Philip James, British Book Illustration 1935–45. [National Book League Exhibition Catalogue.] Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1946, p.14.
Noticed in MPR 17:22

Kathleen M. Lines, Four to Fourteen: a library of books for children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1950, p.20.
Concerns Captain Slaughterboard (A1) only.

Eric Newton, In My View. Longmans, Green, 1950, pp.155–57.
Reprints his review of the 1944 Peter Jones’ exhibition – see Parts E and H.

Charles Ede (editor), The Art of the Book. Some record of work carried out in Europe and the USA 1939–1950. Studio, 1951, p.182.
Discusses MP’s Treasure Island and, in the section on commercial book-binding, reproduces the cover of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde (B11) executed by W. & J. Mackay at Chatham.

David Bland, The Illustration of Books. Faber, 1951, pp.102–103; 2nd ed., revised, 1953 [1954], pp.102–103; 3rd ed., enlarged, 1962, p.136.
The first ed. thought that Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor 1945 (A1b) was printed on coloured paper; it was revised to “over-all tints” in the third ed. The first edition’s surprise that it should be possible to produce Ride a Cock-Horse (B1) for only 5s is omitted in the third edition.

Kathleen Raine, under “Poetry” in The Year’s Work in Literature 1950, edited by John Lehmann. British Council / Longmans, 1951, p.62.

Frank Eyre, 20th Century Children’s Books. Longmans, Green & Co, for the British Council, 1952, pp.32–33, 37–38.
Applauds the individuality of MP’s illustrations in Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor and Household Tales.

Richard Buckle, The Adventures of a Ballet Critic. Cresset Press, 1953, f.p.32 and pp.79–80.
Describes how Buckle invited MP to draw the ballet dancer Jean Babilée. Reproduces one of the eight sketches printed in Ballet, July 1946, Vol.2, No.2, pp.29–36 (listed in Part D, drawings).

Malcolm Muggeridge, Foreword to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Wingate, 1954, pp.vii-viii (B8b).

David Bland, A History of Book Illustration: the illustrated manuscript and the printed book. 2nd edition, Faber; Cleveland and New York: World Publishing Co., 1958, p.381.
“It is in fact questionable how far his subtle satirical drawing appeals to children. Often it must seem to parents to be too gruesome; and this quality is rightly to the fore in The Ancient Mariner, one of his best books.”

Fritz Eichenberg and Ruth Hill Viguers, in Illustrators of Children’s Books, 1946–56, edited by Ruth Hill Viguers, Marcia Dalphin, and Bertha Mahony Miller. Boston: The Horn Book, 1958, p.54 (by Fritz Eichenberg, in “The European Picture Book”) and p.165 (by Ruth Hill Viguers).

Christopher Hassall, Edward Marsh, patron of the arts: a biography. Longmans, 1959, pp.551 & 611.
Brief mentions reveal the extent of Marsh’s pre-war interest in both MP’s paintings and his poems. See Vast Alchemies (F11) pp.108–9 and 113.

Kingsley Amis, New Maps of Hell: a survey of science fiction. New York: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1960, p.153; Gollancz, 1961, and Science Fiction Book Club, 1962 (p.152); Four Square, 1963, N.E.L., 1969 (p.131); and New York: Arno, 1975 (p.153).
Dismisses MP as “a bad fantasy writer of maverick status.”

Marcus Crouch, Treasure Seekers and Borrowers: children’s books in Britain. Library Association, 1962, pp.98 & 100. (Pages 99 & 101 in the reprint “with amendments” of 1970.)
“The most impressive Grimm . . . with powerful, disturbing and creative drawings, perhaps the major achievement of this curious genius.” Of Captain Slaughterboard, he writes, “vital and exuberant but grotesque and violent in the extreme.”

Robin Jacques, Illustrators at Work. Studio Books, 1963, p.59.
Brief biblio-biographical entry; reproduces a drawing from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (B5).

James M. Etheridge (editor), Contemporary Authors: a bio-bibliographical guide to current authors and their works. Detroit: Gale Research, 1963, vols.7–8, p.413.
Bibliographical entry only.

Anon, Who’s Who. Adam & Charles Black, 1964, p.2360.

Edward Marsh and Christopher Hassall, Ambrosia and Small Beer: the record of a correspondence. Longmans, 1964, pp.189, 191 & 192.

