Photolithograph
Jacqueline Ayer, The Paper-Flower Tree, 1962
Ayer’s eldest daughter, Margot, remembers the experience that inspired her mother’s second picturebook, The Paper-Flower Tree. Instead of buying one paper flower from a tradesman, her mother bought the entire tree – leaving Margot anxious that he would no longer have a livelihood.
Cover jacket for "The Numbers of Our Days", 1959
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Printed book cover proof for A Pocket Full of Mice , c. 1984
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. Many of her illustrations feature animals, which she drew from life.
Book cover proof for Colette's "Claudine at School", 1960
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. Claudine at School was Colette’s first novel, written in 1900. It follows the story of the eponymous Claudine, navigating school and lesbian relationships.
Book cover proof for "The Stories of Colette", 1958
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Book cover proof for Colette's "Claudine in Paris", 1960
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Layout proof for Willow and Albert are Stowaways, c. 1970
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. Many of her illustrations feature animals, which she drew from life.
Cover jacket for "The Patchwork Pack", 1968
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. In the 1960s, Ede began working on children’s books. The Patchwork Pack (1968) by Freda Collins is about a group of ‘Brownies’ – the name given to members of the worldwide girl-guiding movement.
Jacqueline Ayer, A Wish for Little Sister, 1960
Jacqueline Ayer (1930–2012) had a career that spanned many creative fields. She began as a fashion illustrator, and later turned her hand to children’s books, textiles and garments, as she worked in New York, Paris, London, Bangkok, Hong Kong and across India. In 1957, Ayer began working for designer Jim Thompson at his company Thai Silk. This experience fed into her book, A Wish for Little Sister, a story about a little girl from a weaving family who receives a birthday wish from a mynah bird. ‘Jim invited me to sketch from the back steps of his new house… A busy canal oozed by at the foot of the steps, and about fifteen feet across the water traffic, was a weaving village. It was noisily busy with the varied occupations of spinning, dyeing and weaving, laid out, it seemed, for me.’ - Bet Ayer
Book cover proof for Colette's "The Other One", 1960
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Cover jacket proof for "The Essence of Beauty", 1959
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. This non-fiction book was an account of the history of perfume and cosmetics.
Book cover proof for Colette's "Claudine Married", 1960
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Layout proof for Willow and Albert are Stowaways, c. 1970
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. Many of her illustrations feature animals, which she drew from life.
Book cover proof for "Carlotta Mc Bride", 1959
Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. One of her earliest cover designs was for Carlotta McBride, a novel following the eponymous character in Paris, New York and Hollywood. It’s descriptions of sex and lesbian relationships led to the book being banned in Australia.
Collette's "Gigi and the Cat", 1958
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Jacqueline Ayer, Oriental Costume, 1974
Ayer originally intended to set a children’s book in India after travelling there as a design and production consultant for the Indian government. She decided instead to put together a book featuring sketches from life and historical artworks, that documented the clothing of different social and cultural groups. Ayer wrote, ‘I had seen prints done by the Victorian colonials of fierce ‘tribal leaders and village belles’. The English were very good record keepers, though not always reliable. Their basic message was often self-enhancing. Beautifully drawn though, it was inspiring to imagine what their view might have been if they were less involved in propaganda.’ Oriental* Costume (1974) aimed to show the diversity of types and uses of clothing in Cambodia, China, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet. Ayer hoped her book would be different from colonial representations, however the way that the book combines and categorises cultural groups carries a colonial influence. The illustration seen here is featured on the book's front cover and titled 'Noble lady, Rajasthan, 18th Century'. *The term ‘oriental’ has colonial and racist origins. It was established during a period when European powers took political control of other countries and defined non-European cultures as ‘inferior’ to their own. ‘Oriental’ was commonly used in English-speaking countries until the late 20th century to group together people, culture and places in Northern Africa, East Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as objects thought to have originated in these areas. The term has been widely rejected today as it exoticizes and ‘others’ these diverse cultures. Ayer used the term here to collectively refer to modes of dress from Cambodia, China, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet.
Book cover proof for Colette's "Claudine and Annie", 1962
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Jacqueline Ayer, Little Silk, 1970
Jacqueline Ayer (1930–2012) had a career that spanned many creative fields. She began as a fashion illustrator, and later turned her hand to children’s books, textiles and garments, as she worked in New York, Paris, London, Bangkok, Hong Kong and across India. Ayer’s fifth book, Little Silk, is about a lost doll who eventually finds her way to a loving home. It takes place in Hong Kong, where Ayer lived with her daughters from 1963 to 1965.
It's Sunny Outside, 1974
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. Many of her illustrations feature animals, which she drew from life.
Book cover proof for Colette's "Break of Day", 1961
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Book cover proof for Colette's "Cheri", 1960
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Jacqueline Ayer, Nu Dang and His Kite, 1959
After moving to Bangkok in 1956, Jacqueline learnt Thai as she was punted around the canals (‘klongs’) of the city by her gardener in a canoe. She would take piles of typewriter paper with her to sketch local people at work. Whilst visiting New York she showed these to Margaret McElderry, a children’s book editor at Harcourt Brace, and the response was positive. She was advised to write a story from what she saw around her in Thailand, and the result was her first children’s book, Nu Dang and His Kite. Ayer wrote and illustrated five of her own books, four of which gave insight into 1960s Thailand to US and UK audiences, while the fifth was set in Hong Kong.
Book cover proof for Colette's "The Shackle", 1964
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Book cover proof for Colette's "The Last of Cheri", 1961
British illustrator Janina Ede (1937-2018) created covers and illustrations for over 100 books from the 1950s to the 1980s. She designed the covers of several books by French author and pioneer of autofiction Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
