John Lawrence
John Lawrence (born 15 September 1933 in Hastings) is an English illustrator and wood engraver. He has twice won the Francis Williams Award for illustration (sponsored by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), and twice been runner-up for the Kurt Emil - Maschler Award. He has also published children's books in his own right including This Little Chick which was a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year.
John Lawrence

John Lawrence · This file was donated by the Laurence Sterne Trust as part of the Yorkshire Network GLAMwiki. The Trust runs Shandy Hall, Sterne's home in Coxwold, Yorkshire and has an online collection. This tag · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1933 · Hastings.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- writer · illustrator · exlibrist · xylographer
- Education
- Central School of Art and Design
- Languages
- English
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John Lawrence (born 15 September 1933 in Hastings) is an English illustrator and wood engraver. He has twice won the Francis Williams Award for illustration (sponsored by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), and twice been runner-up for the Kurt Emil - Maschler Award. He has also published children's books in his own right including This Little Chick which was a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year.
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John Lawrence (born 1933) is an exlibrist, illustrator and writer, among other activities, of British nationality. The exlibrist was born in Hastings.
John Lawrence was educated at Central School of Art and Design. The exlibrist worked for Anglia Ruskin University, University of Brighton and University of the Arts London.
Languages used include English. Works are held at Huis van het boek.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Education
He was master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1990, and now lives in Cambridge.
John Lawrence studied at Central School of Art and Design. The recorded working language is English. Employment is recorded with University of Brighton, Anglia Ruskin University and University of the Arts London. Work by John Lawrence is recorded in the collections of Huis van het boek.
Born in Hastings in 1933, John Lawrence was educated in Salesian schools, first in Burwash, Sussex then in Cowley, Oxfordshire, before attending Hastings School of Art (1951 - 1953). After National Service in West Africa he moved to the Central School of Art and Design (1955–1957) where he was introduced to wood engraving by Gertrude Hermes.
Illustration
• Illustration — What can they be doing, brother? An illustration from the Folio Society edition of Tristram Shandy by Lawrence He has illustrated more than 200 books, both adult and children's ranging from Shakespeare to Alan Ahlberg including the best-selling Watership Down by Richard Adams and has recently worked with Philip Pullman producing all the illustrations for Lyra's Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North His work is represented in the Ashmolean, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Manchester Metropolitan University and Seven Stories in Newcastle.

Artists proof of an illustration used for the Folio Society Edition of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. The line being illustrated is 'I wonder what's all that noise, and running backwards and forwards for, above stairs, quoth my father, addressing himself, after an hour and a half's silence, to my uncle Toby, ––who you must know, was sitting on the opposite side of the fire,
John Lawrence · This file was donated by the Laurence Sterne Trust as part of the Yorkshire Network GLAMwiki. The Trust runs Shandy Hall, Sterne's home in Coxwold, Yorkshire and has an online collection. This tag

Identifier: englandinninetee00lati (find matches)
Internet Archive Book Images · https: Source book page
Teaching
In the 1960s he taught at Brighton School of Art and then as a visiting professor of illustration at Camberwell School of Art until 1993. Until 2010 he taught at Cambridge School of Art, lecturing on the M.A. course in Children's Book Illustration.
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.http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/l/10346/John+Wilfred.aspx Debrett’s People of Today, John Lawrence, Esq Profile
- 2.The Illustration Cupboard.
- 3.Lawrence, John. This Little Chick. Candlewick Press. 2002. 0763617164.
- 4.John Lawrence Collection.
- 5.Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. Candlewick Press. 2009. 978-0763644451.
- 6.Home. laurencesternetrust.org.uk.
- 7.John Lawrence's 18th century illustrations. TheGuardian.com. 21 June 2003.
- 8.http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/faculty-of-arts-brighton/alumni-and-associates/associates-and-alumni/?a=12280 Lawrence | Associates | University of Brighton - Faculty of Arts
Bibliography printed in the source article · 7
- Ian Rogerson, Through the Looking-Glass: the Illustrations of John Lawrence (2006)
- John Lawrence (2002. Primrose Academy) (series: the Engraver's Cut)
- Sketchbook drawings by John Lawrence with a recorded commentary by John Lawrence, compiled and edited by Tom Colverson ... (1991. Previous Parrot Press)
- D. Martin, 'John Lawrence', in Douglas Martin, The Telling Line Essays On Fifteen Contemporary Book Illustrators (1989), p. 167-186
- A Selection of Wood Engravings John Lawrence (1986. Camberwell Press) [Limited edition]
- Peter Guy, 'The Wood Engravings of John Lawrence', in Matrix; 3 (1983 Winter), p. 21-41
- Lesley MacDonald, 'Der Illustrator John Lawrence', in Illustration 63, 18/3 (1981 November), p. 83-88
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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.
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