Maurice Collis, Foreword to Poems and Drawings. Keepsake Press, 1965, p.[v]. (A14)

Rigby Graham, Romantic Book Illustration in England, 1943–55. Pinner: Private Libraries Association, 1965, pp.14–18.

J. R. Townsend, Written for Children. Garnet Miller, 1965, pp.203–4; Pelican, 1976, revised 1983, 1987. pp.182–83.
On the illustrations for Ride a Cock-Horse (B1).

C. S. Lewis, Of Other worlds: Essays and Stories (edited by Walter Hooper). Geoffrey Bles; New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1966; Harvest (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich), 1975, pp.39 & 71 (the same in each edition).
Passing mentions of MP as creator of “another world.”

Terence Mullaly, Introduction to the catalogue of the MP exhibition, Upper Grosvenor Galleries, July 1966, p.[1]. (See Part E)

John [Noel Claude] Lewis, The 20th-century Book: its illustration and design. Studio Vista, 1967, and revised edition, Herbert Press, 1984, pp.203, 206, 209, 211, 213, & 272.
Celebrates MP’s illustrations for Treasure Island.

John Mackay Shaw, Childhood in Poetry: a catalogue of . . . the Shaw childhood in poetry collection. Florida State University. Detroit: Gale Research, 1967 onwards.
Bibliographic notices of Peake books acquired by the collection; the Third Supplement (1980) catalogues 56 additional items.

Jonathan Williams, The Lucidities: sixteen in visionary company. Turret Books, 1967. Edition limited to 280 copies. Unnumbered pages.
Prose poem No.14 is entitled, “Dirge for Seer-Scrivener, Prince-Plangent of Gormenghast”.

Brian Doyle (editor), The Who’s Who of Children’s Literature. Hugh Evelyn, 1968; New York: Schocken, 1969; pp.341–42.
See also his Boys Writers and Illustrators (1964).

Anthony Burgess, Introduction to Titus Groan. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1968, pp.9–13 (A4d).
Reprinted in the Penguin and later hardback issues.

Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant. Cape, 1968, pp.140–42; Duckworth, 1977; Fontana, 1977; Flamingo, 1985.
Describes the commissioning, writing, illustrating and publishing of All This and Bevin Too (B4).

Barbara Harte and Carolyn Riley (editors), Contemporary Authors: a bio-bibliographical guide to current authors and their works. Detroit: Gale Research, vols.5–8, 1st revision, 1969, p.871.
Quotes mainly from American reviews of the 1968 Titus books.

Michael Moorcock, “Mervyn Peake” in Nebula Award Stories 4, edited by Poul Anderson. Gollancz, 1969, pp.284–85.
A 460-word obituary; “his books have been erroneously labelled ‘Gothics’: an insult to a subtle, sophisticated and skilful writer.”

Charles Spencer, “MP 1911–1968” in The Year’s Art 1968–1969, edited by Michael Dempsey. Hutchinson, 1969, pp.141–42.
Factually and chronologically inaccurate obituary. Critically unsound.

Maeve Gilmore answers “Discussion questions on the life and works of MP” at the Secondary Worlds Symposium, Edinburgh University, 25 April 1969, 5 pp. transcript of recording on duplicated sheets.
Covers subjects developed in A World Away (F1).

Maurice Collis, The Journey Up: reminiscences, 1934–1968. Faber, 1970, pp.48, 77, 78, 96, 111, & 112.

Langdon Jones, in the “Publisher’s Note” to Titus Alone. Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 (A12d). pp.7 & 8. Also in later editions.

A. C. Ward, Longman Companion to Twentieth Century Literature, revised by Maurice Hussey. Longman, 1970, p.412; 2nd ed. 1975, p.412, unchanged; 3rd edition, 1981, pp.412–13.
A brief bio-bibliographical note in first two editions; the third laments the literary cult of MP, undeterred “by the luxuriance of the descriptive prose or even the absence of a solid and well-defined literary theme to support it all.”

Frank Eyre, British Children’s Books in the 20th Century. Longman, 1971, pp.37, 44, 45, 53, & 55. A revised and enlarged edition of 20th Century Children’s Books (1952, above).

Carolyn Riley (editor), Contemporary Authors: a bio-bibliographical guide to current authors and their works. Detroit: Gale Research, 1971, vols.25–28, p.564.
Five lines only, listing obituaries.

