foot of the spine
in gilt, the short title running down. Green d/w lettered in black and white,
with the illustration from p.95 (enlarged) in black in a white circle; the illustration
from p.[11] is printed in a white rectangle on the back.
Apart from these, there is only one other illustration, full page, on p.[47].
B19 H[enry] B[urgess] Drake, THE OXFORD ENGLISH COURSE for SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
Book
One: Under the Umbrella Tree
a.
First edition London: Oxford University Press 1957
The laminated paper-covered boards 190 x 130 are printed with vertical and horizontal
decorative rules, stars, etc. in black and salmon pink; across the front, the
title is lettered in black, the author in salmon pink. ‘BOOK
1’ and author lettered in black across the top of the spine; title runs up
in a window.
Contains
6 full-page illustrations, four of which have been reprinted in Peake Studies.
B20 Allan M. Laing (comp.), MORE PRAYERS AND GRACES: A second little book of unusual piety
a.
First edition London: Victor Gollancz 1957
Blue, imitation-cloth boards 165 x 127 with the illustration from p.28 stamped
(reduced and reversed L to R) in gilt on the front; title lettered in gilt up
the spine. Yellow d/w lettered in black (uniform with B6a) with the price printed
on the back: published at 6/-; later issues are 4/-, 3/6 and even . . . 20p.
b. Second edition
London: Pan Books 1981
Bound in with Prayers and Graces: see B6b.
B21 Aaron Judah, THE POT OF GOLD and two other tales
a.
First edition London: Faber 1959
Bright red muslin-grain paper-covered boards 214 x 156 with the illustration from
p.51 (reduced) stamped in black on the front; title, author and publisher lettered
in black down the spine. White d/w designed and illustrated by MP (not present
elsewhere in the book) in black line, coloured yellow, blue, and green; lettered
in black. On the back-strip, which is yellow, title and author lettered in black,
publisher in green, running down; on the back of the d/w is the ‘pot of gold’
illustration from p.21.
Contains 7 line illustrations, 4 of them full page.
Published at 9/6 according to the inside of the first issue d/w, but copies can
be seen with 60p (i.e. decimal currency) stamped on the front flap so, although
Fabers state quite clearly that there was no second printing of the book, it looks
as though there was a late binding of at least one batch.
B22
Honoré de Balzac, DROLL STORIES
‘Translated into modern English by ALEC BROWN’
a. First edition
London: The Folio Society 1961
Brown canvas 253 x 165 decorated top and bottom with a design in darker brown
and grey (which looks almost brown). Author, title and publisher lettered in gilt
on brown lettering-pieces across the spine. Top-edges blue. Issued in a paper-covered
cardboard slipcase imitating blue leather.
Contains 24 full-page illustrations in two colours. Three different second colours
are used.
B23
Oscar Wilde, MERVYN PEAKE / OSCAR WILDE
‘Extracts from the poems of Oscar Wilde with sixteen illustrations
by Mervyn Peake and a foreword by Maeve Gilmore’
a.
First edition London: Gordon, Spilstead 1980
Bound in shocking pink Tussah silk 222 x 143, lettered in gilt down the spine.
Black endpapers. Issued in a slipcase edged in black cloth and with matching pink
paper-covered sides printed in black with portraits of Oscar Wilde (front) and
Mervyn Peake (rear) by MG. An edition of 200 numbered copies printed on Glastonbury
Antique Laid paper and signed by MG.
b.
Reissue; first trade edition London: Sidgwick & Jackson 1980
Bound in black cloth 224 x 143, with title (only) lettered in gilt down the spine.
Laminated cream d/w reproduces the two tigers from p.[39] in maroon; title and
‘subtitle’ lettered in maroon in a window top right; title and publisher
lettered in maroon down the backstrip; reproduces the Centaur from p.[41] on the
back.
Contains
15 illustrations executed with a Chinese brush and one title-page design.
Review
Burlington Magazine, June 1981, vol.cxxiii, no.939, p.386 (‘a fluent production‘)
c.
Reissue (with poems translated into French) Rouen (France): Elisabeth Brunet,
2007
A thin paperback edition that closely follows (b) in design, with a postface
by the translator, Patrick Reumaux.
a.
