Pauline Baynes Biography

Pauline Baynes – British illustrator and author, 1922-2008

British illustrator and author, 1922-2008. Using simple yet expressive line drawings, Pauline Baynes began her career illustrating works by two great fantasy writers: J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Her draw­ings for her first book, Tolkien’s Parmer Giles of Ham (1949) caught C.S. Lewis’s eye. He particularly liked her dragon and decided that she would be perfect to render the variety of creatures in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950).

She went on to illustrate the other six books in the “Chronicles of Narnia” series and Tolkien’s Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962). Her illustrations have received numerous awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1968 for A Dictionary of Chivalry by Grant Uden.

Born in England, Pauline Baynes went to India with her fam­ily when she was a few months old. Her mother became ill when she was five, and the family returned to England while her father stayed in India. Baynes and her older sister were placed in a convent school while her mother recuperated. Having been pampered in India, Baynes had a difficult time adjusting to the impersonal discipline of the English school. At fifteen she left school and entered Farnham School of Art. Still resenting dis­cipline, she found courses in perspective and life draw­ing very difficult and turned instead to design.

A strong sense of design is apparent in her books. For example, in Let There Be Light (1991), the Biblical story of creation, she uses swirling patterns to represent the creation pro­cess: small vague swirls in the beginning that become more distinct and expansive as God creates more and more until finally plants, fish, birds, and animals repre­senting the infinite variety of life sweep across whole pages.

Pauline Baynes’s people and animals are rarely totally realis­tic, three-dimensional beings. More often she- empha­sizes the internal patterns within flat shapes. Although her Style is recognizable from book to book, it does vary somewhat to reflect the subject matter. Her illustrations for collections of folktales capture the national flavor of the stories. For instance, the title decorations for each story in A Gift from the Heart (1966), a collection of tales from Bulgaria by Radost Pridham, are intricate silhou­ettes reminiscent of Eastern European cut-paper folk art.

In contrast, Baynes uses shading and detail in her illustrations for Four Dolls (1983) by Rumer Goddbn, their realism reflecting the contemporary setting. For Godden’s The Dragon of Og (1981), set in the time of drag­ons, the drawings are simpler and the use of borders in the color illustrations gives them a medieval feel. Baynes creates the impression of an illuminated manuscript in The Song of the Three Holy Children (1986), a hymn of praise from the Book of Daniel. The lack of perspective, the stylized figures, and the color scheme all work together to achieve the effect.

Pauline Baynes has written only a few stories of her own, among them a pourquoi tale, How Dog Began (1987). She gives the story a delightful twist at the end as she explains why a group of cave people decide to name a tame wolf “Dog.” She designed the black-and-white illustrations to look like cave paintings, and although the people are merely stylized silhouettes, their body language is very expressive. With a keen sense of design and an appreciation of the material to be illustrated, Pauline Baynes consistently creates books that are beautiful and appealing.

§ P.R.

Source: Children’s Books and their Creators, Anita Silvey.

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Pauline Bayes Works

Books by or edited by Baynes

• Victoria and the Golden Bird, Blackie, 1948
• How Dog Began, Methuen, 1985
• The Song of the Three Holy Children, Methuen, 1986
• Good King Wenceslas. Lutterworth, 1987
• Noah and the Ark, Methuen, 1988
• In the Beginning, Dent, 1990 (issued in the USA as Let There Be Light, Simon & Schuster, 1991)
• Thanks Be to God: Prayers from Around the World, Lutterworth, 1990
• I Believe: The Nicene Creed, Frances Lincoln, 2003
• Questionable Creatures, Frances Lincoln, 2006
• The Elephant’s Ball, Eerdmans, 2007
• Psalm 8: How Excellent is Thy Name!, Marion E. Wade Center, 2007

