Tonight’s edition of the show was filmed on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria at Osbourne House, which presenter Fiona Bruce explained was the “cherished” summer home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Introducing the collection of items, antiques expect Clive Farahar said: “We are surrounded by 120 drawings for children’s books of the mid-20th century.”
After being asked to explain why he had brought the items in, the guest remarked: “The artist was my mum, Mary Gernat, and she started working for Armada paperbacks I think around 1961/62 and she carried on for about a decade.”
Praising the covers, Clive added: “And if we say a cover doesn’t say a book, it’s a lie, isn’t it? Because these covers are absolutely fantastic.”
The guest revealed his mother had illustrated 38 Enid Blyton books, and pointing to one cover by the infamous author, Clive remarked: “This one particularly intrigued me The Mystery of the Vanished Prince, now tell me about that one.”
The guest replied: “It’s one of the various mystery books she illustrated for Enid and that’s myself and two or three of my brothers that she used as models.”
He then showed Clive a picture of his mother with himself and his three brothers who she often used as models for her illustrations.
Clive then pointed out that the collection included some Billy Bunter illustrations and covers for Richard Crompton
