Peg Maltby (17 January 1899 – 12 March 1984) was an English-born Australian book illustrator and children's writer. She is best known for ''Peg's Fairy Book'', first published in 1944, which sold more than 180,000 copies in the 1940s and 1950s.

Life

Born Agnes Newberry Orchard in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, England on 17 January 1899, she married George Bradley Maltby in 1917. They moved to Australia in 1924. Maltby held several exhibitions of her artwork, including at Newman's Gallery in Melbourne in 1934, where it was reported that her pen and colour drawings were in the style of

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

and '' The Bulletin's'' art critic wrote that she "has the needful imagination to work out dainty scenes as acceptable to adults as to children and swing back the mature cynic to his infantile faith in fairies". In 1937, while visiting her parents in England, she created illustrations of "gum leaves and quaint folklore scenes" for a London company, who were interested in her work. Her first books, ''Peg's Fairy Book'' and ''Introducing Pip and Pepita'' and ''Pepita's Baby'' were published in 1944. She began a series of books featuring a pair of pixies named Ben and Bella in 1947, some of which were republished by Angus and Robertson in 1982 as ''The adventures of Ben & Bella''. In the 1950s Maltby's book sales were impacted by imported publications, so she and her husband opened Santa's Workshop and a Fairyland Emporium in her studio at

Olinda Olinda () is a historic city in Pernambuco, Brazil, in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It is located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, in the Recife metropolitan area, Metropolitan Region of Recife, the state capi ...

, Victoria. Over 6,000 children and adults had visited the displays of paintings and

dioramas A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

by December 1954.

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

published a new edition of ''Peg's Fairy Book'' in 1976 and ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

'' announced that Maltby's "pixies are making a comeback – and publishing history – as a new generation of children are being enchanted by them." Additional interest in her work was generated when Myer Melbourne held an exhibition of her work in November and ''Peg's Fairy Book'' was used for Myer's Christmas displays throughout their Australian stores that year. ''

'' also held a colouring competition, using her work as its theme and offering two trips to Disneyland to the age-group winners and signed copies of the book as other prizes. The

Australian National Botanic Gardens The Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) is a heritage-listed botanical garden located in , Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Established in 1949, the Gardens is administered by the Australian Government's Departme ...

in Canberra held an exhibition, "Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Other Folk of the Australian Bush", which displayed Maltby's work alongside that of

May Gibbs Cecilia May Gibbs MBE (17 January 1877 – 27 November 1969) was an Australian children's author, illustrator, and cartoonist. She is best known for her gumnut babies (also known as "bush babies" or "bush fairies"), and the book ''Snugglepot a ...

Selected works

As author and illustrator

* ''Introducing Pip and Pepita'', 1944 * ''Peg's Fairy Book'', 1944 * ''Nutchen of the Forest'', 1945 * ''Meet Mr. Cobbledick!'', 1948 * ''The Little World of Peg Maltby'', 1982 * ''Adventures of Ben and Bella'', 1982

As illustrator

* ''Speak well books,'' by Ellie P. Colclough, 2 vols, 1944 * ''Australian honeyeaters,'' by Hugh R. Officer, Alex Stirling (map), 1964

References

External links

*
Introducing Pip and Pepita
' – digitised via Trove *
Peg's Fairy Book
' – digitised via Trove {{DEFAULTSORT:Maltby, Peg 1899 births 1984 deaths Australian illustrators Australian children's writers People from Leicestershire Artists from Melbourne Writers from Melbourne English emigrants to Australia People from Yarra Ranges