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In this paper I will tell you about  the events that took place in Mervyn Peake‘s life and when they happened. It’s surprising how the child of two missionary parents, that was borned in the Beijing and spent the most part of his childhood there, got to be a very good artist, novellist, illustrator and poet at the same time.

At the age of 18 he enrolled at the Royal Academy. There started his life as an artist. Shortly after that, one of his paintings was chosen for an exhibition. In another few years his works were exhibited in London and Paris galleries. Then he began teaching at the Westminster School of Arts. In 1938 he had his first one-man show at the Calmann Gallery in London. Next year the publishing house “Country Life” published his first book Captain Slaughterboard. Before he wrote “the Titus books,” as he called them, Mervyn Peake was a noted illustrator of classic children’s books including Treasure Island and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1946. His in-depth study of renowned illustrators (including William Hogarth, George Cruikshank, Albrecht Dürer, William Blake, Gustave Doré, and Francisco de Goya) served as the foundation for his own work. His illustrations are now highly sought after. In 1946 it published the first part of his famous trilogy Gormenghast – Titus Groan. In 4 years was published the second part – Gomernghast. And finally, after 9 years the last part was published  – Titus alone. Peake also wrote horror novellas, like Boy in darkness. He had published a great deal of books and also had illustrated a very big part of them.

Peake wrote and struggled to produce a play, The Wit to Woo, which opened in 1957, but ran for only a brief time. This undertaking presaged a rapid decline in Peake’s health.

After 11 years this prolific personality passed away in Burcot, near Oxford.