John Davis, in his Introduction to The Illustrators of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, edited by Graham Ovenden. Academy Editions; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1972, pp.14 and (reproductions) half-title, 10, 43, 89, & 92.
Singles out MP’s as “the most memorable interpretation” of Alice.

Maeve Gilmore, Introduction to A Book of Nonsense. Peter Owen, 1972 (A17). pp.9–12.

Christopher Kearns, Fantasy: Library Association Bibliography No.14. Library Association, c.1972.
Observes of the Titus books, “these masterpieces are modern Gothic romances.”

Maeve Gilmore, Introduction to the catalogue of the “Word and Image II: MP 1911–1968” exhibition. National Book League, 1972, pp.5–9.
See Part E.

Brian Aldiss, The Billion Year Spree. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973, pp.267–69 & 299; New York: Doubleday, 1973; New York: Schocken Books, 1974; Corgi (paperback), 1975, pp.304–7 & 342.
Compares MP with Tolkien and finds his prose “sharp and particularized ... considerably less lulling than Tolkien’s”; although “too dense” it “gets nearer to the things that haunt shadows.” Repeated in Trillion Year Spree (1986).

Lin Carter, Imaginary Worlds: the art of fantasy. New York: Ballantine, 1973, pp.99–101, and 107.
In well-chosen terms, praises the strengths and pinpoints the weaknesses of the Titus books; a fine example of their hold upon the reader.

Iona and Peter Opie, catalogue notes to their exhibition, Three Centuries of Nursery Rhymes and Poetry for Children. Oxford: OUP for the National Book League, 1973, p.31.
Quoted in MPR 17:22.

Brian Alderson, catalogue notes to the exhibition, “Looking at Picture Books”. National Book League, 1973, pp.77, 271, & 295.
Laudatory assessments of Ride a Cock-Horse (B1) (“raises the stature of these little verses to a new imaginative level”) and of the line drawings in Captain Slaughterboard (A1).

Margaret Blount, Animal Land: The Creatures of Children’s Fiction. Heinemann, 1974, pp.109–10.
Brief comments on Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor in the context of animals invented and illustrated by children; MP’s drawings resemble those of Sybil Corbet, aged 6.

Gay Clifford, The Transformations of Allegory. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974, pp.89–92.
On Gormenghast as architectural allegory.

Maeve Gilmore, Foreword to The Drawings of MP. Davis-Poynter, 1974 (A18); Allison & Busby (paperback) 1984, p.[vii].

Hilary Spurling, Introduction to The Drawings of MP. Davis-Poynter, 1974 (A18); Allison & Busby (paperback) 1984, pp.[ix–xvi].

Maeve Gilmore, “MP”, the introduction to Writings and Drawings. Academy, 1974 (A19); New York: St. Martin’s, 1974, pp.6–8.

John Wakeman (editor), World Authors 1950–1970. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1975, pp.1124–26.
The first half of the entry was written on MP’s behalf by MG; the second half draws substantially on American reviews of the novels.

C. N. Manlove, Modern Fantasy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975, Ch.6, “MP (1911–1968) – The ‘Titus’ Trilogy”, pp.207–57.
Reviewed in MPR 2:31–33 by Austen Wilks.

Cyrus H. Peake, Carol J. Snow, and Andrew Guy Peake, The Peak-Peake Family History: a genealogical and historical account from the earliest known origins to the present. Self-published by Cyrus H. Peake, Claremont, California, from 1975, by installments.
No continuous pagination. Vol.1, part 2 (1977) reprints the obituary from The Times (19 November 1968) followed by a 10-line note on his genealogy. MP’s branch of the family has not yet been investigated by the authors.

Colin Wilson, The Craft of the Novel. Gollancz, 1975, pp.174, 212, & 239.
Quoted in MPR 8:38–39.

Maeve Gilmore, Introduction to Boy in Darkness. Exeter: Wheaton, 1976 (A21). pp.[3–5].

Joe de Bolt and John Pfeiffer, in Anatomy of Wonder: Science Fiction, edited by Neil Barron. New York: Bowker, 1976, p.118.
They class MP as one of “the three most popular writers of fantasy in the last forty years” (the other two being Tolkien and Ursula LeGuin).

