Clover Magic. Illustrated by Pauline D. Baynes.

Bookseller Notes

The book accompanies two girls as they encounter various historical figures - Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth Fry, Elizabeth Barratt Browning, Florence Nightingale, Boadicea, Queen Victoria, et al. - in the company of a host of fairies. It features early work by Pauline Baynes, the later illustrator of Lewis and Tolkien, then undertaking wartime work at the Admiralty in Bath and gathering a few early commissions - this is her first for Country Life and her first substantial book illustration, following some work on the Perry Colour Books in the previous couple of years. It is evidently early work, less assured in its composition, and with aspects of influence more apparent, but with plenty of touches characteristic of her accomplished later work.