Blyton Illustrators D - G

BACK TO MAIN ILLUSTRATORS PAGE | A - C | D - G | H - L | M - S | T - Z

• Davie, E.H.
• Davies, Marjorie
• Dixon, Geo S.
• Dunlop, Gilbert
• Evans, Treyer
• Freeman, Barbara
• Fyffe, William
• Gernat, Mary
• Gervis, Ruth
• Gillespie, Iris
• Grundy, Lynn N
• Graham Johnstone, Janet and Anne

E. H. Davie (4 Oct 1905 - 1 Oct 1995)

E. H. Davie is the illustrator of many Blyton books, most notably Smuggler Ben, The Secret Island, interior illustrations for The Secret of Spiggy Holes, The Adventurous Four and The Galliano's Circus series, as well as illustrations for Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories Magazine. I especially love the Galliano's Circus illustrations.

Davie also illustrated books by other authors, including The Adventures of Reggie Rabbit and Marmaduke Mouse and Aesop's Animal Fables Picture and Story Book.

Marjorie L. Davies, nee Clements (5 Jun 1906 - present)

Thank you to Tony Summerfield of the Enid Blyton Society and Marjorie's niece Jacquie for the information, book covers and photograph contained in this listing.

Marjorie Davies was born in Hampstead, London.

In 1923 she attended St Martin's Art School of Art in London, and went on to illustrate Blackie's Annual in 1931, Bo Peep's Bumper Book (Amalgamated Press, 1929), and famously, the colour plates for Lewis Carrol's Alice Adventure Stories (Hutchinson, 1934). She also created artwork for wallpaper and friezes for Shand-Kydd.

Marjorie completed over 90 commissions for Enid Blyton, although she turned offers to illustrate Noddy, as well as the Famous Five after Eileen Soper's death.

Her Blyton illustrations are mostly for short stories, Sunny Stories Magazine and The Enid Blyton Magazine, but books include Enid Blyton's Ninth Bedside Book (Barker, 1957); Enid Blyton's Tenth Bedside Book (Barker, 1958);

Short stories include Run, Noddy, Run; Michael's Tail from the First Bedside Book; I Was Here First! from the Sixth Holiday Book and The Boy Who Never Put Things Back from the Eighth Holiday Book.

The endpapers in The Sixth Bedside Book and The Eleventh Bedside Book are Marjorie's work, as is the dustwrapper for The Ninth Bedside Book.

She is also famous for her watercolour paintings, and continues to illustrate the cover of her parish newsletter.

Images below (L-R) Marjorie on her 101st birthday; The dustwrapper for The Ninth Bedside Book; an illustration for Run, Noddy, Run! from Sunny Stories No. 526; Cover illustration from the final issue of Enid Blyton's Magazine (September 1959) for A Dog Called Timmy.

Geo S. Dixon

Gilbert Dunlop

Gilbert Dunlop illustrated the five books (the first four and the sixth) in Blyton's Barney (Junior) Mystery series (1949 - 1956), the fifth being illustrated by Anyon Cook. He also provided illustrations for The Mystery That Never Was (1959) and The Boy Next Door when it was reissued by Collins in the 1950's (the original illustrations for this title were by AE Bestall, published by Newnes in 1944).

Other notable work by Dunlop was for the Penny series by Jane Shaw. I have also found some unconfirmed information that he also illustrated Shaw's popular Susan series - if anybody can confirm this, please email me.

Other titles Dunlop illustrated include Rhodesian Adventure by Mollie Chappell (Childrens Press c.1950); So Much To Win (Nelson 1958) and The Red Peppers (Nelson 1962) by Stephen Mogridge; Annabella and the Smugglers by Mary Fitt; Jill Stevens' Julia's Swiss Smuggler (Nelson 1961); Mystery At Merrilees by Michael Poole; and Andy Finds a Way by Freda M Hurt (Nelson 1959).

Images below by Gilbert Dunlop (L-R) The Mystery That Never Was, The Boy Next Door, The Ragamuffin Mystery, The Rilloby Fair Mystery, The Ring-O-Bells Mystery, Threepenny Bit (from Shaw's Penny series, Rhodesian Adventure, The Red Peppers

Treyer Evans

Barbara Freeman

Barbara Freeman illustrated the Collins edition of The Treasure Hunters (released in the early 1960's), which replaced the original Newnes edition illustrated by Edith Wilson.

William Fyffe

Mary Gernat

Ruth Gervis

Special thanks to Kay Massingham for providing most of this information.

Ruth Gervis illustrated Enid Blyton's Caravan Family series, all published by Lutterworth: The Caravan Family (reprint - first edition illustrated by William Fyffe), The Saucy Jane Family (1948), The Pole Star Family (1950), The Seaside Family (1950), The Buttercup Farm Family (1951) and The Queen Elizabeth Family (1951). She also illustrated the stand-alone novel The Very Big Secret (Lutterworth 1952).

Born to vicar William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn, Ruth Gervis is the elder sister of famed author (Mary) Noel Streatfeild. Ruth suffered from asthma, and was sent to live with her grandparents as a small child to move her away from the damp vicarage. There she was looked after by her father's old nurse, Grand-Nannie. In 1902 she returned to the family after they moved to St Leonards, and attended Hastings and St Leonards ladies college and then Laleham school in Eastbourne after the family moved again in 1911.

During World War I, Ruth turned to nursing, and in 1915 produced two plays with her sister Noel to support the war effort - Vingt-en-Un and When Daydreams End. She then took a post as an arts teacher.

Ruth was married during the early 1920s and moved to Dorset where she practised as an artist and illustrator. She seized an opportunity to collaborate with her sister Noel Streatfeild on her book Ballet Shoes (Dent, 1936). This was pure coincidence: Noel's editor suggested Ruth as illustrator without realising they were related!

Images below by Ruth Gervis (L-R): The Buttercup Farm Family, The Pole Star Family, The Saucy Jane Family, The Very Big Secret

Iris Gillespie

Lynn N Grundy

Janet Grahame Johnstone (1 Jun 1928 - 1979)
Anne Grahame Johnstone (1 Jun 1928 - 25 May 1998)

The Grahame Johnstone sisters illustrated the 1979 edition of The Enchanted Wood.

Janet and Anne were twins, both illustrators, who always (until Janet's death) collaborated in their work. Because of this, there was never a book pre-1979 illustrated under either one of their names alone.

Daughters of artist Doris Zinkeisen and Captain Grahame Johnstone, the girls were encouraged in their talent and attended The St. Martin's School of Art.

The young women did some early work for television, providing artwork for several programs including The Flower Pot Men. They also illustrated many books and rose to fame with their illustrations for the very popular One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Among the hundred-odd books illustrated by the pair, including some by Hans Christian Andersen, is their very famous work for the 1979 Dean edition of the Blyton book The Enchanted Wood. This has become the most collectible subsequent edition of any Blyton book.

After Janet's death in 1979, Anne went on to illustrate many classic books, including Snow White, Peter Pan and The Water Babies.

Images below by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone (L-R) The Enchanted Wood, Interior picture from The Enchanted Wood, Shepherds Watching Their Flocks by Night, The Midnight Kittens and The Storybook Annual.

Images below by Anne Grahame Johnstone created after Janet's death (L-R) Hansel and Gretel, Peter Pan and Wendy, Snow White, The Water Babies.

BACK TO TOP

BACK TO MAIN ILLUSTRATORS PAGE | A - C | D - G | H - L | M - S | T - Z