Christine Nasso (editor), Contemporary Authors: a bio-bibliographical guide to current authors and their works. Detroit: Gale Research, vols.25–28, 1st revision, 1977, p.545.
Five lines only, listing obituaries.

Phyllis Carmel Mendelson and Dedria Bryfonski (editors), Contemporary Literary Criticism. Volume 7. Detroit: Gale Research, 1977, pp.301–3.
Quotes from TLS review (26 January, 1973) of A Book of Nonsense (A17), Hugh Brogan’s “Gutters of Gormenghast” (1973), Philip Guerrard’s “Strategic Fantasies of MP” (1976), and Duncan Fallowell in Books & Bookmen (1976).

Mike Ashley, Who’s Who in horror and fantasy fiction. Elm Tree Books, 1977, pp.144–45.
Appreciative but wildly inaccurate; see MPR 6:34.

Maurice Collis, Diaries, 1949–1969. Heinemann, 1977.
Numerous references throughout.

Joseph Connolly, Collecting Modern First Editions. Studio Vista, 1977, p.131. Reviewed in MPR 7:33–34.

William Feaver, When We Were Young: two centuries of children’s book illustration. Thames & Hudson, 1977, p.24 and (reproductions) p.22 & pl.107.

Ken Hawkes, Sark. Newton Abbott: David & Charles, 1977, pp.7, 130–31, & 164.
A glimpse of soccer-playing Peake.

Russell Hoban, Introduction to Household Tales. Picador [Pan Books], 1977 (B10d). pp.7–19.
Mainly pp.15 & 16.

Christine A. Kloet, catalogue notes to the exhibition, “After Alice: a hundred years of children’s reading in Britain.” Library Association, 1977.
Quoted in MPR 17:20.

Robertson Davies, “Gleams and Glooms,” in One Half of Robertson Davies. New York: Viking Press, 1978. p.229.
Asks reader to compare Poe with MP, “whose trilogy ... possesses qualities of sustained macabre fantasy, of poetic expression, and of sheer creative power which I do not think Poe can rival.”

Lee Kingman, Grace Allen Hogarth, Harriet B. Quimby, Illustrators of Children's Books. Horn Books, 1978, p.150.

Robin Myers (compiler and editor), A Dictionary of Literature in the English Language from 1940 to 1970. Oxford, New York, etc: Pergamon, 1978, p.243.
Mainly bibliographical.

Franz Rottensteiner, The Fantasy Book: the ghostly, the gothic, the magical, the unreal. Thames & Hudson, 1978, pp.130–32.
Reviewed in MPR 8:29–31.

Brian Sibley, a bibliographical note to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Methuen, 1978 (B8c) pp.[vii-viii].

Barbara Stoney, Sybil: Dame of Sark. Hodder & Stoughton, 1978. Not yet seen. Info from LBS.

Donald H. Tuck, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent, 1978, p.343.
Brief, bio-bibliographical assessment; derivative.

Diana Waggoner, The Hills of Faraway: a guide to fantasy. New York: Atheneum, 1978, pp.61–62, 66, & 259.
“As an exercise in the weird, the eccentric, and the remote [the trilogy] is unique, a fantasy which is whole, solid and complete, but has no relation to Primary reality: not a metaphor for the real world, but a frozen distortion of the popular image of Victorian life”.

John Watney, Introduction to Peake’s Progress. Allen Lane, 1978 (1979) (A22); New York: Overlook Press, 1981, pp.13–33.

Maeve Gilmore, Introduction to “The Voice of a Pencil” exhibition catalogue. Durham: DLI Museum & Arts Centre, 1979, p.[v]. Reissued at the other venues of this exhibition. Reprinted, with corrections, in MPR 10:31–33. See Part E.

Maeve Gilmore, Programme notes on The Wit to Woo. Edinburgh: Nottingham Theatre Group, 1979, p.8. See Part E.

John Clute and Peter Nicholls, entry “Peake” in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: an illustrated A to Z, edited by Peter Nicholls. Granada, 1979, p.453.

B. C. Oliver-Morden, entry “Peake” in Novelists and Prose Writers, edited by James Vinson, in the series, “Great Writers of the English Language”. Macmillan, 1979, pp.959–60.
Noticed in MPR 12:38. Reprinted in 20th Century Fiction (1983).