Books by or related to C. S. Lewis

• Gresham, Douglas: The Official Narnia Cookbook, Harper Collins, 1998
• Lewis, C. S.: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Bles, 1950 (cover 1; with frontispiece)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Puffin, 1959 (cover 2)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Collins, 1974 (cover 3)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, special edition, Harper Collins, 1991 (with seventeen extra paintings)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, centenary edition, Harper Collins, 1998 (cover 2; with illustrations in watercolour)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 50th anniversary edition, Harper Collins, 2000 (with map, and with seventeen extra paintings)
• Lewis, C. S,: Prince Caspian, Bles, 1951 (cover 1; with frontispiece and map)
• Lewis, C. S.: Prince Caspian, Puffin, 1962 (cover 2; with map)
• Lewis, C. S.: Prince Caspian, Collins, 1974 (cover 3)
• Lewis, C. S.: Prince Caspian, centenary edition, Harper Collins, 1998 (cover 2; with map, and with illustrations in watercolour)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Bles, 1952 (cover 1; with map)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Puffin, 1965 (cover 2)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Collins, 1974 (cover 3)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, centenary edition, Harper Collins, 1998 (cover 2; with map, and with illustrations in watercolour)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Silver Chair, Bles, 1953 (cover 1; with map)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Silver Chair, Puffin, 1965 (cover 2; with map)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Silver Chair, Collins, 1974 (cover 3)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Silver Chair, centenary edition, Harper Collins, 1998 (cover 2; with map, and with illustrations in watercolour)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Horse and His Boy, Bles, 1954 (cover 1; with map)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Horse and His Boy. Puffin, 1965 (cover 2; with map)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Horse and His Boy, Collins, 1974 (cover 3)
• Lewis. C. S.: The Horse and His Boy, centenary edition, Harper Collins, 1998 (cover 2; with map, and with illustrations in watercolour)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Magician’s Nephew, Bles, 1955 (cover 1)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Magician’s Nephew, Puffin, 1963 (cover 2)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Magician’s Nephew, Bodley Head, 1974 (cover 3)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Magician’s Nephew, centenary edition, Harper Collins, 1998 (cover 2; with illustrations in watercolour)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Last Battle, Bles, 1956 (cover 1)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Last Battle, Puffin, 1964 (cover 2)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Last Battle. Bodley Head, 1974 (cover 3)
• Lewis, C. S.: The Last Battle, centenary edition, Harper Collins, 1998 (cover 2; with illustrations in watercolour)
• Lewis, C. S. (adapted): A Map of Narnia and the Surrounding Countries, poster, Collins, 1968
• Lewis, C. S. (adapted): The Magical Land of Narnia Puzzle Book, Harper Collins, 1998
• Lewis, C. S. (adapted): The Narnia Trivia Book, Harper Collins, 1999
• Lewis, C. S. (adapted): The Wisdom of Narnia, Harper Collins, 2001
• Lewis, C. S. (adapted): Narnia Chronology, Harper Collins, 2008
• Riordan, James: A Book of Narnians, Harper Collins, 1994
• Sibley, Brian: The Land of Narnia, Harper Collins, 1989
• Sibley, Brian and Sage, Alison: A Treasury of Narnia, Harper Collins, 1989

Books by J. R. R. Tolkien

• Farmer Giles of Ham, Allen & Unwin, 1949 (cover 1)
• Farmer Giles of Ham, 50th Anniversary Edition, Harper Collins, 1999 (cover 2; with map)
• Farmer Giles of Ham, pocket edition, Harper Collins, 2014 (cover 3)
• The Hobbit, Puffin, 1961 [cover only]
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Allen & Unwin, 1962
• The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, pocket edition, Harper Collins, 2014 (cover 2)
• Smith of Wootton Major, Allen & Unwin, 1967 (cover 1)
• Smith of Wootton Major, Ballantine, 1969 (cover 2)
• Smith of Wootton Major, 2nd edition, Allen & Unwin, 1975 (cover 3)
• Smith of Wootton Major, pocket edition, Harper Collins, 2015 (cover 3)
• The Lord of the Rings, 3-volume de luxe edition, Allen & Unwin, 1964 [slipcase only]
• The Lord of the Rings, 1-volume paperback edition, Allen & Unwin, 1968 [cover only]
• A Map of Middle-Earth, poster, Allen & Unwin, 1970
• There and Back Again: a Map of Bilbo’s Journey Through Eriador and Rhovanion, poster, Allen & Unwin, 1971
• Bilbo’s Last Song, poster, Allen & Unwin, 1974
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo, Unwin Paperbacks, 1978 [cover only]
• The Fellowship of the Ring, Unwin Paperbacks, 1981 [cover only]
• The Two Towers, Unwin Paperbacks, 1981 [cover only]
• The Return of the King, Unwin Paperbacks, 1981 [cover only]
• Poems and Stories, Allen & Unwin, 1981
• Bilbo’s Last Song, Unwin Hyman, 1990

