Dorothea Braby
Dorothea Braby (17 October 1909 – 1987) was a British artist. Although she had a long career as a freelance designer producing work for several well-known companies, Braby is best known for the book illustrations she created, particularly those for the Golden Cockerel Press.
Dorothea Braby
- Name
- Dorothea Braby
- Born
- 17 October 1909
- Birthplace
- London
- Died
- 1987
- Education
- * Central School of Arts and Crafts
- Field
- Design, illustration
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- painter · illustrator · artist
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Dorothea Braby (17 October 1909 – 1987) was a British artist. Although she had a long career as a freelance designer producing work for several well-known companies, Braby is best known for the book illustrations she created, particularly those for the Golden Cockerel Press.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Dorothea Braby (1909–1987) was an artist, illustrator and painter, of British nationality. The artist was born and died in London.
Dorothea Braby was educated at Central School of Art and Design, Heatherley School of Fine Art and Saint Felix School. The artist worked in Florence, London and Paris.
Languages used include English. Works are held at National Gallery of Victoria and National Museum Cardiff.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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Born In · outgoing
London
Place
Pencil sketch by George Henry Harlow, 1814, http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/largerimage.php?mkey=mw05495

Died In · outgoing
London
Place
Pencil sketch by George Henry Harlow, 1814, http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/largerimage.php?mkey=mw05495
Educated At · outgoing
Saint Felix School
Organisation
Citizen Of · outgoing
United Kingdom
Place
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q21454736 · wikipedia · Dorothea Braby
In this article
Biography
Biography
Dorothea Braby studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art, Central School of Art and Design and Saint Felix School. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are London, Florence and Paris. Work by Dorothea Braby is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Victoria and National Museum Cardiff.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Dorothea Braby • Born — 17 October 1909 • Birthplace — London • Died — 1987 • Education — * Central School of Arts and Crafts • Heatherley School of Fine Art • Field — Design, illustration
Early life
Early life
Braby was born in Wandsworth and grew up in Putney, the third child of Percy Braby, a solicitor, and Maud Churton Braby, a journalist and author who had been born in China. Braby was educated at the St Felix School in Southwold, and then from 1926 to 1930 at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. For a time she was enrolled at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and also studied art in Paris and Florence.
Career
Career
Braby's work was mostly as an illustrator of books, including several volumes produced by the Golden Cockerel Press. She spent eighteen months working on their 1948 edition of the Mabinogion. For The Saga of Llywarch the Old, Braby created colour engravings that resembled mediaeval ivory tablets. Among the other books she illustrated were a 1950 edition of John Keats' Poems and a 1954 edition of Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Savile's Crime. Her own volume, The Way of Wood Engraving was published in 1953. Braby exhibited widely, both in Britain and overseas. The Society of Women Artists, the Hampstead Artists' Council, and the Arts Council of Great Britain all showed works by Braby. During her design career, Braby also produced work for The Radio Times, The Studio, and ICI. In 1959, she gave up working as an artist for a full-time career as a social worker. A memorial exhibition was held at Burgh House, Hampstead, in 1988.
Selected works
Selected works
Books illustrated by Braby included • Mr Chambers and Perephone by C.Whitfield, Golden Cockerel Press, 1937 • The Ninety-First Psalm by C.Whitfield, Golden Cockerel Press, 1944 • The Lottery Ticket by V.G.Calderon, Golden Cockerel Press, 1945 • The Mabinogion by V.G.Calderon, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948 • Gilgamesh, King of Erech by F.L. Lucas, Golden Cockerel Press, 1948 • Poems by John Keats, Folio Society, 1950 • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Golden Cockerel Press, 1952 • The Fearless Treasure by Noel Streatfeild, Joseph, 1953 • Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde, Folio Society, 1954 • The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden, Folio Society, 1954 • The Saga of Llywarch the Old by Glyn Jones, Golden Cockerel Press, 1955 Braby also wrote and illustrated The Commandments, published by Lewis in 1946, and The Way of Wood Engraving, published in 1953.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q21454736: Dorothea Braby
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Dorothea Braby”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."BRABY Dorothea" in Register of Births for Wandsworth RD, vol. 1d (1909), p. 733
- 2.1911 United Kingdom census for 3, Hazlewell Road, Putney, London S.W.
- 3.David Buckman. Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 1, A to L. Art Dictionaries Ltd. 1998. 0-95326-095-X.
- 4.Frances Spalding. 20th Century Painters and Sculptors. Antique Collectors' Club. 1990. 1-85149-106-6.
- 5.Grant M. Waters. Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950. Eastbourne Fine Art. 1975.
- 6.Alan Horne. The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators. Antique Collectors' Club. 1994. 1-85149-1082.
- 7.Robin Garton. British Printmakers 1855-1955 A Century of Printmaking from the Etching Revival to St Ives. Garton & Co / Scolar Press. 1992. 0-85967-968-3.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q21454736: Dorothea BrabyWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Illustration
5,224 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Dora Wheeler KeithIllustrator
- Doris BurnIllustrator
- Doris HaumanIllustrator
- Doris Mable CochranIllustrator
- Dorothea Holt RedmondIllustrator
- Dorothea PertzIllustrator
- Dorothy HartleyIllustrator
- Dorothy HenryIllustrator
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