Elsa J. Radcliffe, Gothic Novels of the Twentieth Century: an annotated bibliography. Metuchen N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1979, p.170.
“The sort of literature from which cults have sprung. Evidently Peake wasn’t at the right place and time for the readership. As it is, I just couldn’t get involved with the tale and kept going under.”

Robert Reginald, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature: a checklist 1700–1974. Detroit: Gale Research, 1979. 2 vols. pp.407 (bibliographical) & 1028 (biographical).

Roger C. Schlobin, The Literature of Fantasy: a comprehensive, annotated bibliography of modern fantasy fiction. New York: Garland, 1979, pp.196–97.
Reviewed in MPR 10:38–39 by Pierre Versins.

Marshall B. Tymn, Kenneth J. Zahorski and Robert H. Boyer, Fantasy Literature: a core collection and reference guide. New York: Bowker, 1979, pp.21–22.
Excludes the Titus books (“pure Gothic fiction”) from fantasy.

Maeve Gilmore, Foreword to Mervyn Peake / Oscar Wilde. Spilstead (limited edition); Sidgwick & Jackson (trade), 1980 (B23). p.9.

David Punter, The Literature of Terror: a history of gothic fictions from 1765 to the present day. Longman, 1980, Numerous references throughout.

Gamini Salgado, entry on Peake in Novels and Novelists: a guide to the world of fiction, edited by Martin Seymour-Smith. Windward, 1980, pp.75, 197, & 243.

Michael Moorcock, Introduction to The Great Captains by Henry Treece. New English Library, 1980, pp.1, 3 & 4.
A new introduction to a book first published in 1956 by the Bodley Head; Moorcock draws several parallels between Treece and MP “who merely sought to describe and make coherent the colourful ... world in which [they] lived.”

Harold Osborne (editor), The Oxford Companion to 20th-century Art. Oxford: OUP, 1981, p.427.
“Neither reliable nor well-balanced” – MPR 15:43.

Anne Commire (editor), Something about the Author: facts and pictures about authors and illustrators of books for young people. Vol.23. Detroit: Gale Research, 1981, pp.162–66.
A chronological summary of MP’s life with abundant quotations from his writings. Perpetuates the myth that he was “officially assigned to visit Belsen concentration camp” but otherwise accurate and appreciative.

Ann Evory (editor), Contemporary Authors: a bio-bibliographical guide to current authors and their works. Detroit: Gale Research, vol.3, new revision series, 1981, pp.423–24.
Includes a full column of quotations from reviews.

Duncan Fallowell, entry “Peake” in The Makers of Modern Culture, edited by Justin Wintle. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981, pp.404–5. Reprinted in MPR 12:30–31.

Colin Greenland, entry “Peake” in Twentieth-Century Science Fiction Writers, edited by Curtis C. Smith. Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s, 1981, pp.632–33 (in a terminal section entitled “Major fantasy writers”).
A balanced attempt to take in the many facets of MP’s prose.

Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi, A Dictionary of Imaginary Places. Granada, 1981, pp.149–51.

Rosemary Jackson, Fantasy: the literature of subversion. Methuen, 1981.
MP is dismissed in the Introduction. No other mention. Reviewed in MPR 13:37–42, by Peter McKenzie.

Colin Manlove, entry “Peake” in Dictionary of National Biography: 1961–1970, edited by E. T. Williams and C. S. Nicholls. Oxford: OUP, 1981, pp.828–30.

Geoffrey Leech and Michael H. Short, Style in Fiction: a linguistic introduction to English fictional prose. Longman, 1981, pp.140–45. Reprinted in MPR 15:30–35.

Roger C. Schlobin (editor), The Aesthetics of Fantasy Literature and Art. Notre Dame (Indiana): University of Notre Dame Press; Brighton: Harvester. 1982.
Brief mentions of MP; reviewed in MPR 18:43–45 by Colin Greenland.

Harry Blamires, Twentieth-century English Literature. [The final volume of the Macmillan History of Literature] Macmillan, 1982, pp.204–5, 207, 263.
Diminishes by implication – “the Gormenghast trilogy” [sic] has “a largeness that generally appertains to masterpieces” – and reproduces “The Dancers” from Drawings 1949.

Everett F. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction. Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1983, pp.400–401.
Deals only with Mr Pye, which “might have been successful as a nouvelle. The illustrations are superior to the text.”