Books by other authors

• Adams, Richard: Watership Down, Puffin, 1972 [cover and maps]
• Alexander, Cecil Frances: All Things Bright and Beautiful, Lutterworth, 1986
• Andersen, Hans Christian: Andersen’s Fairy Tales, Blackie, 1949
• Andersen, Hans Christian: Stories from Hans Christian Andersen selected by Philippa Pearce, Collins, 1972
• Backway, Monica: Hassan of Basorah, Blackie, 1958
• Barber, Richard: A Companion to World Mythology, Kestrel, 1979
• Bate, Joan Mary: The Curious Tale of Cloud City, Blackie, 1958
• de Beaumont, Jeanne-Marie Leprince: Beauty and the Beast, Perry Colour Books, 1942
• Bebbington, William George: And It Came to Pass, Allen & Unwin, 1951
• Blackmore, R. D.: Lorna Doone, Collins, 1970
• Blyton, Enid et al.: The Wonder Book for Children, Odhams, 1948
• Blyton, Enid: The Land of Farbeyond, Methuen, 1973
• Borer, Mary Cathcart: Don Quixote: Some of His Adventures, Longman, 1960
• Borer, Mary Cathcart: Boadicea, Longman, 1965
• Borer, Mary Cathcart: Christopher Columbus, Longman, 1965
• Borer, Mary Cathcart: Joan of Arc, Longman, 1965
• Borer, Mary Cathcart: King Alfred the Great, Longman, 1965
• Bremer, Francis J.: The Puritan Experiment, St James, 1977
• Bunyan, John: The Pilgrim’s Progress, Blackie, 1949
• Burrough, Loretta: Sister Clare, W. H. Allen, 1960
• Carroll, Lewis: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Blackie, 1950
• Clark, Leonard: All Along Down Along, Longman, 1971
• Cockrill, Pauline: The Little Book of Celebrity Bears, Dorling Kindersley, 1992
• Denton, E. M.: Stars and Candles, Ernest Benn, 1958
• Dickinson, Peter: The Iron Lion, Blackie, 1983
• Dickinson, William Croft: Borrobil, Puffin, 1973
• Ensor, Dorothy: The Adventures of Hatim Tai, Harrap, 1960
• Field, William: An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Town and Castle of Warwick and the Neighbouring Leamington Spa, S. R. Publishers, 1969
• Foreman, Michael: Sarah et le Cheval de Sable, Deflandre Francoise, 1997
• Gail, Marzieh: Avignon in Flower, 1304 – 1403, Victor Gollancz, 1966
• Garnett, Emmeline: The Civil War 1640 – 1660, A. & C. Black, 1956
• Godden, Rumer: The Dragon of Og, Macmillan, 1981
• Godden, Rumer: Four Dolls, Macmillan, 1983
• Godden, Rumer: The Little Chair, Hodder, 1996
• Greaves, Margaret: The Naming, Dent, 1992
• Green, Roger Lancelyn: The Tale of Troy, Puffin, 1970
• Green, Roger Lancelyn: Tales of the Greek Heroes, Puffin, 1983
• Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm: Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Blackie, 1949
• Harris, Rosemary: The Moon in the Cloud, Puffin, 1978 [cover only]
• Harris, Rosemary: The Shadow on the Sun, Puffin, 1978 [cover only]
• Harris, Rosemary: The Bright and Morning Star, Puffin, 1978 [cover only]
• Harris, Rosemary: The Enchanted Horse, Kestrel, 1981
• Harris, Rosemary: Love and the Merry-go-round, Hamish Hamilton, 1988
• Harris, Rosemary: Colm of the Islands, Walker, 1989
• Harvey, David: Dragon Smoke and Magic Song, Allen & Unwin, 1984
• Haskell, Arnold L. (ed.): The Ballet Annual 1951, A. & C. Black, 1951
