Dorothea Braby

Dorothea Braby (17 October 1909 – 1987) was a British artist. Although she had a long career as a freelance designer producing work for several well-known companies, Braby is best known for the book illustrations she created, particularly those for the Golden Cockerel Press.

Dorothea Braby
Born17 October 1909
London
Died1987 (aged 77–78)
NationalityBritish
Education
Known forDesign, illustration

Early life

Braby was born in Wandsworth[1] and grew up in Putney, the third child of Percy Braby, a solicitor, and Maud Churton Braby, a journalist and author who had been born in China.[2] Braby was educated at the St Felix School in Southwold, and then from 1926 to 1930 at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.[3] For a time she was enrolled at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and also studied art in Paris and Florence.[3][4][5]

Career

Braby’s work was mostly as an illustrator of books, including several volumes produced by the Golden Cockerel Press.[4] She spent eighteen months working on their 1948 edition of the Mabinogion.[6] For The Saga of Llywarch the Old, Braby created colour engravings that resembled mediaeval ivory tablets.[6] Among the other books she illustrated were a 1950 edition of John Keats' Poems and a 1954 edition of Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Savile's Crime. Her own volume, The Way of Wood Engraving was published in 1953.[3] Braby exhibited widely, both in Britain and overseas. The Society of Women Artists, the Hampstead Artists' Council, and the Arts Council of Great Britain all showed works by Braby.[3]

During her design career, Braby also produced work for The Radio Times, The Studio, and ICI.[3]

In 1959, she gave up working as an artist for a full-time career as a social worker.[4][7] A memorial exhibition was held at Burgh House, Hampstead, in 1988.[4]

Selected works

Books illustrated by Braby included[6]

  • Mr Chambers and Perephone by C.Whitfield, Golden Cockerel Press, 1937
  • The Ninety-First Psalm by C.Whitfield, Golden Cockerel Press, 1944
  • The Lottery Ticket by V.G.Calderon, Golden Cockerel Press, 1945
  • The Mabinogion by V.G.Calderon, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948
  • Gilgamesh, King of Erech by F.L. Lucas, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948
  • Poems by John Keats, Folio Society, 1950
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Golden Cockerel Press, 1952[7]
  • The Fearless Treasure by Noel Streatfeild, Joseph, 1953
  • Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde, Folio Society, 1954
  • The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden, Folio Society, 1954
  • The Saga of Llywarch the Old by Glyn Jones, Golden Cockerel Press, 1955

Braby also wrote and illustrated The Commandments, published by Lewis in 1946, and The Way of Wood Engraving, published in 1953.[6]

References
  1. “BRABY Dorothea” in Register of Births for Wandsworth RD, vol. 1d (1909), p. 733
  2. 1911 United Kingdom census for 3, Hazlewell Road, Putney, London S.W.
  3. David Buckman (1998). Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 1, A to L. Art Dictionaries Ltd. ISBN 0 95326 095 X.
  4. Frances Spalding (1990). 20th Century Painters and Sculptors. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 1 85149 106 6.
  5. Grant M. Waters (1975). Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950. Eastbourne Fine Art.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  6. Alan Horne (1994). The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 1 85149 1082.
  7. Robin Garton (1992). British Printmakers 1855-1955 A Century of Printmaking from the Etching Revival to St Ives. Garton & Co / Scolar Press. ISBN 0 85967 968 3.
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