Meirion and Susie Harries, The War Artists: British official war art of the twentieth century. Michael Joseph in association with the Imperial War Museum and the Tate Gallery, 1983, pp.180, 201–3, 255–56, & 306.
Mentions MP’s attempts to be a war artist.

C. N. Manlove, The Impulse of Fantasy Literature. Macmillan, 1983, Ch.7, “Fantasy and Mind: MP”, pp.115–26.
Revised from “A World in fragments: Peake and the Titus Books”, MPR 11:9–16.

Michael Moorcock, Preface to A World Away, by Maeve Gilmore (F1). Methuen, 1983, pp.[ix]–xv.

B. C. Oliver-Morden, entry “Peake” in 20th Century Fiction, edited by James Vinson, in the series, “Great Writers Student Library.” Macmillan, 1983, pp.515–17.
Reprinted without change from Novelists and Prose Writers (1980).

Tom Pocock, 1945: the dawn came up like thunder. Collins, 1983, Ch.4, pp.123–47.

Adrian Room, Dictionary of Trade Name Origins. Routledge, 1983, p.133.
Claims that “Towards the end of the Second World War ... MP gave a small pen-and-ink drawing to Alan Bott, the managing director of the Book Society and the Reprint Society. Bott was at the time thinking of starting a paperback publishing company as soon as the war was over but was stuck for a suitable name. He did not want to have a bird (because of Penguin) or an animal (because of the American kangaroo logo on Pocket Books), so had to try elsewhere. Sitting at his desk and pondering on the problem he found himself staring at MP’s little picture – and there, in the god Pan, was the name he had been seeking. Pan Books was actually founded in 1944.” This story is not attested. (See Part C - drawings contributed to books.)

G. Peter Winnington, entry “Peake” in Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 15: British Novelists, 1930–1959 (Part 2: M–Z), edited by Bernard Oldsey. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983, pp.423–31.

Alan Lee (artist) and David Day (author), Castles. Allen & Unwin; New York: Bantam, 1984, pp.188–89 (illus.) & 190 (text).
The double spread reproduces Alan Lee’s drawing for the cover of the Penguin edition of the Titus books (A4l, etc.); p.190 is David Day’s commentary.

Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen, Introduction to Sketches from Bleak House. (B24) Methuen’s Children’s Books, 1984 [copyright notice dated 1983]. pp.5–7.

Anthony Burgess, Ninety-nine Novels: the best in English since 1939. Allison & Busby, 1984, p.36.

Joseph Connolly, Modern First Editions: their value to collectors. Orbis, 1984, pp.224–25.

Harry Blamires (editor and contributor), A Guide to 20th-Century Literature in English. Methuen, 1984, pp.216–17.

Quentin Crisp, The Wit and Wisdom of Quentin Crisp, compiled and edited by Guy Kettlehack. New York: Harper & Row, 1984; Century, 1985, pp.129–130.
Brief, garbled, reference to baby-sitting for the Peakes.

[Colin Greenland] The Science Fiction Source Book, edited by David Wingrove. Longman, 1984, p.212.
“Titus Groan books are as vigorously Romantic as all his work, a tale of spiritual and emotional revolt against a corrupt and decrepit order”.
Rates Titus Groan very highly (17/20).

Roger Hardy, entry “Peake” in Fontana Biographical Companion to Modern Thought, edited by Alan Bullock and R. W. Woodings. Fontana, 1984, p.587.

Malcolm Edwards and Robert Holdstock, Realms of Fantasy. Limpsfield, Surrey: Dragon’s World, Paper Tiger, 1984, Ch.3, “Gormenghast: the Realm of Titus Groan”, pp.33–43.
A commentary largely inspired by quotations, especially from Michael Moorcock, to accompany four illustrations by Ian Miller.

Edmund Little, The Fantasts. Amersham: Avebury, 1984, Ch.4, “MP (1911–1968): Gormenghast”, pp.54–73.
Covers ground much better handled by Bristow-Smith’s dissertations (Part I), for example; ultimately depressing, for that is Little’s view of Gormenghast.

Brigid Peppin and Lucy Micklethwait, Dictionary of British Book Illustrators: the 20th century. Murray, 1984, pp.229–30.
Devotes a full page to MP; laudatory but frequently inaccurate.

Humphrey Carpenter and Mari Prichard, Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature. Oxford: OUP, 1984, pp.397–98.
Treasure Island “had to wait until 1949 to find an artist exactly fitted to it, MP.”

