Olive Muriel Cook (20 February 1912 – 2 May 2002), was an English writer and artist who published county guides, as well as writing various books accompanied by the work of her husband, the photographer Edwin Smith.

Early life

Olive Muriel Cook was born on 20 February 1912, at 43 Garden Walk,

Chesterton, Cambridge Chesterton is a suburb in the northeast corner of Cambridge, England, north of Cambridge station, on the north bank of the River Cam. History It is also the name of two electoral wards (West Chesterton and East Chesterton) in the city. The t ...

, the daughter of Arthur Hugh Cook, an assistant at

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

, and his wife Kate (née Webb). She won scholarships to

The Perse School (He who does things for others does them for himself) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = Nondenominational Christian , president = , head_label = Head , he ...

and

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sid ...

, where she earned a bachelor's degree in modern languages.

Career

After Cambridge, Cook worked for the publishers

Chatto and Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

as a typographer. She moved to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, where she was employed as supervisor of publications, under

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...

, and was involved in the removal of its collections to

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,00 ...

in anticipation of

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 ...

. During the war some of her watercolours were acquired for the

Recording Britain The Pilgrim Trust is a national grant-making trust in the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law. It was founded in 1930 with a two million pound grant by Edward Harkness, an American philanthropist. T ...

project. After the war, Cook worked as a freelance writer and artist. In 1948 she wrote the guidebook ''Suffolk'' which were illustrated by

Rowland Suddaby Rowland Suddaby (1912–1972) was a British artist and illustrator. Rowland Suddaby was born in Kimberworth, Yorkshire in 1912. Suddaby won a scholarship to Sheffield College of Art and studied there from 1926. Suddaby moved to London in 19 ...

(part of the Vision of England series), and in 1953 the ''Cambridgeshire: Aspects of a County'' in 1953. She married the photographer Edwin Smith in 1954. She published ''Breckland'' in 1956, in the '' Regional Books'' series. Cook often worked in conjunction with her husband, Edwin Smith, providing the text in books where he took the photographs, such as

Leonard Russell Leonard Russell may refer to: * Leonard Russell (American football) Leonard James Russell (born November 17, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). ...

's annual ''

The Saturday Book ''The Saturday Book'' was an annual miscellany, published from 1941 to 1975, reaching 34 volumes. It was edited initially by Leonard Russell and from 1952 by John Hadfield. A final compilation, ''The Best of the Saturday Book'', was published in 1 ...

'' from 1944 to the 1960s, the ''English Parish Churches'' series (1950), ''English Cottages and Farmhouses'' (1954), ''English Abbeys and Priories'' (1961) and ''The Wonders of Italy'' (1963). Cook was part of the campaign against the building of

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acros ...

, and wrote ''The Stansted Affair'', published in 1967, with a foreword by

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

, and reviewed as a "telling angry indictment".

Personal life

Cook shared a house on Church Row in Hampstead with fellow artist

Malvina Cheek Malvina Cheek, A.R.C.A., (8 July 1915 – 22 May 2016) was a British artist, best known for her work during World War II for the Recording Britain project. During the War she was commissioned for Recording Britain to make architectural recor ...

in the late 1940s. In 1954, Cook married the photographer Edwin Smith. In 1962, they moved to

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

, firstly to a tall house on the corner of Audley Road and East Street, and later into the Coach House at the Vineyards on Windmill Hill.

Later life

Cook died of cancer on 2 May 2002 at Saffron Walden Community Hospital,

. The papers of Cook and her husband were donated to Newnham College.

References

External links

Collected information about Olive Cook
on The Golden Fleece website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Olive Muriel 1912 births 2002 deaths 20th-century English women artists 20th-century English women writers Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge British women activists People educated at the Perse School for Girls People from Saffron Walden People from Essex