• Hawkins, Robert Henry: Primary English Practice, Longman, 1958
• Henshall, David: Starchild and Witchfire, Macmillan, 1991
• Hickman, G. M. and Mayo, R. Elizabeth: Adventures at Home: Pilgrim Way Geographies, Book 1, Blackie, 1961
• Hickman, G. M.: Adventuring Abroad: Pilgrim Way Geographies, Book 2, Blackie, 1962
• Hieatt, Constance B.: The Joy of the Court, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1971
• Hitchcock, Albert: Great People Through the Ages, Blackie, 1954
• Hitchcock, Albert: The British People: Their Work & Way of Life, Blackie, 1955
• Homans, Abigail Adams: Education by Uncles, Houghton Mifflin, 1966
• Hughes, Arthur George: Ali Baba and Aladdin, Longman, 1960
• Hume, Emily Gertrude: Days Before History, Blackie, 1952
• Hume, Emily Gertrude: Children Through the Ages, Blackie, 1953
• Hunter, Eileen: Tales of Way-Beyond, Andre Deutsch, 1979
• Jekyll, Lady Agnes: Kitchen Essays, Collins, 1969
• Jenkins, A. E.: Titterstone Clee Hills: Everyday Life, Industrial History and Dialect, A. E. Jenkins, 1982
• Jones, Gwyn: Welsh Legends and Folk Tales, Puffin, 1979
• Kipling, Rudyard: How the Whale Got His Throat, Macmillan, 1983
• Koralek, Jenny: The Cobweb Curtain: a Christmas Story, Methuen, 1989
• Koralek, Jenny: The Moses Basket, Frances Lincoln, 2003
• Koralek, Jenny: The Coat of Many Colours, Frances Lincoln, 2004
• Krutch, Joseph Wood: The Most Wonderful Animals That Never Were. Houghton Mifflin, 1969
• Lethbridge, Katherine Greville: The Rout of the Ollafubs, Faber & Faber, 1964
• Llewellyn, Bernard: China’s Courts and Concubines: Some People in China’s History, Allen & Unwin, 1956
• MacBeth, George: The Story of Daniel, Lutterworth, 1986
• MacDonald, George: The Princess and the Goblin, Puffin, 1971 [cover only]
• MacDonald, George: The Princess and Curdie, Puffin, 1966 [cover only]
• Malcolmson, Anne Burnett: Miracle Plays: Seven Medieval Plays for Modern Players, Constable, 1960
• Markham, George (ed. Lucid, Dan): The Compleat Horseman, Robson, 1976
• Mitchison, Naomi: Graeme and the Dragon, Faber & Faber, 1954
• Morris, James (subsequently Jan): The Upstairs Donkey and Other Stolen Stories, Faber & Faber, 1962
• Muir, Lynette: The Unicorn Window, Abelard-Schuman, 1961
• Nicolas, Claude and Roels, Iliane: How Life Goes On: the Butterfly, Chambers, 1974
• Nicolas, Claude and Roels, Iliane: How Life Goes On: the Duck, Chambers, 1975
• Nicolas, Claude and Roels, Iliane: How Life Goes On: the Bee and the Cherry Tree, Chambers, 1976
• Nicolas, Claude and Roels, Iliane: How Life Goes On: the Salmon. Chambers, 1976
• Nicolas, Claude and Roels, Iliane: How Life Goes On; the Dolphin, Chambers, 1977
• Nicolas, Claude and Roeld, Iliane: How Life Goes On: the Frog, Chambers, 1977
• Nicolas, Claude and Roels, Iliane: How Life Goes On; the Roe Deer, Chambers, 1977
• Norton, Mary: The Borrowers, Puffin, 1984 [cover only]
• Norton, Mary: The Borrowers Aloft, Puffin, ?1984 [cover only]
• Norton, Mary: The Borrowers Afloat, Puffin, ?1984 [cover only]
• Norton, Mary: The Borrowers Afield, Puffin, ?1984 [cover only]
• Norton, Mary: The Borrowers Avenged, Kestrel, 1982
