The Land of Far-Beyond and Horace Knowles.

[MJE]

     Anita, I just read your review of "The Land of Far-Beyond" on the E.B.S. web site, and was interested to read your analysis of it. I have read this book, but it was some years ago now. Unlike some, I found it a somewhat gloomy, depressing book, although undoubtedly interesting. But really quite dark in many ways!
     I also saw the illustrations, and recognized them, because they are also in my old Dragon Books paperback copy. They seem to be a different style of illustration from those normally found in Enid Blyton, and are by Horace Knowles, and I was just wondering if he had illustrated much of Blyton's work.
     I am familiar with Horace Knowles from another, completely different and unexpected source. When I left Adelaide (South Australia) to move to Melbourne (Victoria), I left my old school, of course - and coincidentally left junior school too. And as a kind of farewell gift, I (and I think all boys who left the school) were given a King James Bible - and it also includes many illustrations of Biblical scenes, and these were done by Horace Knowles. I can see the same style there - very detailed and precise, with a kind of ancient feel to them, somehow.
     Just wondering if he had any connections with Enid Blyton's work other than this single book. I find his depiction of the children's burdens on their backs quite creepy in a way, with an almost organic feel to them, as if they were some parasitic alien creature attached to them.
     Interesting also to see the illustrations by Pauline Baynes, taken from another edition. She of course is famous for having illustrated C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
     For me, she is to Narnia what Eileen Soper is to the Famous Five; I will always prefer her Narnian covers, not the new covers which later appeared, even while Baynes' internal illustrations were kept.

     And another thing about illustrations, while I think of it: the Armada paperback copy of "The Secret of Killimooin" from around the 1960s has illustrations whose creator is not named - but they look awfully like Eileen Soper to me!
     Does anyone suspect these were done by her? - or does anyone even know for a fact whether she did them or not? I'll eat my hat if they weren't done by her! (Well, if I had a hat, that is.)

Regards, Michael.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Horace Knowles had illustrated a number of Enid Blyton's short stories in the 1920s-30s, so perhaps Enid Blyton suggested him as illustrator for The Land of Far-Beyond. His pictures have a solemn beauty and complexity which suit the story perfectly.

And yes, Eileen Soper was the original illustrator of The Secret of Killimooin and the early Armada paperbacks retained her illustrations. So there's no need for you to go and buy a hat!