Glenn Steward

Glenn Steward has appeared in this blog a couple of times already -- as the cover artist of Fishing With Mr Crabtree in All Waters by Bernard Venables (1964) and of The Red Planet by Charles Chilton (Pan G274, 1960).

Glenn Steward joined an animation studio after leaving school and, over the years, was involved with studio production, newspapers and publishing. For eleven years he was the art editor of Sporting Cyclist; as Steward was himself a keen racing cyclist. He has also taken on many private commissions, travelling to America once a year to meet people who wanted portraits, pictures of their houses, pets and other subjects. Steward once told Simon Marsh-Devine, "In 1981 I had so many commissions to tackle that I was virtually unaware of the recession taking place on the home market."

Steward's career as a book cover artist began in 1957 when he signed up to the John Martin & Artists agency. For the next six years he was kept very busy working for various firms, including Digit Books (1957) and Panther (1958) and, primarily, Pan Books, for whom he produced most of his 150 paperback covers over a period of six years, although he continued to work for Pan until at least 1968.

Marsh-Devine notes that Steward's work included many in a cartoon-like style, virtually unique on paperbacks. You can see from the list below how diverse his output was. Most of his covers were produced at speed but that does not equate with low quality. He told Simon, "Natural speed was important in keeping the spontaneity alive. To linger over the finished product could so often produce a laboured effort." Steward was still working at the time Simon was researching his thesis (1994).


Illustrated Books
The Six Bad Boys by Enid Blyton. London, Lutterworth Press, 1951.
The Seventh Child by Diana Hardman. London, George G. Harrap & Co., 1959.
Dicing with Death by Peter Lewis. London, Daily Mirror Newspapers, 1961.
Seashores by Sheina Marshall & Andrew Orr. Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1965.
The Camberwick Green Pancake Race. Packet Upsets the Band by Nora Britton. London, Purnell, 1968.
Micky Murphy's Car. Roger Varley Runs Into Trouble by Nora Britton. London, Purnell, 1968.
Freshwater Fishing by Colin Camble; illus. with Roger Hall & Sam Peffer. Feltham, Hamlyn, 1972.
Deer by Alfred Leutscher; illus. with Peter McGinn. London, F. Watts, 1973.
National Heraldry of the World by Geoffrey Briggs; illus. with B. L. Ainsworth & Carol Kane. London, Dent, 1973.
Riding by Christine Keir. London, Granada, 1983.
Tricks of the Light and its Practical Uses by Judy Allen. London, Piccadilly, 1985.
She-Ra and the Golden Goose by John Grant. Loughborough, Ladybird, 1986.
She-Ra Princess of Power by John Grant. Loughborough, Ladybird, 1986.
Suspicion Stalks the Moor by Josephine Pullein-Thompson. London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1986.
Autobot Hostage by John Grant. Loughborough, Ladybird, 1988.
Deceptions Underground by John Grant. Loughborough, Ladybird, 1988.
The Animals of Farthing Wood. Sticker and activity book by Colin Dann; adapted by Clare Dannatt. London, Red Fox, 1993.
A Daring Escape! The Animals of Farthing Wood: A sticker storybook by Colin Dann; adapted by Sue Mongredien. London, Red Fox, 1995.
The Night of the Storm. The Animals of Farthing Wood: A sticker storybook by Colin Dann; adapted by Sue Mongredien. London, Red Fox, 1995.
More Adventures from Black Pony Inn by Christine Pullein-Thompson (contains Prince at Black Pony Inn, Catastrophe at Black Pony Inn, Good Deeds at Black Pony Inn). London, Award, 1999.

(* Most of the above biographical information was derived from Cover Story, a thesis by Simon Marsh-Devine (1995). The top image is from Swift Annual 1963 and is © Look and Magazine Ltd.)