Lot 382: Harmsen Van Der Beek (Dutch, 1897-1953)

Harmsen Van Der Beek (Dutch, 1897-1953)
Three faces suddenly appeared in the light of the car's lamps
signed 'BEEK' (lower left)
pen and black ink and watercolour heightened with white, unframed
6½ x 4½ in. (16.5 x 11.5 cm.)

Enid Blyton: Noddy; Sotheby's London, 29 October 1997, lot 86.

ENID BLYTON'S NODDY (Lots 382-398)


Enid Blyton met with David White (the managing director of Sampson Low and Co. Ltd.) in order to discuss creating a 'popular character for younger children with bright and colourful illustrations'. The end result was one of the most iconic characters in the history of children's literature.

Blyton had been working with the Dutch illustrator Eelco Martinus ten Harmsen van der Beek on a book published in July 1949 entitled The Fourth Holiday. Obviously impressed with his work Blyton decided to meet with Beek and within two hours Noddy goes to to Toyland was imagined and drawn.

Blyton fired off the first two Noddy books with the following note:

'I have finished the first two little Noddy books and there they are. I have written them with a view to give van der Beek all the scope possible for his particular genius - toys - pixies, goblins, Toyland, brick-houses, dolls houses, toadstool houses, market-places - he'll really enjoy himself! I don't want to tell him how to interpret anything because he'll do it much better if he has a perfectly free hand - but as Noddy (the little nodding man), Big-Ears the pixie, and Mr. and Mrs. Tubby (the teddy bears) will probably feature in further books, and will be "important" characters as far as these books are concerned, I'd be very glad if he could sketch out these characters and let me see roughs'.

Beek's work was a source of inspiration to Blyton and she loved unpacking each new delivery of glossy illustrations. She claimed that he had created Noddy and his environment exactly as she had visualised it.


HERE COMES NODDY AGAIN, 1951