Hilda Boswell

Hilda Boswell produced a single contribution to Swift Annual 1961 (1960) but is very well known to collectors of Enid Blyton's books as she produced a number of dust jacket illustrations. Some very nice examples can be found at Heather's Blyton Pages where the author notes, "The gorgeous illustrations have made copies of [these books] with an intact dust jacket incredibly difficult to find -- they are snapped up by collectors immediately!"

Hilda Boswell was born in London on 8 October 1903, the daughter of an architect, and studied at Hornsey School of Art and the Regent Street Polytechnic. She lived in north London from the age of 11 until her death. In the late 1930s, she began producing comic strips for some of the Amalgamated Press comics, The Butterfly, Sparkler, Crackers and Jingles.

She began writing children's books in the early 1940s. Working mostly in watercolour, she often producing illustrations for her own books. She produced some notable (and collectable) volumes, including the 'treasury' series of titles which included Hilda Boswell's Treaury of Nursery Rhymes, Hilda Boswell's Treaury of Fairy Tales, Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Poetry and Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Children's Stories.

Boswell died in London on 30 October 1976.

Books for children
Edward and Gumbo. London, R. A. Publishing Co., 1943.
Golden-Leaf. London, R. A. Publishing Co., 1943?
Jenny's Fairy Year. A story about the seasons. London, "Token" Productions, 1945.
The Whimsical Piglet. London, 1948.
The Little Birthday Horse. London, Hutchinson's Books for Young People, 1950.
Fairy Tales. London, Collins, 1954.
The Lucky Ladybirds. London, Collins, c.1954?
Sooty the Little Black Engine. London, Collins, c.1954?
Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes and Stories. London & Glasgow, Sunshine Press, 1956.
Nursery Rhyme-Land. London, The Children's Press, 1959.
My Book of Fairy Tales. London, Infants Colour Books, 1959.
Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. London, Collins, 1960.
Jingle Time. A book of nursery verses for children. London & Glasgow, Collins, 1960.
Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Fairy Tales. London, William Collins Sons & Co., 1962.
Our Favourite Story Book. London, Collins, 1962.
Hilda Boswell's Little Boy Blue Nursery Rhymes. London & Glasgow, Collins, 1964.
Little Crazy Car. London & Glasgow, Collins, 1965.
The Good Luck Engine. London & Glasgow, Collins, 1966.
Hey, Diddle Diddle! Nursery rhymes. London, Collins, 1966.
Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Poetry. London & Glasgow, Collins, 1968.
Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Children's Stories. A new anthology of stories for the young. London, Collins, 1971.
Hilda Boswell's Omnibus. A treasury of favourites. London, Collins, 1972.
Mother Hubbard's Nursery Rhyme Book. London & Glasgow, Collins, 1976.
A Hilda Boswell Little Treasury [Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow]. London, Collins Colour Cubs, 4 vols, 1980; reissued as Hilda Boswell's Red Treasury, Hilda Boswell's Blue Treasury, Hilda Boswell's Yellow Treasury and Hilda Boswell's Green Treasury, London, Carnival, 1988.

Illustrations
The Omnibus Reader Book Two by Anita Richards. London, Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1940?
Chippity Cuckoo by Edith M. Bell. London & Redhill, Lutterworth Press, 1944.
The Pigs Give a Party by Beatrice Lomax. Manchester, H. A. & W. W. Pitkin, 1945.
Lollipop Wood by John Paddy Carstairs. London, Hutchinson's Books for Young People, 1946.
The Tabby Fur Family by Tracey May. London, R. A. Publishing Co., 1948.
Titania Had a Daughter by Joyce Cecilia Dixon. London, C. & J. Temple, 1948.
Biddy the Brownie by M. Vera Armstrong. London & New York, Frederick Warne & Co., 1949.
Snowdrop and the Seven Dwarfs by Derek McCulloch (Uncle Mac). London, Sampson Low Marston, 1949.
Grimm's Fairy Tales. London, Collins' Clear-Type Press, n.d. (1950s?).
At the Market by D. Gwyneth M. Thomas. Edinburgh, McDougall's Educational Co., 1955.
A Visit to the Farm by D. Gwyneth M. Thomas. Edinburgh, McDougall's Educational Co., 1955.
Nine New Fairy Stories by Michael West. London, Longman, 1957.
Brownies and Boggarts, adapted by Esmee Mascall from The Brownies by Mrs. Ewing. Edinburgh, McDougall's Educational Co., 1957.
Snowball Sees the World by Florence Edwards. Edinburgh, McDougall's Educational Co., 1957.
The End of the Rainbow by Christine Chaundler. Edinburgh, McDougall's Educational Co., 1958.
Pinocchio. The story of a puppet, adapted by Esmee Mascall. Edinburgh, McDougall's Educational Co., 1958.
The Magic Chestnut by Edith Ellen Ellsworth. London, Lutterworth Press, 1961.
New Vanguard readers [series] by Pearl Kettles & Ruby A. D. Macdonald. Edinburgh, McDougall Educational Co., 1962- .
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. London, Collins, 1963.

(* The top picture comes from Robin Annual 6 (1958) and is © Look and Learn Magazine Ltd.)