Joshua Charles Armitage (26 September 1913 – 29 January 1998) was an English

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Ionicus. Ionicus may be known best for illustrating the covers of

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

paperback editions of books by

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

, though he contributed cartoons and drawings to ''Punch'' for more than 40 years, and provided cover designs and text illustrations for nearly 400 books in total.

Biography

Armitage was born in 1913, in the town of Hoylake on the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

, county of Cheshire. When he died there in 1998, it was part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Wirral The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of (), and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebingt ...

. In 1939 he married Catherine Buckle, who died in 1988. They had two daughters. Armitage studied at Liverpool School of Art, taught at Wallesey School of Art, and joined the Navy in 1940. He took the name Ionicus for his first cartoon that was published in ''Punch'', 29 March 1944, after two

ionic columns The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite ...

in the drawing. Over 40 years he contributed 358 drawings to the magazine.

Book cover art

Although best known for his depiction of Wodehouse's idyllic England, Ionicus also provided dustjacket illustrations for well-known writers in other genres, such as the following: * With interior "illustrations (some color)", a volume of ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' published by Chanticleer Press Inc in The Heirloom Library, (1950s probably) * Children's fantasy novels by

Diana Wynne Jones Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually d ...

: ''Charmed Life'', ''

The Magicians of Caprona ''The Magicians of Caprona'' is a children's fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones published by MacMillan Children's Books in 1980. It was the second published of seven Chrestomanci books. It features the venerable Italian fa ...

'', and ''

Witch Week ''Witch Week'' is a children's fantasy novel and school story by the British writer Diana Wynne Jones, published by Macmillan Children's Books in 1982. It was the third published of seven Chrestomanci books. ''Witch Week'' is set during the ...

'' (1977 to 1982)"Diana Wynne Jones UK First Edition cover art: Dustwrappers 1970–1982" (maulu.demon.co.uk)
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. Archived 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2017-11-30. * Horror novels by

Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes Ronald Henry Glynn Chetwynd-Hayes (30 May 1919 – 20 March 2001) was a British author, known best for his ghost and horror stories. Mike Ashley, ''Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction''. Elm Tree Books, . (p. 52-3)Chris Morgan, "Chetwynd-Hay ...

: ''The King's Ghost'',The King's Ghost
Fantastic Fiction (fantasticfiction.co.uk). Retrieved 2008-07-02. Bibliographic data not including identification of cover or interior illustrator. 'Ionicus' fits a signature visible but illegible in the book cover image; not visible in the cover images for sequel books. ''Tales From The Hidden World'',
Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 2008-07-02. and ''The Haunted Grange''
Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 2008-07-02. (1985 to 1988)R. Chetwynd-Hayes
at ISFDB. Retrieved 2017-11-30.

Wartime art

During his wartime service in the

British Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, Ionicus contributed to the Admiralty-sponsored monthly magazine ''Ditty Box''."Artists: Ionicus"
''The Art of War''. The National Archives (nationalarchives.gov.uk). Retrieved 2008-07-02.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ionicus 1913 births 1998 deaths English children's book illustrators English cartoonists British fantasy artists English speculative fiction artists 20th-century English painters English male painters Punch (magazine) people 20th-century English male artists