Peter Forster

Peter Shane Cavanagh Forster (1934 – 20 January 2021) was an English wood engraver, artist and printmaker, making illustrations for The Folio Society, The Times, The Observer and Saatchi & Saatchi, together with a number of other publications. He was one of the first wood engravers to use colour in his printmaking. In 2005 he was asked by The Royal Mint to design the £2 coin to recognise the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot.

Early life Forster was born in Fulham in 1934, the son of Harold Forster, who served in the Royal Air Force, and Mabel (née Fairy). In particular he aligned his love of literature and art working with the Folio Society. Jane Austen and George Eliot, among others. on behalf of the Folio Society, and he also made illustrations for The Ballad of Reading Gaol, again for the Folio Society.

In 2005 he was asked by The Royal Mint to design the £2 coin to recognise the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. Forster died on 20 January 2021, aged 86.

Selected publications