Janina Ede - Biographical Bits

Many thanks to Elaine for the contents of this post which derive from two main sources: a book called Artists of a Certain Line by John Ryder and an article from Volume 33 of a journal called Something about the Author.

Artists of a Certain Line

The book Artists of a Certain Line by John Ryder was published by Bodley Head in 1960.It contains short biographical summaries of various children's illustrators, accompanied by a sample of their work.

Artists of a Certain Line (1960) by John Ryder

Two pages of the book are given over to Janina Ede, as shown below:

 Artists of a Certain Line (1960) pages 64 & 65

          

The text reads:

Born 1937 in Southampton. Spent four years at Winchester Art School studying illustration, engraving, lithography and typographic design. During her final year she was commissioned by Hampshire County Council to do four murals in a school near Portsmouth. Awarded Southern Travelling Scholarship (illustration) and on her return from France, Switzerland and Italy she decided to be a freelance artist - entry to the RCA having been refused.

Janina Ede's first publishing commission, Penguin book covers, included a drawing for Colette's 'Gigi'. After visiting the offices of many publishing houses Miss Ede met Eric Newby at Secker & Warburg who also had a Colette book in production at the time and he asked her to paint a jacket design. Since then he has given her many commissions. Her first extensive set of illustrations was done for a French text issued by John Murray.

She says: 'Two years of freelance drawing and painting for book jackets and illustrations has given me a real interest in the work. My successes have been rewarding and my failures enlightening.'

Something about the Author

'Something about the Author' was an American journal that began publication in 1971. As described by the publishers each volume contained "illustrated biographical profiles of approximately 75 children's authors and artists".  Volume 33 was published in 1983 and included 3 pages devoted to Janina Ede.

Something about the Author - Vol.33 cover

Something about the Author - Vol.33 p.58-59

Something about the Author - Vol.33 p.60

The pages above include both interesting biographical details and an extensive bibliography up to the year 1982. I am in the process of adding the bibliography to this site and updating it. An excerpt from the biographical text is given below (I will add more later).

Excerpt from biographical text:

PERSONAL: Surname rhymes with "seed"; born July 23, 1937, in Southampton, England; daughter of Gordon (an electrician) and Olga (a secretary; maiden  name, Lomax) Ede; married Ruedi Zbinden (a consultant marine engineer), September 15, 1959. Education: Winchester School of Art, England, National Diploma in Design, 1957. Home and office: Whiteknights, Northington, Arlesford, Hampshire, England.

CAREER: Illustrator and painter. Exhibitions: Northington Village Hall, England. Paintings are in private collections in England. Awards, honors: Travelling scholarship for South of England in Illustration, 1957; book cover for The Children  of Sisyphus was selected as one of the best by the Design and Print Exhibition, 1965.

SIDELIGHTS: "I was born in Southampton, England, in July 1937. My early childhood was spent during the war and bombing on Southampton. My earliest memories are of being buried alive in my cot when the ceiling collapsed during bombing and of being carried downstairs and given hot chocolate to drink. My first recollection of awareness of colour was of being held up on my father's shoulders outside the air-raid shelter looking up at the night sky illuminated by the German 'chandeliers' (a myriad of flares which lit up targets for air-raids), and of being caught without shelter during a raid whilst my parents were taking me to see an 'aviary of birds' in the parks in Southampton. The family had to lay on the grass surrounded by falling hot shrapnel from enemy planes."

Hart Wildlife Rescue

A charity close to Janina Ede's heart was Hart Wildlife Rescue based in Hampshire, England. Anyone interested in donating to them can do so here:

https://www.justgiving.com/hartwildlife