• Nuttall, Kenneth: Let’s Act, Book 4, Longman, 1960
• Opie, Iona and Peter: The Puffin Book of Nursery Rhymes, Puffin, 1963
• Opie, Iona and Peter: A Family Book of Nursery Rhymes, Oxford University Press, 1964
• Peppin, Anthea: The National Gallery Children’s Book, National Gallery, 1983
• Perry, Powell: Question Mark, Perry Colour Books, ?1942
• Perry, Powell: Wild Flower Rhymes, Perry Colour Books, ?1942
• Perry, Powell: Oldebus, Perry Colour Books, 1945
• Perry, Powell: Jumblebus 10, Perry Colour Books, 1951
• Phillips, Marjorie: Annabel and Bryony, Oxford University Press, 1953
• Piers, Helen: Snail and Caterpillar, Longman Young, 1972
• Piers, Helen: Grasshopper and Butterfly, Kestrel, 1975
• Piers, Helen: Frog and Water Shrew. Kestrel, 1981
• Potter, Beatrix: Country Tales, Frederick Warne, 1987
• Potter, Beatrix: Wag-by-Wall, Frederick Warne, 1987
• Power, Rhoda D.: From the Fury of the Northmen, Houghton Mifflin, 1957
• Pridham, Radost: A Gift from the Heart: Folk Tales from Bulgaria, Methuen, 1966
• Pourrat, Henri: A Treasury of French Tales, Allen & Unwin, 1953
• Ransome, Arthur: Old Peter’s Russian Tales, Puffin, 1974 [cover only]
• Ray, Elizabeth: The Resourceful Cook, Macmillan, 1978 [cover only]
• Schikaneder, Emanuel (adapted by Perry, Powell): The Magic Flute, Perry Colour Books, 1943
• Sewell, Anna: Black Beauty, Puffin, 1954 [cover only]
• Spenser, Edmund (ed. Warburg, Sandol Stoddard): Saint George and the Dragon, Houghton Mifflin, 1963
• Squire, Geoffrey: The Observer’s Book of European Costume, Frederick Warne, 1975
• Stevenson, Victoris: Clover Magic, Country Life, 1944
• Stevenson, Victoria: The Magic Footstool, Country Life, 1946
• Stevenson, Victoria: The Magic Broom, Country Life, 1950
• Stewart, Katie: The Times Cookery Book, Collins, 1972
• Swift, Jonathan: Gulliver’s Travels, Blackie, 1950
• Symonds, John: Harold: the Story of a Friendship, Dent, 1973 [cover only]
• Tower, Christopher: Oultre Jourdain, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1980
• Uden, Grant: A Dictionary of Chivalry, Longman, 1968
• Uttley, Alison: The Little Knife Who Did All the Work: Twelve Tales of Magic, Faber & Faber, 1962
• Uttley, Alison: Recipes From an Old Farmhouse, Faber & Faber, 1966
• Westwood, Jennifer: Medieval Tales, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1967
• Westwood, Jennifer: The Isle of Gramarye: an Anthology of the Poetry of Magic, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1970
• Westwood, Jennifer: Tales and Legends, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1972
• Williams, Ursula Moray: The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse, Puffin, 1985 [cover only]
• Williams, Ursula Moray: The Further Adventures of Gobbolino and the Little Wooden Horse, Puffin, 1984
• Williams-Ellis, Amabel: The Arabian Nights, Blackie, 1957
• Williams-Ellis, Amabel: Fairy Tales from the British Isles, Blackie, 1960
• Williams-Ellis, Amabel: More British Fairy Tales, Blackie, 1965
• Various: Puffin Annual No. 1, Puffin, 1974
• Various: Puffin Annual No. 2, Puffin, 1975