Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
Pauline Baynes: the story on HearLore | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Childhood In India And England —
Pauline Baynes.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Pauline Diana Baynes was born on the 9th of September 1922 at 67 Brunswick Place in Hove, East Sussex. Her family moved to India when she was still a baby. Her father served as a district official in the British imperial Indian Civil Service. They divided their time between Agra and Mussoorie, a hill town used for escaping midsummer heat. Baynes recalled crying herself to sleep during her return journey to England at age five. Her mother took both daughters back while her father stayed behind in India. The three lived a nomadic life in Surrey, moving from boarding house to boarding house. She attended a convent school where nuns mocked her fantastical imagination and homemade clothes. At nine years old, she went to Beaufort School in Camberley. Art became her favorite subject because it felt easy compared to other lessons.
War Work And Mapmaking Skills
In 1940, Pauline joined the Women's Voluntary Service alongside her sister Angela. They worked at Farnham Castle making models for camouflage training. Powell Perry, a colleague whose family published picture books, gave Baynes her first professional commissions. She contributed to titles like Question Mark and Wild Flower Rhymes. From 1942 until the war ended, the sisters worked in Bath for the Admiralty Hydrographic Department. They created maps and marine charts for the Royal Navy. This experience proved vital later when she drew maps of Middle-earth and Narnia. A letter she wrote to a friend included a sketch passed on to Frank Whittaker. His kindness led to commissions from Country Life magazine to illustrate fairy stories by Victoria Stevenson. These early projects laid the foundation for her future career as an illustrator of fantasy worlds.
When was Pauline Baynes born and where did she grow up?
Pauline Baynes was born on the 9th of September 1922 at 67 Brunswick Place in Hove, East Sussex. Her family moved to India when she was still a baby and later lived nomadically in Surrey.
What specific works did Pauline Baynes illustrate for J.R.R. Tolkien?
Pauline Baynes illustrated Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, and A Map of Middle-earth for J.R.R. Tolkien. She also created working Fellowship maps that were purchased by Oxford's Bodleian Library in 2016.
How much money did Pauline Baynes receive for illustrating C.S. Lewis Narnia books?
Pauline Baynes sold her work for a flat fee of just £100 per book despite potential multi-million dollar royalties. She signed a contract with Geoffrey Bles in 1949 and delivered drawings the following year.
Who did Pauline Baynes marry and when did they get married?
Pauline Baynes married Friedrich Otto Gasch known as Fritz on the 18th of March 1961 at Rock Barn Cottage in Dockenfield. He was born on the 21st of September 1919 in Auerswalde, Saxony.
When did Pauline Baynes die and what did she leave behind?
Pauline Baynes died in Dockenfield on the 1st of August 2008 leaving unpublished illustrations for the Quran and Aesop's Fables. She bequeathed her archive to Williams College and her library to the Chapin Library of Rare Books.
J.R.R. Tolkien approached Baynes in 1948 after rejecting previous illustrations for Farmer Giles of Ham. He complained that earlier drawings were out of keeping with his text. On the 5th of August 1948, publisher Ronald Eames asked Baynes to submit specimen drawings for an adult fairy story. She visited Allen & Unwin offices where Tolkien saw her work. He declared them more than illustrations, calling them a collateral theme. By December 1949, he wished she would illustrate The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Publishers ultimately chose other artists for those major works. In 1961, Tolkien turned to her again for The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Her illustration called The Hoard disappointed him because the dragon faced away from the cave mouth. He also wanted Tom Bombadil shown on the front cover instead of the back. Later editions corrected these issues. In 1970, Allen & Unwin published A Map of Middle-earth as a poster decorated with character vignettes. Her working Fellowship map was bought by Oxford's Bodleian Library in 2016 for roughly £60,000.
The Narnia Artist Legacy
C.S. Lewis chose Baynes to illustrate The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe after seeing her Farmer Giles artwork. She signed a contract with Geoffrey Bles in 1949 and delivered drawings the following year. The book was published in 1950. At Lewis's request, she illustrated all six sequels including Prince Caspian and The Last Battle. She sold her work for a flat fee of just £100 per book despite potential multi-million dollar royalties. Lewis praised her effusive detail but noted technical limitations regarding animal anatomy. He wrote that she limped when drawing quadrupeds. Despite criticism, she completed every volume. By 1998, Narnia stories alone had sold more than one hundred million copies. Her paintings gained wider currency through featurettes in home media releases of Hollywood movies. HarperCollins reissued complete Chronicles with line illustrations tinted by her in watercolour in 1998. In 2000, they published a 50th anniversary edition including her colour poster map of Narnia.
Kate Greenaway Medal Win
Baynes created almost six hundred illustrations for Grant Uden's A Dictionary of Chivalry over nearly two years. These works won her the Kate Greenaway Medal for best book illustrations of 1968. She achieved runner-up status in 1972 with illustrations for Helen Piers's Snail and Caterpillar. Her pride in these commissions exceeded even her fantasy work. Stationery companies commissioned Christmas cards still reproduced decades later. Huntley and Palmers employed her to advertise their biscuits. The Church of the Good Shepherd in Dockenfield features stained glass windows designed by Baynes. For Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis, she designed world's largest pieces of crewel embroidery. Her bibliography includes works by Richard Adams, Hans Christian Andersen, Enid Blyton, and Beatrix Potter. Several commissions resulted from bonds formed with Kaye Webb at Puffin Books. She contributed artwork to magazines like Lilliput, The Sphere, and The Tatler.
Personal Life And Marriage
Pauline's parents lived separate lives after returning to England. Her father maintained a pretence of marriage while living near his mistress who followed him from India. Baynes cared for both parents loyally, often illustrating only in small hours of the night. In 1961, she married Friedrich Otto Gasch, known as Fritz. He was born on the 21st of September 1919 in Auerswalde, Saxony. During World War II he served in Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps before becoming a prisoner of war. After the war he adopted England as his home. They married on the 18th of March 1961 at Rock Barn Cottage in Dockenfield. Their only child was stillborn. Fritz died on the 28th of October 1988 at age sixty-nine. Two years later Karin Gasch contacted Pauline. This daughter of Fritz's earlier marriage became part of their household. Baynes described the reunion as magical coming back through a wardrobe.
Death And Posthumous Recognition
Baynes died in Dockenfield on the 1st of August 2008 leaving unpublished illustrations for the Quran and Aesop's Fables. She bequeathed her archive of several hundred drawings and paintings to Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Her library of more than two thousand books also went to the Chapin Library of Rare Books. A second small archive exists at the University of Oregon. Her standing among children's book illustrators remains high with drawings changing hands for thousands of pounds sterling. Most art created for Tolkien and Lewis books has remained continuously in print since first publication. Sibley summed up her style as Queen of Narnia and Middle-earth. Hammond and Scull wrote an In Memoriam for Mythlore Inklings journal. Baynes herself viewed her work down-to-earth saying she just thought of it as work despite its momentous nature.