Lynton Lamb RDI, FSRA, FSIA (15 April 1907 – 4 September 1977) was an English artist-designer, author,

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

and illustrator who was notable for his

book jacket The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book ...

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

, architectural decoration and postage stamp designs.

Life and work

Lamb was born the son of

The Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

Frederick Lamb in Nizambabad,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, grew up in London, and was educated at

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

. He then worked in an

Estate Agents An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged i ...

office and attended night school at

Camberwell School of Art Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgradu ...

before studying art full-time at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

. From 1930 he designed book jackets and bindings for the

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 ...

and other publishers, with a break for military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when he designed

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

. In 1936 he had an exhibition of paintings at the

Storran Gallery The Storran Gallery was a fashionable ''avant-garde'' art gallery in London in the 1930s. In 1937 it was run by the prominent art critic Eardley Knollys (a friend of Picasso) with Ala Story and the artist Frank Coombs (1906-1941). The gallery w ...

. Lamb provided the illustrations for the first editions of ''A German Idyll'' (1932) by

H. E. Bates Herbert Ernest Bates (16 May 1905 – 29 January 1974), better known as H. E. Bates, was an English writer. His best-known works include ''Love for Lydia'', '' The Darling Buds of May'', and '' My Uncle Silas''. Early life H.E. Bates was ...

, and

Flora Thompson Flora Jane Thompson (née Timms; 5 December 1876 – 21 May 1947) was an English novelist and poet best known for her semi-autobiographical trilogy about the English countryside, ''Lark Rise to Candleford''. Early life and family Thompson ...

's novel ''

Lark Rise ''Lark Rise'' is a 1939 semi-autobiographical novel by the English author Flora Thompson. It was illustrated by Lynton Lamb. In 1945, the book was republished as part of the trilogy ''Lark Rise to Candleford'', comprising the novels ''Lark Rise ...

'' (1939) – the first part of what would become her ''

Lark Rise to Candleford ''Lark Rise to Candleford'' is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Flora Thompson about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. The stories were previously published se ...

'' trilogy. He designed decorations for

Orient Lines Orient Lines was a cruise line specialising in exotic destinations that was in operation 1993–2008. The brand was founded in 1993 by Gerry Herrod, and was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1998. It ceased operations in March 2008 and was sold ...

ships from 1935 to 1950, exhibited works at the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

in 1951 and designed the binding of the Bible used at the

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

. In 1953–54 he designed the

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

Castle series high-value definitive stamps issue featuring views of four castles in England,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

framed by an old stone wall later nicknamed the 'broken grotto'. He received the International Philatelic Art Society Award for the designs in 1960. In 2005, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the stamps' issue, the Post Office re-issued the designs with new values. The

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...

featured the same designs on a set of silver

ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sh ...

s issued in 2006. Lamb was the Author of the ''Inspector Charles Glover'' Detective stories, ''Death of a Dissenter, Worse Than Death, Picture Frame and Man in a Mist'', published by Victor Gollancz, London, between 1969 and 1974. His art publications included ''The Purpose of Painting'' (1936) and ''Preparation for Painting'' (1954). He was head of

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

and

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

and was named ' Royal Designer to Industry' in 1974. Lamb lived in retirement in

Sandon, Essex Sandon is a village and civil parish just off junction 17 of the A12 in Essex, England, adjacent to Great Baddow and close to Danbury. The population taken at the 2011 Census includes Howe Green and totals 1,613. It was known for an ancient oak ...

and died aged 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Lynton 1907 births 1977 deaths English illustrators British illustrators English wood engravers British stamp designers 20th-century engravers

Life and work

Further reading

References