Eager Heart , a most exquisite production published in 1931, followed this method. On its publication, his publishers Elkin Mathews wrote “Mr Hor- ace Knowles has written out and illustrated the text from beginning to end; the work of his pencil replaces printer’s type from cover to cover, and the Publishers believe that the labour, technical skill, and artistic imagination which he has brought in such full measure to the execution of his commis- sion cannot fail to meet with the high appreciation they deserve.” Horace married Laura Mary Pallister, known affectionately to him in his inscriptions and little love notes as “Laurie darling”. The card made by Horace pictured above, drawn for a trip home from wartime service, is one of the many relics of their love in the archive. They had one daughter, Elizabeth Dece Knowles who grew up to be a teacher. Following the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, Knowles was commissioned by the Bible Society to produce an illuminated address for the occasion. Meanwhile he was engaged to commemorate the sesqui- centennial of the society by producing some five hundred illustrations and maps for a new edition of the Bible , published in 1954. When the Queen Mother visited Bible House in May 1954 to receive copies of the Knowles Bible for Prince Charles and Princess Anne, Horace was presented to her. The life of the artist in the first half of the twentieth century was
Above: Original pastel drawing and greetings card giv- en by Knowles to his wife, 1917 (Item 278). Illuminated address executed on behalf of The British And Foreign Bible Society for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, 1953 (Item 90). Opposite: Correspondence relating to, and one of Knowles sketchbooks for The Bible , 1954 (Item 91).
18 HORACE J. KNOWLES
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