Margaret Macadam facts for kids

Margaret Macadam (1902–1991) was a talented British artist. She was known for creating beautiful illustrations, especially for book covers, in the 1920s and 1930s. Her most famous work is the cover design for Agatha Christie's novel Giant's Bread.

About Margaret Macadam

Margaret Macadam was born in 1902. She showed great artistic promise from a young age. In 1925, she earned a special scholarship. This allowed her to study at the Royal Academy Schools. This was a very famous art school in London.

Her Creative Work

Margaret became a professional illustrator. This means she drew pictures for books, magazines, and other things. She designed many "dust wrappers" for books. A dust wrapper is the paper cover that goes around a hardcover book. It protects the book and often has eye-catching artwork.

Her most important design was for Giant's Bread. This was the first serious novel written by the famous mystery author Agatha Christie. The original artwork for this cover was found in 2016. It was later sold for a good amount of money.

Margaret also designed other things. She created patterns for wallpaper. She also made greeting cards for a company called Medici in London.

Life and Family

In May 1936, Margaret Macadam married Francis Beart. He was already well-known for his skills with motorcycles. Francis was a famous racing motor cyclist and also tuned engines. Later, he tuned engines for Formula Three racing cars.

During World War II, Margaret helped her country. She trained to be a nurse with the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD). At the same time, her husband worked as an engineer. He helped build airplanes for the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Margaret Macadam passed away in 1991.

Book Cover Designs

Margaret Macadam designed many book covers. Here are some of her known works:

• Giant's Bread by Mary Westmacott (a pen name for Agatha Christie) (1930)
• Water into Wine by Catherine Cotton (1930)
• This Siren Song by Ernest Elmore (1930)
• Living One's Life by Evelyn Pember (1932)
• Joseph Kerkhoven's Third Existence by Jacob Wassermann (1934)
• Blind Mouths by Thomas Frederic Tweed (1934)
• Neighbours by George Thomas (1935)
• The Barbarians by Virginia Faulkner (1935)
• Humour by Stephen Leacock (1935)

Many of her dust wrapper designs were signed by her. These include the covers for Water into Wine, Joseph Kerkhoven's Third Existence, Blind Mouths, Neighbours, The Barbarians, and Humour.