‘Lost’ Enid Blyton artwork found in spare room

Now the story behind them and the role of one Hampshire family in bringing the novels to life has finally been revealed.

Lymington artist Mary Gernat illustrated some of the most popular books of the 1960s, by authors including Enid Blyton.

Now her son Roger How, who along with his siblings features on dozens of them, is hoping to finally to give her the recognition she deserves.

He will be displaying his mother’s illustrations for the first time in Hampshire after they were recovered from a spare room in Lymington where they had laid untouched for five decades.

Throughout the 1960s Mary was the main illustrator for publisher Armada, producing around 90 book covers, including the Malory Towers, Mystery and Secret series by Enid Blyton.

She illustrated the Billy Bunter books by Frank Richards and the Jimmy series of books by Just William author Richmal Crompton.

And Mary would often turn to her four sons Francis, 58, of Reading, Nick, 56, from Fareham, Justin, 54, from Slough, and Roger for inspiration.

“All I remember is mum asking us now and then to hold a pose for a minute – pretend to be holding a rope or shooting a bow and arrow,” said Roger, of Manor Road, New Milton.

“In that time she would do a quick sketch.

“Mum sketching us was a slight inconvenience which she softened with a half penny.”

Although Roger knows he must feature in countless illustrations, the father-of-one has never been able to pick himself out.

“It really was the Famous Five lifestyle we lived,” added the 58-year-old.

“I’m so glad that she asked us and it’s just really nice looking back to have been a part of it although we didn’t appreciate that at the time.”

Mary gave up her illustrative work on the birth of her daughter Bridget in 1972 but continued to paint, mainly scenes around Lymington, until her death in 1998.

But this side of her life remained unknown to many as Roger said his mother was not one to boast. Dozens of initial sketches and original illustrations were put away and had, until recently, sat in Roger’s father Michael’s spare room in Lymington and not been looked at in 50 years.

Roger, who runs a picture framing business in Milford on Sea, was encouraged to find them after a customer spotted his pile of originals and prints he had been collecting for posterity and heard the story.

Now Roger will hold an exhibition of his mother’s book cover illustrations at his Picture Perfect shop, in the Barnes Farm Business Park, on Sunday from 11am to 3pm and entry is free.

“It’s to get recognition for mum,” he added.

“Although millions of people have seen her art, in some of the book covers she’s been really anonymous.

“It’s incredible to think that all those millions of books that went around the world, that’s where the images came from – that room at the top of the stairs. I’m just incredibly proud of what mum achieved.”