Mary Gernat

British illustrator

Central School of Art and Design
University of Westminster

OccupationIllustrator

Mary Gernat was a British illustrator, known for her designs for the covers of paperback books by Enid Blyton, Frank Richards and others.

Biography

Gernat was born in Ewell, Surrey, 16 Aug 1926,^[1] and underwent training at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and Regent Street Polytechnic.^[1]

Much of her work was for Armada Books.^[2] She also produced dust jacket designs for some hardback editions,^[3] and covers for magazines such as The Tatler.^[4]

She married Michael How, an engineer,^[5] in 1953.^[6] She had four sons, whom she used as models for her designs,^[2]^[7] and much later a daughter.^[8] From 1963 the family lived in Milford on Sea, and in 1970 they moved to Lymington.^[8] In later life she developed multiple sclerosis and after ceasing to paint professionally, continued to do so for pleasure.^[1] She died on the 12 Oct 1998.^[1]

In May 2019, 120 of her paintings and sketches were shown on the BBC Television programme Antiques Roadshow by one of her sons, in whose possession they remain.^[2]

Book cover designs

Among the books whose covers were designed by Gernat were:^[2]

A number by Enid Blyton
Books by Frank Richards in the Billy Bunter series
Books by Richmal Crompton 'Jimmy' series
David Whitaker Doctor Who and the Crusaders - and early Doctor Who spin-off book
Malcolm Saville: The Sign of the Alpine Rose (1963)^[9]
Books by Monica Edwards^[9]
Sheila K. McCullagh's Griffin Pirate Stories (also known as The Griffin Readers in original editions) that were published by EJ Arnold & Sons Limited for reading in primary/infant schools from the 1950s through to the late 1980s.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Mary Gernat". Jane Badger Books. Archived from the original on 13 June 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Osborne House 2". Antiques Roadshow. Series 40. 26 May 2019. BBC Television. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
^ "The Six Bad Boys by Enid Blyton". Enid Blyton Society. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
^ "(cover)". The Tatler. 10 March 1954.
^ "Children who inspired Enid Blyton's Famous Five book covers are revealed". 18 November 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
^ "Mary Gernat". Mudeford Mag: 24–25. February 2016.
^ Fricker, Martin (19 November 2015). "The Real Famous Five". Daily Mirror. pp. 32–33.
^ ^a ^b "Lymington artist Mary Gernat: son Roger How on sharing his mother's famous illustrations". Hampshire Life. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Mary Gernat". Retrieved 27 May 2019.