Joseph L. Sanders, “The passions in the clay: MP’s Titus stories” in Voices for the Future, vol. 3. Bowling Green, Ohio: Popular Press, 1984, pp.75–105.
A rich, tightly argued discussion of the moral and philosophical bases of the world of MP’s fiction. Reprinted in Mervyn Peake, Titus Alone (A12l). Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1992. pp.260–91.

Ann Swinfen, In Defence of Fantasy: a study of the genre in English and American literature since 1945. Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1984, pp.3 & 100.
MP is excluded because “his novels appear to be rather different in character from the works being discussed here” (p.3).

Harry Blamires, A Short History of English Literature. Routledge, 1985. p.407

Margaret Drabble, Oxford Companion to English Literature, 5th edition. Oxford: OUP, 1985, p.748.

Bernard Smith, entry “Peake” in Writers in Sussex, by Bernard Smith and Peter Haas. Bristol: Redcliffe, 1985, pp.105–7.

Alvin Sullivan (editor), British Literary Magazines: vol.4, The Modern Age, 1914–1984. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986, pp.254 and 362.
Notices MP’s contributions of poetry and “a fine series of drawings of contemporary authors” to Mercury, and “etchings [sic] for The Ancient Mariner” to Poetry (London).

Brian W. Aldiss with David Wingrove, Trillion Year Spree: the history of science fiction. Gollancz, 1986, pp.266 & 262–64.
Reprints unchanged the assessment from Billion Year Spree (1973), see above.

Randolf Quirk, Words at Work: Lectures on Textual Structure. National Univ. of Singapore Press, 1986. pp.54–56.
On distance and perspective in the Titus books.

Harold Bloom (general editor), Chelsea House Library of Literary Criticism: Twentieth-Century British Literature, vol.4. New York: Chelsea House, 1987, pp.2218–28.
The first page reproduces photographs of MP and other authors. Extracts from A World Away (F1), from articles (see Part H) by Duncan Fallowell (1976), G. Peter Winnington (1979), Hugh Brogan (1973) and Colin Greenland (1981), plus Anthony Burgess’s Introduction to Titus Groan (A4d), complete.

Martin Dodsworth, “Mid-Twentieth-Century Literature: 1930–1980” in The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature, edited by Pat Rogers. Oxford: OUP, 1987, Ch.9, pp.446, 447.
“Two novelists of fantasy embody the forties’ taste for extravagance most clearly”: MP and Tolkien.

Josette Leray, Titus ou l’héritier errant: modalités et sens de la quête dans la trilogie de MP, in Le Voyage romantique et ses réécritures, ed. Christian La Cassagnère, Fac. Lettres Clermont-Ferrand, France, 1987, pp.257–270.
On the quest motif in the Titus books. Not seen.

Wim Tigges, Explorations in the Field of Nonsense. Rodopi, Amsterdam, 1987. pp.70–71.
Quotes Graham Greene with reference to MP’s Alice.

Paul Wright, The Literary Zodiac. Anodyne Publishing; Sebastopol, Ca: CRCS Publications. 1987, pp.207–216.
Reprints Wright’s 1980 article, “The Gutters of Gormenghast” (see Part H).

James Cawthorn and Michael Moorcock, Fantasy: the 100 best books. Xanadu, 1988, Chapter 64, pp.137–38.
Enthusiastic thumbnail sketches of MP’s life and the three Titus books.

Edward Hodnett, Five Centuries of English Book Illustration. Scolar Press, 1988, pp.275–76.
A 500-word bio-bibliographic critical commentary, sometimes perceptive, sometimes ill-founded – a fine example of the love–hate relationship that MP’s work inspires.

David Pringle, Modern Fantasy: the hundred best novels. Grafton, 1988, Chs.1, 10, & 23, pp.27–28, 46–47, 76–77.
Plot summaries of the three Titus books, the first two of which are “masterpieces of modern fantasy.” The third is not so appraised.

D.G. Marowski & R. Matuz (eds.). Contemporary Literary Criticism (vol. 54). Detroit: Gale Research, 1989.
Nine critical essays – not seen.

Andrew Sinclair, War Like a Wasp: the lost decade of the ’forties. Hamish Hamilton, 1989. pp.61, 74, 94, 151, 164, 184–86, 226.
Page 165 reproduces three drawings from The Adventures of the Young Soldier (B3) and page 186 the cover of Poetry London X, with the nightmare figure of life-in-death.

