Dorothea Braby (17 October 1909 – 1987) was a British artist. Although she had a long career as a freelance designer producing work for several well-known companies, Braby is best known for the book illustrations she created, particularly those for the

Golden Cockerel Press The Golden Cockerel Press was an English fine press operating between 1920 and 1961. History The private press made handmade limited editions of classic works. The type was hand-set and the books were printed on handmade paper, and sometimes ...

Early life

Braby was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

and grew up in Putney, the third child of Percy Braby, a solicitor, and

Maud Churton Braby Julia Maud Churton Braby (1875 – 31 December 1932) was an English journalist and author born in China, notable for her best-sellers on love and marriage, especially ''Modern Marriage and How to Bear It'' (1908). All of her work was published, ...

, a journalist and author who had been born in China.

1911 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census 1911 of 2 April 1911 was the 12th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The total population of the United Kingdom was approximately 45,221,000, with 36,070,000 recorded in England ...

for 3, Hazlewell Road, Putney, London S.W. Braby was educated at the

St Felix School Saint Felix School is a 2–18 mixed, independent, day and boarding school in Reydon, Southwold, Suffolk, England. The school was founded in 1897 as a school for girls but is now co-educational. History The school was founded in 1897 as a girls ...

in Southwold, and then from 1926 to 1930 at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. For a time she was enrolled at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and also studied art in Paris and Florence.

Career

Braby’s work was mostly as an illustrator of books, including several volumes produced by the

. She spent eighteen months working on their 1948 edition of the ''

Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...

''. For ''The Saga of Llywarch the Old'', Braby created colour engravings that resembled mediaeval ivory tablets. Among the other books she illustrated were a 1950 edition of

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

' ''Poems'' and a 1954 edition of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's ''

Lord Arthur Savile's Crime #REDIRECT Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories#Lord Arthur Savile's Crime {{R to section 1887 short stories Works originally published in The Court and Society Review ...

''. Her own volume, ''The Way of Wood Engraving'' was published in 1953. Braby exhibited widely, both in Britain and overseas. The Society of Women Artists, the Hampstead Artists' Council, and the

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

all showed works by Braby. During her design career, Braby also produced work for ''

The Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'', '' The Studio'', and ICI. In 1959, she gave up working as an artist for a full-time career as a social worker. A memorial exhibition was held at

Burgh House Burgh House is a historic house located on New End Square in Hampstead, London, that includes the Hampstead Museum. The house is also listed as Burgh House & Hampstead Museum. Brief history Burgh House was constructed in 1704 during the re ...

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, in 1988.

Selected works

Books illustrated by Braby included * ''Mr Chambers and Perephone'' by C.Whitfield,

, 1937 * ''The Ninety-First Psalm'' by C.Whitfield, Golden Cockerel Press, 1944 * ''The Lottery Ticket'' by V.G.Calderon, Golden Cockerel Press, 1945 * ''The Mabinogion'' by V.G.Calderon, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948 * ''Gilgamesh, King of Erech'' by

F.L. Lucas Frank Laurence Lucas (28 December 1894 – 1 June 1967) was an English classical scholar, literary critic, poet, novelist, playwright, political polemicist, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and intelligence officer at Bletchley Park during ...

, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948 * ''Poems'' by

, Folio Society, 1950 * ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', Golden Cockerel Press, 1952 * ''The Fearless Treasure'' by

Noel Streatfeild Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE (24 December 1895 –11 September 1986) was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series (though some books made references to others). Random House, the ...

, Joseph, 1953 * ''Lord Arthur Savile's Crime'' by

, Folio Society, 1954 * ''The Semi-Attached Couple'' by

Emily Eden Emily Eden (3 March 1797 – 5 August 1869) was an English poet and novelist who gave witty accounts of English life in the early 19th century. She wrote a celebrated account of her travels in India, and two novels that sold well. She was also a ...

, Folio Society, 1954 * ''The Saga of Llywarch the Old'' by Glyn Jones, Golden Cockerel Press, 1955 Braby also wrote and illustrated ''The Commandments'', published by Lewis in 1946, and ''The Way of Wood Engraving'', published in 1953.

References

External links

*
Illustrations by Braby in the Victoria & Albert Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braby, Dorothea 1909 births 1987 deaths 20th-century British painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Heatherley School of Fine Art Artists from London English illustrators English wood engravers People educated at Saint Felix School Women book artists Women engravers 20th-century engravers