“I can think of no other artist so capable of feeling and interpret- ing the allegorical and symbolic theme of the book.”
the entire aesthetic design for each page is meticulously laid out on thick, large sheets with the impeccable detail of its finished form. The archive also reflects how Knowles worked industriously to the end of his life. His work on the Bible was comprehensive, with four sketchbooks filled with illustrations, plans, and assiduously checked off lists of events deserving pictorial representation. Equally, the drawings he produced for children’s annuals and magazines number in the hundreds and date from the final decade of his life. As you explore the archive it becomes clear that he forged a path distinct from that of his peers, not merely furnishing much-reprinted stories with a dozen or so colour plates, but instead seeking to create whole books in a sin- gle aesthetic harmony. Those who commissioned and saw his work agreed, and his advocates ranged from J.M. Dent to Enid Blyton. His working re- lationship with the latter spanned two decades, and their correspondence reveals how much Blyton clamoured to find more work for him. Indeed, in March 1942 Blyton had to resort to a pleading tone in convincing Knowles to illustrate The Land Of Far Beyond : “I simply can’t tell you how much I would like you to do it. I can think of no other artist so capable of feeling and interpreting the allegorical and symbolic theme of the book” She was not often given to hyperbole, and spending time in the company of the twelve-hundred illustrations in the archive certainly bears out Bly- ton’s conclusion. Tom Ayling Henley on Thames, 2022
HORACE J. KNOWLES 21
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