The cover of The Penguin Book of English Verse is an example of the work of graphic artist Elizabeth Friedlander.

Not a name on everyone’s tongue, Friedlander had a distinguished career in Germany before being forced to leave in 1936, a career that continued equally strongly in England after the Second World War.

I visited Ditchling in East Sussex to see the exhibition of Friedlander’s work in the pocket-sized, perfectly formed Museum of Art and Craft next to the churchyard and the village pond.

Born in 1903 in Berlin, after her training Friedlander worked for magazines and newspapers. She was asked – something extremely rare for a woman in her profession -, to develop a new type face for a font foundry. This became the Elizabeth font, an elegant typeface that continues to be used by publishers to this day.

A touching case in the exhibition shows Friedlander’s choice of belongings that she took with her when leaving Berlin – her mother’s 1703 violin and her portfolio of work. It brings alive the situation of a refugee when you ask yourself what it is that you would pack in your hand luggage.

After two years in Milan, Friedlander managed to get a domestic service visa to London. Once here, she joined a British propaganda unit, where, among other things, she forged Nostradamus prophecies, that were believed by many prominent Nazis.

After the war, Friedlander applied her talent as calligrapher, designer and typographer in England for advertising work as well as book covers for publishers such as Penguin. A range of examples are exhibited included insoles for Saxone shoes. Friedlander retired to Ireland in the 1960s and died there in 1984.

The exhibition continues until 29 April in the lovely village at the northern edge of the South Downs. A suitable starting point for rambling if ever I saw one. Here one lady (?) is heading up the hill to the church in the pouring rain…