Dorothea Braby (17 October 1909 – 1987) was a British artist. Although she had a long career as a freelance designer producing work for several well-known companies, Braby is best known for the book illustrations she created, particularly those for the Golden Cockerel Press.
Early life Braby was born in Wandsworth"BRABY Dorothea" in Register of Births for Wandsworth RD, vol. 1d (1909), p. 733 and grew up in Putney, the third child of Percy Braby, a solicitor, and Maud Churton Braby, a journalist and author who had been born in China.1911 United Kingdom census for 3, Hazlewell Road, Putney, London S.W. Braby was educated at the St Felix School in Southwold, and then from 1926 to 1930 at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. For a time she was enrolled at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and also studied art in Paris and Florence.
Career Braby's work was mostly as an illustrator of books, including several volumes produced by the Golden Cockerel Press. She spent eighteen months working on their 1948 edition of the Mabinogion. For The Saga of Llywarch the Old, Braby created colour engravings that resembled mediaeval ivory tablets. Among the other books she illustrated were a 1950 edition of John Keats' Poems and a 1954 edition of Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Savile's Crime. Her own volume, The Way of Wood Engraving was published in 1953. Braby exhibited widely, both in Britain and overseas. The Society of Women Artists, the Hampstead Artists' Council, and the Arts Council of Great Britain all showed works by Braby.
During her design career, Braby also produced work for The Radio Times, The Studio, and ICI.
In 1959, she gave up working as an artist for a full-time career as a social worker. A memorial exhibition was held at Burgh House, Hampstead, in 1988.
Selected works Books illustrated by Braby included Mr Chambers and Perephone by C.Whitfield, Golden Cockerel Press, 1937 The Ninety-First Psalm by C.Whitfield, Golden Cockerel Press, 1944 The Lottery Ticket by V.G.Calderon, Golden Cockerel Press, 1945 The Mabinogion by V.G.Calderon, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948 Gilgamesh, King of Erech by F.L. Lucas, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948 Poems by John Keats, Folio Society, 1950 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Golden Cockerel Press, 1952 The Fearless Treasure by Noel Streatfeild, Joseph, 1953 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde, Folio Society, 1954 The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden, Folio Society, 1954 The Saga of Llywarch the Old by Glyn Jones, Golden Cockerel Press, 1955
Braby also wrote and illustrated The Commandments, published by Lewis in 1946, and The Way of Wood Engraving, published in 1953.
References
External links
Illustrations by Braby in the Victoria & Albert Museum