Edward Mortelmans (1915–2008) was an English artist and illustrator. His primary modes of expression were
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
and black and white line drawings. He is best known for illustrating some books by
Gerald Durrell
Gerald Malcolm Durrell, (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter. He founded the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Island o ...
, and covers for books by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Mortelmans was a watercolor artist, who commercially practiced cover artistry and book illustration, mostly for a visual audience of children and
young adults
A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...
. He illustrated the cover for a number of E. R. Burroughs paperback editions for ''Four Square Books'' including
The Son of Tarzan
''The Son of Tarzan'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fourth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was written between January 21 and May 11, 1915, and first published in the magazine ' ...
,
The Beasts of Tarzan
''The Beasts of Tarzan'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. Originally serialized in '' All-Story Cavalier'' magazine in 1914, the novel was first ...
and
Lost on Venus
''Lost On Venus'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the second book in the Venus series (sometimes called the "Carson Napier of Venus series" or the "Amtor series"). It was first serialized in the magazine '' Ar ...
. For Pan Books in the mid-1950s he produced the covers of ''Saint Overboard'' by
Leslie Charteris
Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.Anthony Richardson's true war adventure ''Wingless Victory'', among others. He also did some magazine work, including cover designs for the first American pulp magazine, Argosy. He has also been associated with illustrating several series, like the ''Twenty Names'' series of
Hodder and Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.
History
Early history
The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...
, ''How and Why Wonder Books'' of
Corgi Books
Transworld Publishers Ltd. is a British publishing house in Ealing, London that is a division of Penguin Random House, one of the world's largest mass media groups. It was established in 1950 as the British division of American company Banta ...
and the ''Oxford Graded Readers'' series of
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. He has produced commissioned art for the British Railways. Edward Mortelmans' illustrations have been critically acclaimed.Book Bait: Detailed Notes on Adult Books Popular with Young People, compiled by Elinor Walker, American Library Association, 1979
Selected bibliography of illustrations
* Desert Victory: The Battle at Alamein, by Edward Fox (Lutterworth Press, 1967)
* The Boy with the Bronze Axe, by Kathleen Fidler (Chatto, Boyd & Oliver, 1968)
* Chiho and Tong See: A Tale of
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
by S. C. George (Chatto, Boyd & Oliver, 1969)
* Antlers of the King Moose, by Arthur Catherall (
E. P. Dutton
E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group.
Creator
Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...
, 1970)
* Conqueror of the Night: The Story of
Louis Braille
Louis Braille (; ; 4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852) was a French educator and the inventor of a reading and writing system, named braille after him, intended for use by visually impaired people. His system is used worldwide and remains virtua ...
, by Jeanne Christiaens, translated by
Anthea Bell
Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the ''In ...
(Abelard - Schuman, London, 1970)
* Catch Me a Colobus, by Gerald Durrell (Collins, 1972)
* Beasts in My Belfry (A Bevy of Beasts) by Gerald Durrell (Collins, 1973)
* The Way of the Muslim by Mohammad Iqbal (Amersham Books, 1973) — a book which has gained notoriety in Europe for its contents
* Living in Samuel Pepys' London, by R J Unstead (A & C Black, 1974)
* Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons: A Journey to the Flora and Fauna of a Unique Island, by Gerald Durrell (Collins, 1977)
* Robin Hood and His Merry Men, by
Enid Blyton
Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...
(Collier Macmillan, 1981)
* The Sinister Airfield, by
Alison Prince
Alison Prince (26 March 1931 – 12 October 2019) was a British children's writer, screenwriter and biographer, who settled on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Her novels for young people won several awards. She was the scriptwriter of the much re ...
( Methuen Publishing, 1982)
* The Night Landings, by Alison Prince (Methuen, 1983)
* Stories of the Sea, by Erik Abranson (Hodder & Stoughton, 1983)
*
The Story of the Treasure Seekers
''The Story of the Treasure Seekers'' is a novel by E. Nesbit first published in 1899. It tells the story of Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel, and Horace Octavius (H. O.) Bastable, and their attempts to assist their widowed father and recover ...
, by
Edith Nesbit
Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist a ...
( Purnell, 1983)
* The River War by Winston S. Churchill (Four Square Books 1960)
* The Sensualists, by Ben Hecht (Four Square Books 1964)