Stuart Tresilian (Uncle Cecil)

[Irene Malory Towers]

And - I have decided to reread all the Adventure books again. That will take me a while as they are much longer than her other books. I think the longest other book is the Rockingdown Mystery. Some people don't like it as it takes a long time for the actual adventure to start. I love it, however, as I like the development of the characters and the building up of the atmosphere, My second favourite book in that whole series, but as I commented in another post, nothing in my opinion can beat the Rubadub mystery, my all time favourite Enid Blyton, surpassing even all of her Adventure books.
This must be one of the best ways to start the day - reading Enid Blyton, with a nice cup of tea and listening to Glenn Gould (one of my favourite pianists) playing Bach.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Yes, before the adventure begins it's lovely to spend time exploring new locations with the characters, or simply enjoy their card games, picnics and banter. All the little details of their personalities and preferences and interaction help make them seem so real.

The Sea of Adventure begins with Jack saying, "Do you know, it's May the fifth already!" Whenever I happen to read that book in May, I feel particularly close to the characters and events. Looking at the first page of that book during the current situation, I have to smile at the mention of quarantine and at Philip's remark about his hair - "Golly, I'll be glad to get my hair cut again! I feel like a girl, now it's grown so long!"

Some of my favourite Stuart Tresilian illustrations come from The Sea of Adventure. The puffins, gulls, cliffs and boats look stunning - and then there's the rather grotesque-looking Horace Tipperlong whose picture made me shiver as a child! Wonderful artwork.

[Lucky Star]

Absolutely the greatest Blyton illustrator. He captured the action and the spirits of the characters perfectly every time. His work has always added greatly to my enjoyment of these books which are themselves the author's finest work.

[Irene Malory Towers]

I indulged myself and spent £25 on just a dust jacket for the Circus of Adventure. I had the hardback book illustrated by Stuart Tresilian but I loved the dust jacket.

[John Pickup]

Probably the best Blyton illustrator just beating the mighty Eileen Soper.
My favourite Tresilian is in Valley, the one where the four children are dwarfed by the colossal fall of rock blocking Windy Pass. By drawing the children as minuscule figures at the foot of the pass he has shown the scale of the destruction to maximum effect.

[Irene Malory Towers]

I have just finished the Valley of Adventure - today - and yes I noticed that. His illustrations really add to the story. I like the ones in the Castle of Adventure, when they climb over the plank to the window of the castle and when Tassie climbs up the ivy and nearly jumps over to the open window but Philip forbids her.

[Judith Crabb]

I agree that Stuart Tresilian is a superb illustrator. As a child I fell for all those 'wrap-around' illustrations on the the dust-jackets. I was to meet them again in the 'Barney' stories, and the 'Five Find-Outers', but no single illustrator dominated those books as Tresilian did the 'Adventure' series. I too have been guilty of purchasing a title just to get the dust-jacket, but exonerate myself on the grounds that I am following in the footsteps of so very many bibliophiles. After all, in the days long before dust-jackets, the great Pepys himself wrote that he 'bought for the love of the bindings three books'.
Back to Tresilian. In 1945 Adam & Charles Black were inspired in their choice of Tresilian for their new illustrated edition of 'High Holiday' by Elizabeth Yates. They must have seen 'The Island of Adventure'.
'High Holiday' exploits the illustrator's almost magical ability to convey the excitement of sheer height and cavernous depth.
I haven't yet read 'High Holiday' but I defy anyone familiar with the 'Adventure' series to look at its illustrations and not have happy memories of 'The Valley of Adventure' urging them to start reading.
And that is what the best illustrators are supposed to do - encourage reading and enrich the experience.

[pete9012S]

A most interesting post - thank you Judith.
This is the only image I could find of 'High Holiday'. Has anyone got a better one? It's a fantastic cover.

[Judith Crabb]

Thanks Pete for the illustration. I'm quite sure that more people will read my post now that it is connected with such a fine example of Tresilian's work.
Tresilian was following in the footsteps of the 'action' illustrators who had their field days in the early years of last century when it became the fashion for 'best-seller' novels to be illustrated with plates - glossy paper pictures strategically placed throughout the novels to bring to life often formulaic and turgid prose. After the First World War the bottom fell out of the illustration market; heroics fell out of fashion while crime fiction flourished. Children's fiction continued to provide income for illustrators.
What is notable about Tresilian is that he brought to juvenile fiction action scenes which feature, not fantasy figures, but sturdy real-life children taking on the world. The inner suburban streets of my childhood were conspicuously lacking in mountains, caverns and waterfalls (though I recall that the storm-water drain had on occasion a lethal attraction), but open up an 'Adventure' title and I felt that I had come home.
On an even more personal level, how do I get 'Society member' attached to this post, and the fact that my favourite book is 'Boys' and Girls' Circus Book', my favourite series the 'Adventure' series and my favourite character depends on the book I'm reading at the time, and that I am a South Australian?

[Anita Bensoussane]

I've just added 'Society Member' for you, Judith. You'll need to go into 'User Control Panel' (see top left of board) and then 'Profile' to enter the other information.

[Judith Crabb]

Thanks, Anita. Now I really belong.

[pete9012S]

Welcome Judith!

[Irene Malory Towers]

Late reply to Judith, I bought the Boys and Girls Circus book recently in Lock Down and I loved it. Even more so as I had not read it as a child. I found particularly poignant that the children were left literally on their own while their dad tried to earn money I would that would not happen now. I suppose that there was not much of a social welfare system then.

[Matthew Roberts]

I love Stuart Tresilian as well, although Eileen Soper just edges him, for me.

Out of interest, aside from Soper and Tesilian, does anyone have any other favourite Enid Blyton illustrators? I have to admit to being rather ignorant on this subject, as I never really took much notice of the illustrators when reading the books. I naturally appreciated the illustrations (the good ones!) and enjoyed the way they complemented the text and added to the reading experience. But I never looked into the illustrators themselves. I doubt I could even name more than four Blyton illustrators.

And I am with pretty much everyone here when it comes to the new illustrations. In fact, I think they are absolutely dreadful. I don’t know what the thinking was behind it—portraying the characters as bizarre, ragdoll-like creatures. I think they will put off many readers, particularly people like me! As Anita said, they imply that the books are for very young readers.

[pete9012S]

There's another Famous Five illustrator I quite like from the 1960's Matt - her name just escapes me.