Maurice Tulloch

Maurice Tulloch (1894?-1974) illustrated several pony books, and numerous books on sporting subjects.  I have, as yet, found no biographical information on him, but I assume from the dates of his published work that he saw active service during World War II.  It is probably that he spent some time in India:  he was certainly commissioned to illustrate several books on Indian subjects.

The pony books he illustrated are mostly done in a bright, sunlit style, but I think his most succesful illustrations are when he moves away from that to a more realistic portrayal.  I particularly like his Jumping Jan, which emerged as one of the most popular of pony book covers when I ran a poll on the Forum attached to this site.  Ponies in Secret is very unusual amongst pony books in having colour plates throughout, as well as a colour frontispiece.  The book instantly conjures up a distant world where the sun always shone.  

None of his pony books are impossible to find, as long as you don’t mind paperback reprints.  If you want the originals, with dustjackets, then The Impossible  Horse, Four Rode Home and No Place for Ponies are all now expensive, and hard to find.  Jumping Jan has increased in price over the last couple of years, but the other pony titles are still reasonably easy to find.

Links and Sources
Mr Pollard, by Maurice Tulloch

A painting of What a Myth, by Maurice Tulloch

Bibliography: Pony Books illustrated by Maurice Tulloch
 

Cecil Acton: Stories of the Saddle

Country Life, London, 1938

Primrose Cumming:  Four Rode Home
Dent & Sons, London, 1951

Kathleen Mackenzie: Red Conker

Evans, London, 1952 (cover art only)

Kathleen Mackenzie: Minda

Evans, London, 1953

Monica Edwards: Such a Pony was Gipsy (short story)
in Collins Children’s Annual, c. 1953

Isobel Knight:  Surefooted

Pickering & Inglis Ltd, 1953

Catherine Harris: We Started a Riding Club

Blackie, London, 1954

Primrose Cumming: No Place for Ponies

Dent & Sons, London, 1954

D A Young: Ponies in Secret
Ward Lock & Co, London, 1955

Kathleen Mackenzie: Jumping Jan

Evans, London, 1955 (cover art only)

Christine Keir [Christine Pullein-Thompson]: The Impossible Horse

Evans, London, 1957

Authored by

The All-in-One Shikar Book: An Everyday Guide to Field Sports in India
DB Taraporevala & Sons, Bombay, 1950

Also

R S Summerhays: From Saddle & Fireside

Country Life, London, 1936

Lionel Dawson: Hunting Without Tears
Country Life, London, 1936

Martin Stephens:  Novice’s Luck
Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1936

M E Buckingham: Argh, the Tale of a Tiger

Country Life, London, 1936

M E Buckingham: Rajah the Elephant

Country Life, London, 1937

Sir Henry de Lisle: Tournament Polo

Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1938

“Uncle Ralph” [Martin Stephens]: Letters to Young Shooters

Rich & Cowan, London, 1939

Enid Blyton:  Six Cousins Again
Evans, London, 1950

Phyllis Hinton: It’s Fun to Have a Pony
Ward Lock, London, 1951

J K Stanford: Last  Chukker

Faber & Faber, 1951

J K Stanford: No Sportsman at All

Faber & Faber, 1952

Henry Stuart Tegner:  The Buck of Lordenshaw
Batchworth Press, London, 1953

R S Summerhays: All About Horse Shows

Pamphlet, undated, Moss Bros

Above right - plate from Ponies in Secret

Below - internal illustration from  “From Saddle and Fireside”