First edition London: Methuen 1983
Blue simulated cloth cover 251 x 186, white d/w printed in orange with ‘MERVYN
PEAKE’ in white and, within a white frame, ‘Sketches from BLEAK
HOUSE’ in blue above the illustration from p.29 of Mrs Pardiggle and
her brood. At foot, ‘Text selected and introduced by / Leon Garfield and
Edward Blishen’ also in blue.
Contains some 60 sketches to illustrate Bleak House by Charles Dickens,
for an edition that was never published. With numerous extracts from the novel
to accompany the illustrations; introduction and explanatory captions by Leon
Garfield and Edward Blishen.
The finished drawings were exhibited at Dickens
House (London) during the summer of 2003 and can be seen here.
The sketches have apparently been mislaid, and we can only hope that they will
one day turn up in Methuen’s archives...
Reviews:
Listener, 16 August 1984, by Brian Sibley, p. 24
B25 Michael Moorcock, THE SUNDAY BOOKS
a.
First edition Paris: Denoël 2010
Genuine black cloth cover, 238 x 185, overprinted with ‘Mervyn Peake – Michael Moorcock / The Sunday Books / (Les Livres du Dimanche)’ in white above a picture of two pirates side by side (from p.44) in colour. Lettered in black up the orange-red spine: ‘[publisher’s logo] The Sunday Books Mervyn Peake – Michael Moorcock". The endpapers reproduce a design by MP in black and yellow, with a blue wash at the edge of the left-hand side. No d/w.
Contents: pages 10–30 Introduction by Michael Moorcock; 34–136 Three stories by Michael Moorcock with numerous pictures by MP; 141 brief bio of MP; 141 brief bio of Michael Moorcock.
This delightfully odd book calls for some explanation. While the Peake family were living on Sark in the late 1940s, each of MP’s two sons had a notebook in which MP drew or painted a picture every Sunday. Sometimes he did a painting on a separate sheet and pasted it into place. There was not necessarily any connection between the pictures from one week to the next. Generally they were simply what the boys asked for – an aeroplane, a car, or a train, for instance. Being the sons of MP, they often requested pirates. What Michael Moorcock has done is to write stories around a character called Captain Crackers (from a pirate so named in one of MP’s pictures). So this is a collection of Peake pictures interlinked by Moorcock. The images are not in the original order nor are they always reproduced as originally drawn or painted; sometimes the designer selected to show parts of them separately. The overall design, however, is most successful. Having found a Parisian publisher before a British one, the book has appeared first in French translation (by Lili Sztajn).
Reviews
31 October 2010 on a site called Scifi-Universe, by Manu B. (‘une très belle oeuvre à tous points de vues (saluons le travail de mise en page et le design de la couverture) et un magnifique objet de collection’)
14 November 2010 on a site called La Fantasy au quotidien, by Gillossen (‘Une vraie petite merveille à conserver précieusement’)
16 November 2010 on a blog called Welcome to Nebalia (‘Superbe témoignage de la créativité d’un auteur comme de la tendresse d’un père, et enfin de l’amour exacerbé d’un fils « spirituel », The Sunday Books touche droit au cœur, et ne saurait laisser indifférent.’)
Blogs
Le Cafard Cosmique, 1 January 2011
Une page lue chaque soir, 10 January 2011
b.
Second edition New York: Overlook, and London: Duckworth 2011
The same book, with the same design, binding etc.(from the same printer), with Moorcock’s texts in English.
B27 Warren Clements, PEAKE PERFORMANCE: The Magnificent Drawings of MERVYN PEAKE
a.
First edition Toronto, Canada: Nestlings Press 2020
A 223 x 152 paperback, printed in colour on the cover only, which is lettered
Peake Performance [in green] / The Magnificent Drawings of
MERVYN PEAKE [in black] above a full colour
reproduction of ‘The Sunlight Falls Upon the Grass’ from Rhymes without
Reason, with COMPILED BY / WARREN CLEMENTS
at the foot. Lettered in white down the green spine, with a thumbnail
reproduction of MP’s Humpty Dumpty (Through
the Looking-Glass, B8) between title and subtitle, followed by the
publisher's logo at the foot. The back cover states: For copyright reasons, this
book is not for sale outside Canada. No d/w. Contents on cream text paper: pages 7–8 Foreword by G.
Peter Winnington; 9–12 Introduction by Warren Clements; 13–192 some 200
illustrations by MP drawn from twenty of his books, captioned by Clements.
©
G. Peter Winnington 2020
Continue
with Part C: contributions to books in prose or
Return
to contents page.