Children's Books and Their Illustrators — John Shaqi
Children's Books and Their IllustratorsWhite, Gleeson
General
Children's Books and Their Illustrators
White, Gleeson
Children's literature; Illustrated books; Illustration of books; Illustrators
The work of the Danish illustrator, Lorenz Froelich, is almost as
familiar in English as in Continental nurseries, yet his name is often
absent from the title-pages of books containing his drawings. Perhaps
those attributed to him formally that are most likely to be known by
British readers are in "When I was a Little Girl" and "Nine Years Old"
(Macmillan), but, unless memory is treacherous, one remembers toy-books
in colours (published by Messrs. Nelson and others), that were obviously
from his designs. A little known French book, "Le Royaume des
Gourmands," exhibits the artist in a more fanciful aspect, where he
makes a far better show than in some of his ultra-pretty realistic
studies. Other French volumes, "Histoire d'un Bouchée de Pain," "Lili à
la Campagne," "La Journée de Mademoiselle Lili," and the "Alphabet de
Mademoiselle Lili," may possibly be the original sources whence the
blocks were borrowed and adapted to English text. But the veteran
illustrator has done far too large a number of designs to be catalogued
here. For grace and truth, and at times real mastery of his material, no
notice of children's artists could abstain from placing him very high in
their ranks.
Oscar Pletsch is another artist--presumably a German--whose work has
been widely republished in England. In many respects it resembles that
of Froelich, and is almost entirely devoted to the daily life of the
inmates of the nursery, with their tiny festivals and brief tragedies.
It would seem to appeal more to children than their elders, because the
realistic transcript of their doings by his hand often lacks the touch
of pathos, or of grown-up humour that finds favour with adults.
The mass of children's toy-books published by Messrs. Dean, Darton,
Routledge, Warne, Marcus Ward, Isbister, Hildesheimer and many others
cannot be considered exhaustively, if only from the fact that the names
of the designers are frequently omitted. Probably Messrs. Kronheim &
Co., and other colour-printers, often supplied pictures designed by
their own staff. Mr. Edmund Evans, to whom is due a very large share of
the success of the Crane, Caldecott, and Kate Greenaway (Routledge)
books, more frequently reproduced the work of artists whose names were
considered sufficiently important to be given upon the books themselves.
A few others of Routledge's toy-books besides those mentioned are worth
naming. Mr. H.S. Marks, R.A., designed two early numbers of their
shilling series: "Nursery Rhymes" and "Nursery Songs;" and to J. D.
Watson may be attributed the "Cinderella" in the same series. Other
sixpenny and shilling illustrated books were by C. H. Bennett, C. W.
Cope, A. W. Bayes, Julian Portch, Warwick Reynolds, F. Keyl, and
Harrison Weir.
[Illustration: ILLUSTRATION FROM "NONSENSE" BY A. NOBODY
(GARDNER, DARTON AND CO.)]
The "Greedy Jim," by Bennett, is only second to "Struwwlpeter" itself,
in its lasting power to delight little ones. If out of print it deserves
to be revived.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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