Today Mervyn Peake’s reputation rests largely on his three novels, Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950), and Titus Alone (1959) which became widely known after they were published as Penguin Modern Classics in 1968. Prior to that, Peake was known rather for his poems, paintings, drawings, and book illustrations. Specialists still consider the pictures he provided for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as one of the most powerful interpretations of the poem, and his Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass as the most memorable illustrated edition. During the 1950s most of Peake’s energy went into …

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Citation: Winnington, G. Peter. "Mervyn Peake". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 February 2003; last revised 21 April 2022. [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3515, accessed 27 April 2024.]

3515 Mervyn Peake 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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