Grace Ingoldby, Out of Call or Cry: The Island of Sark. Heinemann, 1990. Chapter 10, mainly, pp.125–39.
A personal study of the island of Sark, recalling MP’s participation in Eric Drake’s painter community and the filming of Mr Pye for television, the two main events on the island in the twentieth century.

G. Peter Winnington, The Critical reception of Mervyn Peake’s Titus books, in Mervyn Peake, Titus Alone (A12l). Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1992. pp.217–26.

Ann Yeoman, The Cry of a fighting-cock: notes on Steerpike and ritual in Gormenghast. In Mervyn Peake, Titus Alone (A12l). Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 1992. pp.322–31.

Randall Stevenson, A Reader' Guide to the 20th-century Novel in Britain. Kentucky U P, 1993. Depicts MP as “a unique figure in English fiction” (p.81).

Adam Piette, Imagination at War. British Fiction and Poetry 1939–1945. Macmillan Papermac, 1995, pp.49–54, 227, 228.
Reviewed at length by Laurence Bristow-Smith in PS 4:iv.

Alice Mills, entry “Peake” in Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 160: British Children’s Writers, 1914–1960, edited by ?Meena Khorana?. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996, pp.207–216.
A generally balanced assessment of MP as illustrator and writer for children, with the occasional lapsus calami (for which see PS 5:i).

Peter Parker (editor), Entry under 1959 in The Reader’s Companion to the 20th-Century Novel, Fourth Estate, 1994. pp.360–63.
A sympathetic and perceptive but also erratic assessment; suggests that the genesis of the series may be found in “Boy in Darkness”; concludes that it is a parable of the contemporary world, where good and evil inextricably merge.

Margaret Drabble and Jenny Stringer (editors), Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. Oxford: OUP, 1996. p.445.

Tanya Gardiner-Scott, Entry “The Titus Groan Trilogy” in the Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. eds Tom Shippey and A J Sobczak. Magill 1996. pp.944–46.
Roughly 70% plot summary, 30% analysis. “Classic high fantasy . . . looks back to Gothic novels.” MP’s “feast of language” sets the characters apart from much twentieth-century writing. Devices in TA are similar to those of 1950s sf.

John Clute and John Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Orbit [a division of Little Brown & Co], 1997. p.749.
Perceptive, accurate entry, ending: “He is the most potent visionary the field has yet witnessed.”

Carlo Pagetti, The Whale and the Gryphon: on the road to Gormenghast. in Daniela Carpi (ed. and introd.), Literature and Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century. Bologna, Italy: Re Enzo, 2001. pp.193–204.

Max Duperray, La folie et la méthode. Essai sur la déréalisation en littérature. Paris, France: L’Harmattan, 2001. pp.181–6.
A rare analysis (and rather lengthy summary) of “Same Time, Same Place” in the context of theories of the unreal in fiction and the limits imposed on the fantastic by generic definitions. (In French)

Carlo Pagetti, The Whale and the Gryphon: On the Road to Gormenghast. In Literature and Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century, ed. and introd. by Daniela Carpi. Bologna, Italy, 2001. pp.193–204.
Not seen.

Victor Watson (ed.), The Cambridge Guide to Children’s Books in English. CUP, 2001.
p.607 on MP's nonsense verse, “exuberant but odd”.

Tim Woods, Who’s Who of Twentieth-Century Novelists. Routledge, 2001. p.271.

Mary Barber, Warningcamp: The History of a Sussex Community. Bognor Regis: Woodfield Publishing, 2002.
Brief mention of MP as a resident in the village, naming the houses he lived in.

David Punter and Glennis Byron, The Gothic. Oxford and Malden, Ma: Blackwell, 2004.
Several brief notices, particularly pp.154–5.

Peter Boxall (ed.), 1001 Books You Must Read before You Die. Intro. Peter Ackroyd. Cassell/Universe, 2006.
Entries for both Titus Groan (“a novel of superb craft”) and Gormenghast (“an outstanding feat of literature”).

Jones, Stephen and Kim Newman, eds. Horror: Another 100 best books. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2005.
Apparently contains an essay by Christopher Fowler on Gormenghast (not seen).

© G. Peter Winnington 2008