Our final transport blog for the year is all about a Christmassy collection which includes artwork of people travelling by sleigh (despite the current lack of snow here in
Newcastle).
We're focusing on the ‘Johnstone Memorial Collection’
archive and book collection at Seven Stories. This extensive collection of publications, prints, original artwork and over 200
books by the illustrator twins Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone, was brought
together by Betty and Anthony Reid, admirers and personal friends of the
illustrators. The collection includes quite a
few Christmas cards and other seasonal items so it seems like an appropriate time to share
them!
The twins, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone , were
born 1st June 1928 in London. They were educated at Heathfield School, Ascot,
during the Second World War and then at St Martin's School of Art, London. Working together in the early 1950's the
twins became established artists and illustrators, receiving regular
commissions for picture books from Award Publications and Deans. During the
1950's and 1960's the Johnstone twins also contributed work to several weekly
comic publications, including 'Robin', 'Parent' and 'Seven', providing
illustrations for characters such as Andy Pandy and The Flower-pot Men, which
went on to be popularised on children's television. From about 1968 onward,
the Johnstones were also commissioned to design greetings cards for various
publishers, including most notably Royle of London and Valentines of Dundee.
They produced just over 200 of these, including about 80 colour postcards.
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| (left) The New Sleigh and (right) The Litte Blue Sleigh cards by the Johnstone Sisters printed by Royle Publications Ltd. (JAJ/02/05/14 and JAJ/02/05/19) Photograph © Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books |
While the twins generally worked on their paintings
together, Janet had a preference for drawing birds and animals, particularly
horses, and produced many specially commissioned animal portraits whilst Anne
concentrated on figures and period costume.
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| Home with the Tree card by Anne Johnstone, printed by Royle Publications Ltd. (JAJ/02/10/16) Photograph © Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books |
Quite a few
cards in this collection (including the one below) were created using the Dufex
process. Dufex printing was a process
developed by F.J. Warren in the early 20th century, and involves printing
images onto aluminium foil-lined paper or cardboard, using UV formulated
transparent inks, which allow the reflective shine to be retained. Engraving techniques are then used to add a
range of light reflective textures to the foil.
 |
| 'Winter Sleigh Ride' Dufex postcard by Anne Johnstone, printed by F.J. Warren Ltd. (JAJ/02/06/20) Photograph © Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books |
Moving away from the sleigh cards, to provide further seasonal flavour and more context about the many books
the twins produced, here are some of the ‘Christmas’ books from their
collection:
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(Top left) Your Pantomime Book (The Heirloom Library Ltd.,[1952])
(Top right) My Christmas book of stories and carols illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone (Award Publications, 1993)
(Middle) Postcard book of Christmas scenes (Grange Books in association with Royle Publications Ltd., 1992)
(Bottom left) Santa Claus is coming to town (Dean & Son Ltd.,1980)
(Bottom right) The night before Christmas (Dean & Son Ltd.,1980) Photograph © Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books
|
And some Christmassy Pop-up books:
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| More carols pop-up book with illustrations by Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone (Dean & Son Ltd., 1974) Photograph © Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books |
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| Christmas Carols pop-up book with illustrations by Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone (Dean & Son Ltd., 1972) Photograph © Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books |
Perhaps the most notable of the twins’ book illustrations include
those they produced for Dodie Smith’s
'The Hundred and One Dalmatians' (of course another seasonal favourite)
and its sequels, 'The Starlight Barking' and 'The Midnight Kittens', (all
published by Heinemann, in 1956, 1967 and 1978 respectively).
The
collection constitutes an unbroken sequence of the twins' work, whether as
original artwork or published material, from about 1951 to 1999. If you’d like to find out more, this
collection also includes the typescript of an unpublished book 'Gems in
Unfathom'd Caves' by Betty and Anthony
Reid, which gives a brief overview of their relationship with the twins and an
in-depth critique of their work. This
typescript also gives a detailed history of how the collection was developed
over the years, and where material came from.
Wishing all our Blog readers a very Happy Christmas from all
the Seven Stories, Collection Team. May
all of you who are travelling over the festive season (though probably not by
sleigh, except for Santa of course), have safe journeys!
- Paula Wride, Collections Officer
