Eileen Alice Soper (26 March 1905 – 18 March 1990) was an English etcher and illustrator of children's and wildlife books. She produced a series of etchings, mainly of children playing, and illustrated books for other writers, notably for Enid Blyton and Elizabeth Gould. She also wrote and illustrated her own children's book. Some of her illustrations of children and animals were used in a china series for children by

Paragon China The Paragon China Company was a British manufacturer of bone china from 1919 to 1960, based in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, previously known as the Star China Company, and more recently part of the Royal Doulton group. Paragon was noted for produci ...

in the 1930s. Later in life she concentrated on writing and illustrating wildlife books. She was a founder member of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and was elected a member of the

Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers, more commonly known as the Royal Miniature Society (RMS), is an art society founded in 1895 dedicated to upholding and continuing the tradition of miniature painting and sculpture, ...

(RMS) in 1972.

Early years

Eileen Soper was born in 1905 in the Municipal Borough of EnfieldHerts Memories by Catherine Davies
Retrieved 18 January 2013 and moved to the house where she was to spend the rest of her life in Harmer Green, Welwyn in the

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

countryside in 1908. The house she later named "Wildings" was built by her father, the artist

George Soper (illustrator) George Soper RE (1870–1942) was an English illustrator and etcher whose work appears in books, magazines and journals, including ''Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Water Babies, Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare, Arabian Nights'' and ''Grim ...

. Eileen and her older sister, the artist Eva, inherited the house after his death in 1942 and lived there for the rest of their lives. She attended

Hitchin Girls School Hitchin Girls' School (HGS) is a secondary school with academy status in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. The school has 1079 students and is in a consortium for sixth form teaching with Hitchin Boys' School and The Priory School. It gained aca ...

and was artistically trained mostly by her father.

Achievements

Soper showed early promise as an artist, and two of her etchings were shown in the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in London at the age of 15 after she showed three prints at an exhibition organised by the International Society of Printmakers in California. She continued to produce around 180 etchings, mostly of children at play, into the early 1930s. Queen Mary bought two of her etchings, among them ''Flying Swings'' in 1924. Her work was popular and well received and shown in the UK and the US. Today Soper is best known for her collaboration with Enid Blyton, most notably all of the ''Famous Five'' books. Soper also published her own children's books in the 1940s, as well as a book of poetry. From the 1950s on, she worked mostly on her wildlife illustrations of British wildlife around her house in Welwyn.

Later years

Soper and her sister Eva lived in Wildings until they fell ill at similar times, both dying in 1990.

Bibliography

Published books (author)

Children's books

* ''Happy Rabbit'' (1947) * ''Dormouse awake'' (1948) * ''Sail away, shrew'' (1949)

Wildlife books

* ''When badgers wake'' (1955) * ''Wild encounters'' (1957) * ''Wanderers of the field'' (1959) * ''Wild Favours'' (1963) * ''Muntjac'' (1969)

Poetry

* ''Songs on the wind'' (1948)

Published books (illustrator)

* ''Famous Five Series'' (Enid Blyton, 1942–1963) * * ''The Golden Years'' (Christine Chaundler), 1950, publisher Robert Hale Ltd (London) * ''Six in a Caravan'', Bridget Mackenzie, 1945, publisher George Newness Ltd.

References

External links

Chris Beetles Gallery Page

BBC Feature

Cambridge Prints Gallery

Hertfortshire Memories
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soper, Eileen 1905 births 1990 deaths English women artists English illustrators English children's book illustrators Enid Blyton illustrators People from Enfield, London People from Welwyn