Sunday 5 April 2020

British illustrators 16: D. L. Mays and Jennings


Anthony Buckeridge wrote 22 novels chronicling the adventures of JCT Jennings and his best friend Darbishire at Linbury Court Preparatory School between 1950 and 1977, and another 2 novels in the 1990s. I loved the Jennings novels every bit as much as I loved Richmal Crompton’s Just William books. When I first read “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorceror’s) Stone” my immediate thought was that there was something cosy and familiar about the school set up in Hogwarts, and I’ve no doubt it was my memories of Jennings’ adventures which prompted this feeling. They’re charming and fairly light-hearted stories, centring on the results of the literal minded Jennings’ good-natured misunderstandings and the misadventures arising therefrom.

11 of the books were illustrated by Douglas (D.L.) Mays. Mays attended my alma mater, University of London Goldsmiths College, at the same time as Graham Sutherland. He worked for a wide range of children’s comics and other magazines, including the famous Punch. His best-known work is the illustrations for Jennings, and other popular children’s authors of the time like Noel Streatfield. His line sketch work is relatively typical of the period – illustrative and unfussy, although I do think he was particularly good at summing up a boy’s personality with just a few well-placed lines.

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