© The Mervyn Peake Estate
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© The Mervyn Peake Estate |
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BiographiesGilmore, Maeve. A World Away: A Memoir of Mervyn Peake. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1970. [Duke University Perkins Library 821.914 P357ZG] A moving chronicle authored by Mervyn Peake's wife Maeve Gilmore. Especially noteworthy are her accounts of their life on the Channel Island of Sark following WWII and the painful narrative of her husband's decline and death at the hands of Parkinson's disease. This book is a wonderful source for Peake's correspondence with friends and also contains 4 photographs of Mervyn Peake as well as 14 of his illustrations. Peake, Sebastian. A Child of Bliss: Growing Up with Mervyn Peake. Oxford: Lennard, 1989. [Duke University Perkins Library 823.912 P357, C536, 1989] Sebastian Peake is Mervyn's eldest son and this slim tome focuses on the Peake family's post WWII life on Sark and later in London. The epilogue contains heart wrenching details concerning his Mervyn's illness and decline, but the body of this book justly celebrates and honors Mervyn Peake not merely as an artist but as a father. A Child of Bliss contains 24 family photographs never before published. Return to TopSmith, Gordon. Mervyn Peake. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1984. [Davis Library 7th Floor PR6031 .E183 Z88 1984] Lifelong friend of Mervyn Peake, Gordon Smith leaves literary and artistic criticism to the scholarly realm and instead draws heavily upon his correspondence with Peake to paint a portrait of him as a living, breathing, profoundly gifted human being. In addition, this book contains approximately 50 illustrations and is a splendid resource for examining the breadth of Peake's drawing abilities. Return to TopWinnington, G. Peter. Vast Alchemies: The Life and Work of Mervyn Peake. London: P. Owen, 2000. Davis Library 7th Floor PR6031 .E183 Z785 2000] The author is a renowned Peake scholar and chronologically analyzes Peake's life in exquisite detail. Interspersed within the narrative are deft and engaging analyses of Peake's literary and artistic creations. Return to TopYorke, Malcolm. My Eyes Mint Gold: A Life. London: John Murray, 2000. [Davis Library 7th Floor PR6031 .E183 Z966 2000] Malcolm Yorke, in stark contrast to G. Peter Winnington, benefited from complete support by the Peake family and full access to Peake's papers as the author of Mervyn Peake's authorized biography. Yorke is a biographer, not a literary scholar, and his biography neatly dovetails with Winnington's work. My Eyes Mint Gold, in addition to thoroughly chronicling Peake's life, addresses Peake's reputation, especially posthumously. Return to Top |