Saturday, April 26, 2008

Fred Banbery


Fred Banbery
Illustrator
Born 1913 - Died 1999

I'm unable to find out much information on Banbery except that he drew Paddington Bear illustrations at some point. If anyone knows anything more about Banbery please let me know. His excellent drawings for three of the Alfred Hitchcock books for young readers show him to be a mature illustrator with a contemporary style. These pencil drawings are from Alfred Hitchcock Solve-Them-Yourself Mysteries, published in 1963, and are the most spontaneous of the Banbery-illustrated books I own. Banbery had fun with drawings featuring Hitchcock himself, and the last illustration is the dust jacket for a 1959 compilation of mystery and suspense stories under Hitchcock's name. I will be showing illustrations by Banbery from other Hitchcock anthologies in the future.

Click on pictures for full-size images.

14 comments:

Mr. Karswell said...

Very very awesome post, I have a few of these books myself... now I need to dig them out!

Sea-of-Green said...

BEAUTIFUL art! And perfect for any Hitchcock fan! :-)

Unknown said...

You asked for info on Fred Banbery. I am working on his family tree and have background that you find of interest. I cannot find a direct email for you so perhaps you would make contact with me.

Unknown said...

My father had three of these Hitchcock books when I was growing up. The illustrations especially will always stick in my head. I hope more can be found about this man!

Crow331 said...

Does anyone have a lead on the art from the this book? I would love to add one of these Fred Banbery's to my collection.

Email me if you know. Thanks!
storm02@sprynet.com

Humboldt Biggie said...

This comment is for Tony Morgans, who has some research on Fred Banbery. I'd be interested in seeing it for a story I'm working on about haunted house illustrations. lefthandedrichard [at] gmail [dot] com.

gregginhnl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gregginhnl said...

I have just picked up a set of color prints by Fred Barbury of characters from the Pickwick Papers. I could not find a published edition of this work with him as illustrator and wonder if it were a project that never materialized. They are quite charming and each is signed in pencil by Barbury himself. I am so glad to find some folks who appreciate his artwork. This blog had more information on Barbury than any I have found thus far.

Beaky said...

I fell over a set of The Pickwicks at auction. When viewing I was so impressed with the artwork that I researched on the web and found that he was the illustrator for Paddington Bear Books. The set that I have signed (5) are 20/50..... Fantastic find.
I wonder who has the originals.

raaron said...

I have the original artwork signed by F. Banbery, for the 1959 Pocket Library edition of Silas Marner. The artwork is lovely - an old man sitting with a toddler on his lap, hugging each other. I also have a copy of the book. Assuming this is the same Fred Banbery, do you know if the art is of value? Thanks.

Unknown said...

I have a drawing of a malevolent young boy by Fred Banbery any idea where it was used?

Unknown said...

See http://www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/banbery-fred-1913-1999.html# for more detail about Fred Banbery.

Unknown said...

I would like to know more about the life and work of Fred Banbery. In his younger days he was Ernest Banbery and Frederick E Banbery. He was in India before and during the war. He was in New York illustrating for Simon & Schuster in 1947 & 1948. I have his copies of The Fair Field by John Moore and The PickWick Papers by Charles DIckens.

Muzzlehatch said...

I have a copy of "There's a Spot in My Heart" by Frank Leslie, published in 1947 by S&S and illustrated by Banbury. Amusing novel about an upper middle class Irish Catholic family living in NY around 1912.