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Pauline Baynes

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Artist

The Resume

    (September 9, 1922-August 1, 2018)
    Born in Hove, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom
    Commercial artist, illustrator, and author
    Illustrated C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Farmer Giles of Ham' (1949), 'The Adventures of Tom Bombadil' (1961), and 'Smith of Wooton Major' (1967)
    Wrote and illustrated 'The Elephant's Ball,' 'How Dog Began,' 'Questionable Creatures,' 'Good King Wencelas,' 'The Song of the Three Holy Children,' 'Noah and the Ark,' and 'In the Beginning'

Why she might be annoying:

    She said art was her favorite subject 'because it was easy.'
    She wasted much of her time in school on 'coffee and parties.'
    C.S. Lewis complained to Dorothy L. Sayers, 'The main trouble about Pauline B. is her total ignorance of animal anatomy. In the v. last book [the fifth in the series] she has at last learned how to draw a horse.'
    Lewis wrote to I.O. Evans, 'What is one to do with illustrators – especially if, like, mine, they are timid, shrinking young women who, when criticized, look as if you'd pulled their hair or given them a black eye?'
    She regretted that her Narnia illustrations overshadowed the rest of her work.
    She was unable to find an American publisher for 'Questionable Creatures' until she agreed to paint over a mermaid's exposed breast.

Why she might not be annoying:

    During World War II, she drew maps and marine charts for the Royal Navy, experience she would put to use in creating maps for Narnia and Middle Earth.
    Tolkien said about her illustrations for 'Farmer Giles,' 'They reduced my text to a commentary on the drawings.'
    She won the Kate Greenaway Medal for outstanding book illustrator for her work (almost 600 pictures) in Grant Undin's 'Dictionary of Chivalry.' (1968)
    When Tolkien died, she and her husband were among the twelve mourners his family invited to the funeral.

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying