Art You Should Know

This story features a white duck (yes, she is a duck, not a goose!) who has only one wish - to be able to lay her own eggs. Let's see how Beatrix Potter tells about her adventures - by her words and her illustrations.

The book was published in 1908 by Frederick Warne & Co., Inc., London, New York.

Jemima lived at the farm with some hens. Her major problem was the farmer's wife.

She took all Jemima's eggs but the duck wanted to hatch them.

Jemima tried to hide her eggs, yet they were always found and taken.

So Jemima Puddle-Duck decided to make her own nest somewhere away from the dangers of the farm.

Why not try to use the safety of the trees in the wood?

She could fly there ...

She just needs a good start.

She flew across the trees and decided to land on the open spot in the middle.

She looked among the flowers and thought there would be a nice place for her nest.

But there was somebody already there. A gentleman reading newspaper.

He was very helpful. The gentleman offered her to use his woodshed. It was already full of feathers.

The gentleman let her in.

There were really a lot of feathers.

Jemima started nesting right away. It was quite comfortable.

The gentleman was waiting outside and looked a bit disappointed when she went home.

He promised he'll look at the eggs while she was gone.

She returned every day until nine eggs were in the nest. The gentleman asked her to bring some herbs next time so he could make an omelet.

Jemima did her best to provide the gentleman with everything for stuffing roast duck.

In the kitchen, a collie stopped her and asked where is she going every day and why she needs onions. When she described the gentleman, the dog became angry.

He asked about the location of the shed in the wood. Then he invited two fox hounds to join him.

In the meantime, Jemima went towards the shed as well. She had a lot to carry.

The gentleman was waiting for her. He ordered her to go into his house right after she check the eggs. She was surprised by his rudeness.

While she was in the shed she heard loud noise from outside. There was a lot of barking and growling.

The gentleman apparently vanished!

When Jemima came out of the shed both fox hounds jumped in and gobbled all the eggs.

Jemima went home crying.

Sometime later, she lay a new batch of eggs, nobody took them from her and Jemima Puddle-Duck got four little ducklings.

Trivia

• Beatrix Potter had a real duck named Jemima Puddle-Duck and a sheepdog named Kep.
• The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck is number nine in the series of twenty-three original tales by the same author. All of them are still in print and there are also numerous adaptations to activity books, baby books, gift books, and sound books.
• The character of Jemima appeared in the ballet Tales of Beatrix Potter, Nick Jr. TV series Peter Rabbit, and in a combination of animated and live movie about Peter Rabbit (the first and most famous character created by Beatrix Potter).
• The favorite color of Jemima is purple.

Similarity with Little Red Riding Hood

• The essential plot is the same: the protagonist (Jemima instead of Red Riding Hood) goes into the wood, is tricked by the antagonist (the fox instead of the wolf), and the helper in the end (in this case dogs instead of the hunter).
• The theme of resurrection is presented by eggs. While in Red Riding Hood the granny and the girl are eaten, to be symbolically born again after the death of the wolf, in The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck the first batch of eggs is eaten, and chickens are hatched (born) after the fox escaped.
• The dog's inquiry about the fox's house is mirroring the wolf's inquiry about the granny's house.
• The duck's quest for herbs is mirroring Red Riding Hood's flower picking.
• Naivety of the main characters in both tales are very similar and the messages are too: don't trust a stranger, even if he seems nice.

Here is a chance to refresh the memory of the Little Red Riding Hood and its symbols.

Till next time!

Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress, written by Charles Dickens, illustrated by George Cruikshank

Oliver Twist is one of the best works by Charles Dickens and a invaluable treasury of world literature. It tells a story about an orphan who raises from the social bottom to the solid position in the society with an optimistic view on his future. There are numerous interesting aand often grotesque characters in the story which was superbly illustrated by then already well-established caricaturist George Cruikshank.

Oliver Twist was originally published as a serial in Richard Bentley's magazin between 1836 and 1838. Richard Bentley decided to publish the book about Oliver Twist's adventures in three volumes even before the serial came to an end. Charles Dickens who was in the book creditd with his pseudonym Boz, was a very demanding author who was extremely satisfied with Cruikshank's work but asked him to replace the last illustration where the artist portrayed celebration with a contemplating scene.

All illustrations for original Oliver Twist were black and white. Almost one hundred years later, around 1910 an unknown artist colored them what somehow changed the perception of the scenes and characters. On one side everything looks more lively, on the other some edge from Cruikshank's originals are lost.

We will present all 24 pictures from the first edition of Oliver Twist in both versions. Here they are in original order:

Volume 1

Oliver's reception by Fagin and the boys

Oliver asking for more

Oliver escapes being bound to a sweep

Oliver plucks up a spirit

Oliver introduced to the respectable old man

Oliver amazed by the Dodger's mode of "going to work"

Oliver recovering from fever

Oliver claimed by his affectione friends

Master Bates explains the professional technicality

Here the volume one of the book ends. We'll immediately follow with the second one.

Volume 2

The Burglary

Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney taking tea

Mr. Claypole as he appeared when his master was out

Oliver at Mrs. Maylie's door

Oliver waited on by Bow Street runners

Monks and the Jew

Fagin in the condemned cell

While the first volume had nine illustrations, we find only seven in the second one. Next eight illustrations by George Cruikshank are from the third (and last) volume of the first edition of Oliver Twist.

Volume 3

The last chance

The evidence destroyed

Mr. Fagin and his pupils recovering Nancy

The Jew and Morris both begin to understand each other

The meeting

Sikes attemping to destroy his dog

Mr. Bumble degraded in the eyes of th paupers

Rose Maylie and Oliver

This concludes the last volume of Oliver Twist. While Charles Dickens and George Cruikshank, both giants in their fields of works, collaborated primarily due the simple fact that both worked for Richard Bentley's magazine (Bentley's Miscellany), this book also proved to be a winning combination of the wits of both creators with a sharp eye for details, strong social sense and superb technica mastery of the trade.

Their professional ways parted right after that because Dickens established his own magazine and later Cruikshank began fanatically preaching against drinking and smoking. But that's probably material for another time.

To complete this post, we can also add the illustration which was initially meant for the last scene. George Cruikshank believed Victorian reader's perception of happy ending but Charles Dickens protested against it because he saw it as too conventional. Anyway, the illustration simply called 'fireside plate' found its way to audience and is kind of standrad for collectors' editions.

Oliver Twist with the Maylie family; or The fireside illustration

If by any chance somebody posses the first edition of Oliver Twist, it is worth between thousand and thirty thousand dollars, depending on condition and extras like singnings, binding etc.

The Carrot Top aka The Carrot Head (originally Poil de Carotte) by Jules Renard from 1902 is a classic work of children's literature that is not so different than today's works by substance yet very different by style. A story about all kinds of humiliating experiences of a kid who doesn't fit in his surrounding (who does?) What leads to all kinds of more or less humiliating experiences is presented in a loose form more resembling series of short sketches than a formal novella.

The kid travels through his miserable (in his opinion) life armed with irony and skepticism, escalating his anger on small animals. Our perception of injustice changed quite a bit since this book was published, so it's hard to relate to his troubles, no matter if we are cursed with red hair and freckles or some other handicap.

Pierre-Jules Renard (1864-1910), a writer and playwright never hid how very autobiographical his today's most known work really is. The break of his parents' marriage is already presented in the book, just like the toxic relationships between the siblings eventually leading to the decomposition of family structure. Renard eventually dropped out of school, started spending most of his time with friends in cafes, joining forces with journalists and artists, eventually becoming one of them.

the hens

the partridges

it's the dog

the nightmare

with all due respect

the pot

the rabbits

the deck

the rifle

the mole

alfaalfa

the timpani

breadcrumbs

the trumpet

the wick

the bath

Honorine

cooking pot

reluctance

Agathe

the program

the blind

New Years Day

back and forth

the pen holder

red cheeks

the lice

like brutus

chosen letters

the roof

the cat

the sheep

godfather

the fountain

the plums

Mathilde

safe

tadpoles

spectacular turn of events

on the hunt

the fly

the first woodcock

the hook

the silver coin

personal ideas

leaf storm

the revolt

the final word

the carrot top album

The story about the Carrot Head was adapted for theater, and later the play further adapted for the novella, this time with already grown-up Red Head. Several movies were made after it as well. We present the original illustrations from the first edition, done by Felix Edouard Vallotton (1865-1925) a painter of Swiss-French origin, who was specialized for modern woodcuts. His style with huge areas of black and white, with emphasized borders, fits perfectly with the story.

Just a note: carrot top is just one of numerous sometimes pretty derogatory nicknames for a read-heads. If you are interested to find out moe of them, here is a list of nicknames for people with red hair.

The Old Nursery Stories by E. Nesbit, illustrated by WH Margetson

E. Nesbit is, of course, a pen name for Edith Nesbit who was at the time of publishing of the book already married (her surname was Bland), a mother of five (two adopted), and a well-known author of dozens of books. She wrote many, she collaborated on even more, and this one is an example of her retelling and editing skills. By the way, the book is dedicated to her youngest son (adopted, his real mother was the Bland's housekeeper, secretary and long time Edith's husband mistress Alice Hoatson) John.

It's a collection of nine all-time classics, among which Dick Whittington and his cat and The white Cat are almost forgotten now, yet we'll spend a few lines to each one of them, especially enjoying in pictures by William Henry Margetson, who was more of a painter than an illustrator by profession. However, he did a great job on this book and we are lucky to find it and preserved for posterity.

We are less enthusiastic about the adaptations of the stories. Mrs. Nesbit who was prolific in writing for adults too was a fan of literary realism (a socialist by political belief), an author who is credited as a pioneer, if not an inventor of a much more realistic approach to the literature for kids. Her interventions in these timeless texts are more disturbing than enriching, often weakening the basic plot or message (s), despite some humorous additions.

So we'll focus on the illustrations instead. Each one of them is originally accompanied by a line, related to the place in the story, and we included those lines (in italics) as well. They are done in war aquarelle colors, with a loose brush, using the methods of pre-raphaelites and post-impressionists. Just an interesting tidbit - the bok was published in the same year Mr. Margetson became a member of the Royal Institute.

Cinderella

She sat down in the quiet kitchen among the gray ashes, and cried and cried (used as frontispiece)

The story about the girl who lost everything, was degraded almost to the status of the beggar but became the princess and has so big heart, she forgives her stepsisters too.

No one had passed out except a ragged beggar girl, running like a mad thing

Beauty and the Beast

Then he burst into tears

Another well-known fairy tale with riches-to-rags-to-riches plot. This time the youngest girl offers to sacrifice herself to save the father only to find out sometimes the real beauty lies deep below the horrifying appearance.

In a moment she was leaning over it. It was the Beast

We have already dedicated a full post to the story about Beauty and the Beast, illustrated by William H. Thwaites.

Jack the giant-killer

The giant ran clumsily after him

There was a Jack, a brave young man, who decided to clear the world of cruel, violent and cannibalistic giants.

Puss in Boots

The cat stood up in his boots with the yellow heels and put his paws to his mouth and shouted

A story about the boy who inherited only a cat, while his brother got a mill and a donkey. But the cat was not an ordinary cat ...

We can go through the whole story with many more color illustrations in the next post:

Puss in Boots, by Richard Andre

Jack and the beanstalk

She stood looking up after him

Another story about a boy named Jack, this time dealing with one giant only, but he must visit him three times before their conflict is resolved.

Dick Whittington and His Cat

On his doorstep the owner of the house ... found him in the morning

A story with several elements similar to Puss in Boots, but more realistic. It is believed it is a fairy retelling of the life-story of legendary London major Richard Whittington.

We have already presented a collection with this story, where you can find more info:

Told in the Twilight

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood

"What are you doing, good lady?" the Princess asked

We are all familiar with a curse leading to one hundred years long sleep. It's interesting to note Nesbit 'corrected' the dramatical failure by Brothers Grimm who 'forgot' to punish the wicked fairy. Here, she hears about Sleeping Beauty and her prince's happiness what makes her so angry she dies!

There on the carved ebony bed lay the Princess

The White Cat

A little person ... veiled in black lace, walked with slow dignity towards him

This is probably least known of all fairy tales included in the book. It is written by Madame d'Aulnoy, the woman who invented the term fairy tale, and, as you may presume, wrote a few fairy tales on her own. This one is pretty similar to Beauty and the Beast, but with a twist - a prince meets a cat who is, of course, an enchanted princess.

Hop o 'My Thumb

Hop-o'-my-Thumb lagged behind, and every ten paces he dropped a white stone

Another almost forgotten fairy tale, with a small boy with a big heart and even more brains, who saves his six brothers, tricks a giant and made his family rich and happy.

That's it. The Old Nursery Stories was published by Henry Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton in London in 1909.

It was June 1925 when representatives of the Irish Department of Industry and Commerce approached Harry Clarke with the idea of designing a stained glass window for the International Labor Court in Geneva as a gift of the newly established Irish state. Clarke was already an established illustrator by then and one of the most famous designers of stained glass in the world.

The initial idea came from Miss Brighid Stafford, but this offer was not the only one coming from Ireland. They also suggested a carpet, a painting, and a work in Irish marble. Thanks to the fact Germany already donated stained glass to the same organization, Clarke’s window was not the favorite, yet the idea was eventually accepted by authorities in Geneva.

The window should present scenes from the most well-known pieces of Irish literature. Clarke and William Butler Yeats suggested 15 authors and work to be included and the list was confirmed in 1927 by the government. The project took Clarke and his studio for about two years. It was about to be finished when his health worsen so seriously he had to visit a sanatorium in Switzerland. His best men in the studio were left with detailed instructions to finish the project.

His health worsen so much the project was delayed for a full year but at least he managed to finish the last corrections by himself. He framed the window in with 71,5 inches by 40 inches dimensions hoping it will be installed during next weeks. It never came to Geneva.

During all the phases there were already numerous challenges during the work, mostly thanks to innovative yet challenging Clarke’s technique. His usage of acids and lead led to extremely attractive effects caused by colors and light. Presented characters were glowing, sometimes looking like surrounded by flames, like they are not of this world. Considering different phantasy, legendary, and religious scenes were involved, the aim of the artist was obvious.

(This part (panel 6) for instance, cracked at final firing. It was edited later and the scene didn't enter the final design.)

On the other side glass treated under such intense conditions became very fragile and cracks were expected in any phase, especially in later ones. Addition of numerous decorative elements (Henry Clarke was still a member od Art Nouveau movement) and quotes from literary works with inscriptions made the panels even more sensitive to all kinds of stress.

Working with highly hazardous materials which eventually caused health issues and death of Clarke (and several other stained art artists from his era) was another undesirable side effect. At first, his eyes were losing sight, then he felt of the bike, getting many injuries, then he was diagnosed tuberculosis. He died just being 41 years old.

But none of these problems caused so serious obstacle as the political attitude towards the scenes depicted. Fifteen scenes from the same number of works and authors were selected and confirmed by Minister Patrick McGilligan. It took politicians several years to authorize the sketches done by the artist who was understandably excited with a possibility to exhibit his work in such a prestigious location. Then, when they finally settled with the project, they wanted it as soon as possible.

Clarke did his best, but he was already loaded with other work and replied he needs about half a year to finish it. When the Geneva window was finally done, the criticism on the depicted scenes (remember, there were fifteen of them) started:

• Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World already had to be altered in the sketch phase.
• O’Sullivan’s The Others was also met with criticism as it may cause misunderstandings and offense.
• President Cosgrave also suggested the panel presenting Mr Gilhooley by Liam O’Flaherty to be replaced because it looked too provocative.
• According to Gordon Campbell (as the Secretary of the Department of Industry and Commerce he was already involved with the project from the very beginning right to the approval stages) even the selection of censored Joyce on the panel number 15 was not acceptable.

This means all Clarke’s hard work was heavily criticized despite all efforts he made before and during the process of planning, making constricting and editing the Geneva Window. He tried to save the project with a suggestion of several alternatives which should be presented in the meeting but such a meeting never happened. He died before the window was accepted and when it was, it wasn’t sent to Switzerland but installed in Merrion Street in one of the Government Buildings.

Clarke’s widow Margaret, an established painter herself bought it back next year (for the same price as received) but it was not immediately returned. The first crack in the window appeared in 1932 and the second in 1933. After that, the window was returned to Clarke’s studios to be repaired and it stayed in the family for several decades.

After Margaret’s death, the Geneva window was lent to Dublin’s Municipal Gallery of Modern Art where it was exhibited from 1963 to 1980. Then it was decided to be relocated - to the storage room. Harry Clarke’s sons took it back. In 1988 it was exhibited again, this time through the Fine Art Society in London when an art collector Mitchell Wolfson offered to buy it for his collection. The price was 100 hundred thousand British pounds.

This very special piece of art finally found a home at Wolfsonian Foundation at the University of Florida, Miami, where it’s permanently displayed.

Panel 1

The Wayfarer by Patrick Pearse

The beauty of the world hath made me sad

This beauty will pass,

Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy

(These verses were written on the eve of Pearse’s execution, what is represented with a black plate where the inscription is written, surrounded by flowers.)

The Story brought by Brigit (A Passion Play in Three Acts) by Lady Gregory

They bruised His brow with their crown of briars;

They mocked Him with every ugly thing;

He that could have shrivel them all with fire

He held His silence and He is a King

(The play was first performed at the Abbey Theatre in 1924.)

Panel 2

Saint Joan (A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an Epilogue) by George Bernard Shaw

O God that made this

beautiful earth,

When will it be ready

to receive thy Saints;

How long, O Lord, how long?

(The play was first published in 1921, right after the martyr and so-called Warrior Saint was canonized. She is presented with short hair-cut, surrounded by decorative flowers and leaves, waiting for execution, already slightly floating above the ground.)

Panel 3

The Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge

Well the heart’s a wonder; and I’m thinking there

won’t be our like again in Mayo, for gallant lovers, from this hour today

(The controversial theatre play was first published in 1907, the chosen scene is showing lovers in the moonlight just before the tragic incident.)

The Others by Seumas O’Sullivan

And now they pause in their dancing

And look with troubled eyes,

Earth’s straying children

With sudden memory wise

(The poem was published in Padraic Colum’s Anthology of Irish Verse in 1922, don’t miss the dancing elves above the lovers.)

Panel 4

The Demi-Gods by James Stephens

The dark curtain of night moved noiselessly,

and the three angels stepped nobly in the firelight

(The novel was published in 1914, the scene with three angels is from the second chapter of the first book.)

Juno and the Paycock by Sean O’Casey

Joxer’s song, Joxer’s song – give us

wan of your shut-eyed wans

(The play was staged in Dublin in 1924 for the first time, the depicted scene shows Captain Boyle asking Joxer to sing his favorite song.)

Panel 5

The Dreamers by Lennox Robinson

If I were to die tomorrow, all I would ask from the world

would be the charity of its silence

(We can see the figure of Robert Emmet in the last of this 3-act play from 1915 when he is saying he can’t leave Ireland.)

The Countess Cathleen by William Butler Yeats

I have heard a sound of wailing in unnumbered

hovels, and I must go down, down, I know not where

(The song from 1892 is telling the story about the title character who is willing to sell her soul for saving her residents from hunger. The influence of Ballets Russes is clearly visible in her blue, purple, and red outfit.)

Panel 6

Mr Gilhooley by Liam O’ Flaherty

She came towards him dancing, moving the folds of the veil

so that they unfolded slowly as she danced

(The sentence from the censored novel was published in Chapter XI in 1926 and is part of the scene where the main characters are both drunk and ’indecent’.)

Deirdre by George (AE) William Russell

I know the great gift we will give to the

Gael will be a memory to pity and sigh

over: and I shall be the Priestess of Tears

(The scene from the second act of the three-act drama, first performed in 1902 and published in 1907 presents the title character with her lover Naisi in the wood.)

Panel 7

A Cradle Song from Wild Earth by Padraic Colum

Mavourneen is going from me and from you,

Where Mary will fold him with mantle of blue

(The song was first published in 1907, Arnold Bax set it to music in 1922. Please note the Virgin Mary and Child protecting the worried mom and her baby.)

The Magic Glasses by George Fitzmaurice

It’s the pleasure and diversion of the world

You’ll hear and see in them magic glasses

(The scene from the play, first performed in 1913, focuses on the three magic red glasses, representing women.)

Panel 8

The Weaver’s Grave by Seamus O’Kelly

The widow thought that the world was

strange, the sky extraordinary, the man’s

head against the red sky a wonder, a poem

(The scene from a short story from 1919 presents a young widow with a gravedigger behind her. There is a silhouette of two more gravediggers as a contrast to the golden sun.)

On Music from Chamber Music by James Joyce

There’s music along the river

For love wanders there

Pale flowers on his mantle

Dark leaves on his hair’

(The mandolin player is a personification of the verse from 1907. This panel is signed with Harry Clarke Dublin 1930.)

There are ten stories for children altogether in the book, each of them accompanied with a line illustration by Blanche Mcmanus.

We'll present the stories with very short summaries and pictures by Blanche McManus.

Undine, the water maid, who wedded a mortal

Undine is a story about a water spirit who must marry a human to get an immortal soul. While human - a knight - falls in love with her at first, another girl comes into the picture. Undine discovers his infidelity and decided to punish him.

Undine inspired numerous artists for centuries. Here is a full site dedicated to the legend of Undine:

https://undine.webs.com

Rip van Winkle and his long nap

Rip would be a perfectly happy man if only his wife would not be so annoying. He had long walked with his dog to enjoy at least some piece as often as possible until he met a group of strange looking men. They gave him a drink after which he slept for more than twenty years. When he woke up, he was old, his dog was old and everything in his environment changed. But at least his wife was already dead...

The swineherd

It's a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. There is a king, who is not very rich, but thoughtful and a princess who is beautiful but senseless. She loves toys and can't appreciate natural beauty. The king finds a way to her heart only to find out he doesn't want a wife with such a cold heart.

Dick Whittington and his cat

This story is grounded on real people and events, namely on Richard Whittington (1354-1423) who was a Lord Mayor of London (for four times!) and one of the people who made not only an important impact on the development of the city but the progress of society as well. The story is representing him as a poor boy who becomes powerful and affluent with a help of his cat and hard work, somehow resembling more know fairy tale Puss in Boots.

Presentation of the picture book with engravings by legendary George Cruikshank and additional info on the story can be seen here:

http://vintagebooks.joomla.com/8-fairy-tales/4-dick-whittington-his-cat

The dragon of Wantley

The poem about the dragon of Wantley is almost forgotten today. Yet it was very popular a few hundred years ago. It's a classic story about a horrible dragon and a knight but with a satirical approach, more comic than terrifying. It was adapted for theater and opera stages and published in a form of a novel too. This version is adapted to the youngest audience.

A voyage to fairyland

Dora is a girl who likes stories about fairies. Of course, she doesn't believe in magical beings. She is too grown up for this. Until one evening a goblin invites her on the voyage to Fairyland...

The ugly duckling

Another fairy tale by Andersen. A duck who is despised by his own family and just about everybody in his environment is so unhappy he even wants to die in one moment. Then he realized he is not really a duck but something much more magnificent. This story bears many similarities with the author's own life.

Robin Hood and his merry men

In a shortened version of Robin Hood we meet only some of the major characters and see a few examples of Robin's business - he invites travelers to dinner and accepts their 'voluntary' participation in money and other goods. In case, somebody can't afford the payment, he even lent money to such guests thus expanding his circle of friends and supporters.

His fame was so great the king arranged a meeting and, enthusiastic by Robin and his men, invited all of them to serve in court. They accepted but after a while, they all realized their true calling lies in the forest where they lived for the rest of their lives.

The discontented pendulum

There was an old clock, working steadily for years when it suddenly stops. The pendulum complained about his tiredness - he calculated how many ticks he had already done in many years of working and is decided to take some rest. Other parts of the clock encouraged him to get back to work and then he really started swinging again, one swing at a time - even faster than before.

The pied piper of Hamelin

In the town of Hamelin, there were so many rats people started believing they'll never get of rid them. Then a piper offered himself to take care of rats. When he led them out of the town with a help of his magic pipe, people of the Hamelin forgot what they promised. They didn't want to pay him anymore. So the piper took his pipe again and led the children out of town.

A detailed presentation and analysis of Pied piper can be read here:

https://hubpages.com/education/pied-piper

With this story the book Told in the twilight (stories to tell to children), illustrated by Blanche McManus (1869-1935) and published by E. R. Herrick & Company approximately in 1898, ends.

The Diary of a Goose Girl by Kate Douglas Wiggin and illustrated by Claude Allin Shepperson was first published in 1902 by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., today still active as Houghton Mifflin Harcourt from Boston.

Kate Douglas Smith was born in 1856 to a lawyer with Welsh roots. She lost her father in childhood and after a while moved from Philadelphia to Maine with her mother and sister. There her mother remarried. Kate accidentally met Charles Dickens on the train and talked to him for hours what was probably the most influential literary experience of her youth. The new family, expanded with a new baby brother moved to California because of health issues of Kate's stepfather. Three years later her stepfather died as well.

Despite all the migrations, she received a pretty good education and expanded it in California where she became a kindergarten teacher in the first free kindergarten which she established. When she married Mr. Wiggin, who was a lawyer, just her father, she had to leave the job (this was obligatory in those times), but still supported the kindergarten with money earned by her writing.

She was a tremendous storyteller and several of her books became bestsellers. The Diary of a Goose Girl bears several similarities with her life if we consider her moving from the city to the rural environment, her witty commentaries and allusions to contemporary events, and the perspective of one's life only if you experience it oneself. Rural motifs were frequent in many of her writings. As the title (and one of the sentences at the very beginning of the book) suggests it shares some similarities with a legendary fairy tale The Goose Girl by Brothers Grimm.

Kate Douglas Wiggin's work is less dramatic than Grimms', with ironic standpoint, numerous chapters which are relatively independent of each other, and always attractive diary format of writing. Some readers even today, despite the slightly out-dated style and lost connotations with the actual situation in society, still find it enjoyable and amusing. If we prefer the easier narrative pace and dig in it deep enough we'll still find several resemblances with today's society, especially in the area of relations between genders. Let's glance through the story with a help of spectacular illustrations signed by Claude A. Shepperson.

Unfortunately, we can't provide too many details about the life of Claude Allin Shepperson, British illustrator of many talents, who initially also tried to become a lawyer just like the two of the most important men in Mrs. Wiggin's life. He also died of pneumonia, what we'll find out for Kate in the rest of the text. Before that, we shall add a few more tidbits from the life of Kate Douglas Wiggin who suddenly lost her husband after eight years of marriage.

She spent next years in traveling (she frequently lived in at least two places, for instance in New York by winter and Scotland by summer), writing and educating new kindergarten teachers. When she remarried to a businessman, her last name changed again, this time in Riggs, so some of her works are signed by this name. She became one of the most influential supporters of children's rights in history but never had one of her own.

Kate wrote more books who were an even bigger success, co-authored several with her sister Nora, edited a novel by Jane Porter, co-founded a library, and even wrote a few songs with text and music. Many of her works were adapted for the stage and movies. They made at least three different movies after Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, her biggest literary success!

At the age of 66, she died of pneumonia when she represented New York in England at Dickens Fellowship. Her ash was returned to the USA and scattered over the Saco River in Main, where her last residence was. Nora Archibald Smith, her sister, wrote a biographic work about her in 1925. Kate's home in Holis, Maine, is in a National Register of historic places.

Hans Johann Schliessmann (1852-1920) was an illustrator and caricaturist from Austria. Born in Mainz, Germany, came to Austria five years old. Without any formal education in painting or design he volunteered at Xylographischen Anstalt Waldheim since 1866. After a while he became a xylograph and later draftsman. At early twenties, he developed his own humorous style for making caricatures and and started collaborating with several newspapers and magazines (Humoristischen Blattern, Figaro, Kikeriki, Wiener Luft, Fliegenden Blatten).

As an insightful observer he soon became kind of chronist of Viennese social life. He especially liked musicians, military personel and sportsmen. Scenes from music halls or stage performances were among his signature works. As being a passionate violinist himself, he understood muic better than majority of other illustrators and personally knew numeorus musicians as well.

His illustrations were always funny and never rude. While being primrly a line illustrator and realist, one of his loves were also silhouettes. Here is a series of conductors and other musicians mostly done in pen and ink:

Felix Weingartner (1863-1942)

Hans Richter (1843-1916)

Ferdinand Lowe (1865-1925)

Eduard Strauss (1835-1916)

Josef Strauss (1827-1870)

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Felix Mottl (1856-1911)

Franz Schalk (1863-1931)

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Arthur Nikisch (1855-1922)

and so on and on ...

Of course, he made regular drawings as well. Or in next case, both:

Carl Michael Ziehrer (1843-1922)

Or he put his characters in action:

Wendelin Kopetzky (1844-1899)

Hans von Bulow (1830-1894)

And here are a few of his caricatures:

He also worked in other areas of art. He made many colored posters, mainly for musical pieces. As a skillful designer, for instance, he created a set of original tarock card with scenes from the Viennese life. Here are all 21 tarocks:

Why are these cards so special? They portray the characters from Viennese social life and as such present a unique document of a specific time.

During his life he illustrated three monographies: an album with his drawings in 1890, a book by Eduard Potzl with his silhouettes in 1892, and a book reader with his silhouettes, published in 1909. After his death some of his work was published by his widow Charlotte. Two more books with his work (one about conductors, 1928 and the other about women in music, 1930) were also published posthumously. Hans Schliessmann died in Vienna. There is a street (Schiessmanngasse) in Hietzinger-Vienna district named after him.

April Showers is a picture book for kids, written by Mabel Dearmer (1872-1915), illustrated by George Lambert (1873-1930), and simultaneously published by Frederick Warne and Co in London and A. C. Armstrong & Son in New York around 1890.

It's a simple story about a girl who wants to visit her grandmother and just like Red Riding Hood bumps into some obstacles on the way. But there are no dramatic situations like in classic fairy tales, the emphasis is on simple, colorful, lively images, fluent narration and a bit instructive conclusion.

Mabel Dearmer, sometimes signed as Mrs. Percy Dearmer, born as Jessie Mabel Pritchard White, was an illustrator herself, so it's no surprise to find fluency in the change of scenery, nice balance between text and graphics and enough opportunities for an illustrator to add some uniqueness to the otherwise pretty straightforward story.

This is one of earliest works by Mrs. Dearmer, who tried herself in the field of writing, translating, and illustrating for children and adults. She had also established The Morality Play Society to produce and perform her plays and joined as a volunteer to the Red Cross in World War I. She contracted typhoid and died after complications.

Let's dig in the book!

As you probably already noticed, some of the illustrations are printed in only two colors and some are full-colored. Color printing was still pretty expensive technique, so publishers were looking for all possible combinations to offer attractive product at a reasonable price to already educated and slightly spoiled market.

One of such tricks was a usage of vignettes, simple decorative pictures to fill the blank space without going into too much expense with the artist, another used in this book, too,  was a mirroring image used once in full color and once in two colors only printing technique. Again, there is no additional cost for the illustrator and it's possible to save some money at colors as well.

They also used the same picture for the front and back cover.

This was a list of all pictures, but we decided to delete all text, so we can better focus on the graphics. We'll provide a short summary of each narrative part just to make sense of the sequence 

Eva decided to visit her grandma.

She took some food with her.

Very soon it started raining.

She waited under a tree.

Plants and animals were aware of raining too.

It looked they know how important is water for life.

The rain stopped.

Everything seemed refreshed.

Eva saw some ants taking care of the food.

Then she saw some snails crossing her path.

She passed by a company of rooks.

Later she had met a shepherd and a god watching a few cows.

Eva was afraid of cows.

Finally, she took the courage to pass by the cows. They hardly noticed her.

She thought she was silly of being afraid of such peaceful animals.

At grandma's house, she stopped again to admire her garden.

She gave a piece of groundsel to the goldfinch.

She had tea with her granny and then she went home.

George Washington Thomas Lambert tried himself at many occupations, including becoming a jackaroo for a few years, before he focused on art. He was born in St. Petersburg in a family of an American railway engineer, but his father died before his birth. His mother was English with her mother from Germany. Soon after George's birth the family moved to Germany and later to England where he received his basic education.

But when he was 13, the family (he had three sisters) moved again, this time to Australia, where George lived on the sheep farm for a while before moving to Sydney, where he became a clerk. He attended night art classes but decided to return to the sheep farm for two more years. Then he met an illustrator (B. E. Minns) who advised him to continue with art studies.

He listened to him and found a day time job in a grocery store slowly progressing in the field of art. After a while, first commissions for newspapers and soon after for picture books came. His experience with nature marked his work and it's a bit pitty he focused on portraits when he became a fully developed artist. Lively scenes with occasional humorous details could make him one of the most popular illustrators of children's books.

Anyway, we still have a pleasure of enjoying his work for Mabel Dearmer's picture book. The actually contributed on several occasions, at least at five picture books published around 1890 altogether.

There is a proverb "April showers bring forth May flowers." On Western hemisphere April is the month when nature really starts bursting with life. Rain has an important role in this and an old saying claims there will be no flowers in May if the April is not rainy enough. The elements of rain, greenery, hungry animals, and even a rainbow are all present in the picture book in this post.

April can be a capricious month, unpredictable with huge oscillations of temperature and humidity. The name April can be derivative of aperire (to open) in Latin and anixi (opening) in Greek. It's also closely related to Aphrodite (Venus), the Greek goddess of procreation and love.

source: https://mycalendarland.com/calendar/april

We'll probably never know how April really got its name, yet we can still enjoy in this month of optimism and opportunities. Everything is possible in April. Go out and enjoy, just don't forget an umbrella!

April Showers is a picture book for kids, written by Mabel Dearmer (1872-1915), illustrated by George Lambert (1873-1930), and simoultanously published by Frederick Warne and Co in Londoncollaboration with A. C. Armstrong & Son in London and New York around 1890.
april-showers-george-lambert-front-cover
It's a simple story about a girl whoo wants to visit her grandmother and just like Red Riding Hood bumps into some obstacles on the way. But there are no dramatic situations like in classic fairy tales, the emphasis is on simple, colorful, lively images, fluent narration and a bit instructive conclusion.
april-showers-george-lambert-half-title
Mabel Dearmer, sometimes signed as Mrs Percy Dearmer, born as Jessie Mabel Pritchard White, was an illustrator herself, so it's no surprise to find fluency in the change of scenery, nice balance between text and graphics and enough opportunities for an illustrator to add some uniqueness to otherwise pretty straightforwad story.
april-showers-george-lambert-01
This is one of earliest works by Mrs Dearmer, who tried herself in the field of writing, translating, and illustrating for children and adults. She had also established The Morality Play Society to produce and perform her plays and joined as a volunteer to the Red Cross in World War I. She contracted a typhoid and died after complications.
Let's dig in the book!
april-showers-george-lambert-inside-title
As you probably already notices, some of illustrations are printed in only two color and some are full-colored. Color printing was still pretty expensive technique, so publishers were looking for all possible combinations to offer as attractive product as possible at reasonable price to already educated and slightly spoiled market.
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-1
One of such tricks was usage of vignettes, simple decorative pictures to fill the blank space without going into too much expense with the artist, another used in this book, too,  was a mirroring image used once in full color and once in two color only printing technique. Again, there is no additional cost for the illustrator and it's possible to save some money at colors as well.
april-showers-george-lambert-pictures-list
This was a list of all pictures, but we decided to delete all text, so we can better focus on the graphics. We'll provide a short summary of each narrative part just to make sense of the sequence 
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-2
Eva decided to visit her grandma.
april-showers-george-lambert-02
She took some food with her.
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-3
Very soon it started raining.
april-showers-george-lambert-03
She waited under a tree.
april-showers-george-lambert-04
Plants and animals were aware of raining too.
april-showers-george-lambert-05
It looked they know how important is water for life.
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-4
The rain stopped.
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-5
Everything seemed refreshed.
april-showers-george-lambert-06
Eva saw some ants taking care of the food.
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-6
Then she saw some snails crossing her path.
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-7
She passed by a company of rooks.
april-showers-george-lambert-07
Later she had met a shepher and a god watching a few cows.
april-showers-george-lambert-08
Eva was afraid of cows.
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-8
Finally she took the courage to pass by the cows. They hardly noticed her.
april-showers-george-lambert-09
She thought she was silly of being afraid of such peaceful animals.
april-showers-george-lambert-10
At grandma's house she stopped again to admire her garden.
april-showers-george-lambert-11
She gave a piece of groundsel to the goldfinch.
april-showers-george-lambert-12
She had a tea with her granny and then she went home.
april-showers-george-lambert-vignette-9
George Washington Thomas Lambert tried himself at many occupations, including becoming a jackaroo for a few years, before he focused on art. He was born in St. Petersburg in a family of American railway engineer, but his father died before his birth. His mother was English with her mother from Germany. Soon after George's birth the family moved to Germany and later to England where he received his basic education.
But when he was 13, the family (he had three sisters) moved again, this time to Australial, where George lived on the sheep farm for a while before moving to Sydney, where he became a clerk. He attended night art classes but decided to return to the sheep farm for two more years. Then he met an illustrator (B. E. Minns) who advised him to continue with art studies.
He listened to him and found a job in a grocery store slowly progressing in the filed of art. After a while first work for newspapers and soon after for picture books came. His experience with nature marked his work and it's a bit pitty he focused on portraits when he became fully developed artist. Lively scenes with occassional humorous details could make him one of the most popular illustrators of children's books.
Anyway, we still have a pleasure of enjoying his work for Mabel Dearmer's picture book. The actually contributed on several occasions, at least at five picture books published around 1890 altogether.
april-showers-george-lambert-back-cover
There is a proverb "April showers bring forth May flowers." On Westtern hemisphere April is the month when nature really starts bursting with life. Rain has important role in this and an old saying claims there will be no flowers in May if the April is not rainy enough. The elements of rain, greenery, hungry animals, and even a rainbow are all present in the picture book in this post.
April can be a capricious month, unpredictable with huge oscialtions of temperature and humidity. The name April can be derivative of aperire (to open) in Latin and anixi (opening) in Greek. It's also cloesly related to Aphrodite (Venus), Greek goddes of procreation and love.
calendar-april-printable
source: https://mycalendarland.com/calendar/april
We'll probably never know how April really got it's name, yet we can still enjoy in this month of optimism and opportunities. Everything is possible in April. Go out and enjoy, just don't forget an umbrella!

Fables by Aesop are one of the classic works which always attract numerous illustrators who want to show their own visions of well-known tales. Charles Robinson, a top illustrator from the Art Nouveau era got a project in 1895 when he was still at the beginning of his career. The publisher I. M. Dent & Co. decided to print a black and white version where dramatic contrasts came to full potential.

The fables were 'prepared for children' by Grace Rhys who was also an editor for Banbury Cross Series (12 volumes of classic works for children or adapted for children altogether), where illustrators of the so-called Golden Age portrayed many classic scenes from some of the best works in literature.

Illustrations were done in pen and ink with full-page images combined with vignettes and smaller pictures. Richard Robinson showed a lot of imagination in this book and it is time to take a look at them.

Aesop's Fables illustrated by Charles Robinson, published by I. M. Dent & Co., London, 1895

As you'll immediately see, Robinson included (more or less related to the story) small children in the pictures, what added another layer of playfulness to already simplified texts.

The Daw in Borrowed Feathers

Story: A jackdaw tried to pass as a peacock by dressing himself in peacocks feathers. But peacocks didn't accept him. When he tried to return among other jackdaws they didn't like him anymore.

Moral: Borrow feathers won't make you a fine bird.

The Sun and the Wind

Story: Sun and Wind argued who was stronger. They decided to proclaim a winner the one who could make a man to take off his coat. Cold Wind caused the man to wrap the coat around him even more. Warm Sun made the man feel so pleasantly hot, he took the coat off.

Moral: Soft and gentle wins more often than force and fury.

The Dog in the Manger

Story: The dog made himself a bed in a manger. When horses came, he growled at them, not letting them eat. Horses despised him for being so miserable to not allow others eating the food he cannot eat himself.

Moral: Do not grudge others what you can't use yourself.

Mercury and the Woodman

Story: A woodman lost his ax in a river. Mercury, who lived in, offered to bring him it back. He offered him a golden ax at first, but the woodman said it wasn't his. Then Mercury offered a silver hatched. Again, the woodman didn't want it. Finally, Mercury brought the right hatchet and awarded the honest man with other two axes. When the woodman told his story to his colleagues, one of them tried to get an award too. He dropped his ax in a river at pretending he was crying. Mercury offered a golden ax to him and he lied it was his. Mercury was so displeased with his dishonesty he not only took the golden ax back but didn't return the right one either.

Moral: Honesty is the best strategy.

The Fox and the Stork

Story: Fox invited the Stork to dinner. He served it in a shallow plate, what suited him perfectly, but made impossible to eat for the Stork. The Fox used the occasion to make fun of his guest. The Stork returned him by inviting the Fox to dinner very next day but serving it in a jar with a tall narrow neck.

Moral: Don't make a joke of somebody if you can't take it yourself.

The Ants and the Grasshopper

Story: a grasshopper asked the ants if they can share some food with him. It was winter and there was no food, but ants had some corn, stored from the summer They said he should think about the food for cold days when it was still warm.

Moral: When you have good times, don't forget to plan for bad ones.

The Lion and the Mouse

Story: The lion caught the Mouse more by accident than by a plan. The Mouse begged for his life and the Lion spared him. Not much later hunters caught the Lion in a trap made of ropes. Luckily Mouse returned him a favor by nibbling the knots.

Moral: Don't measure one's greatness by his size.

The Crow and the Pitcher

Story: It was hot and the Crow was very thirsty. When he finally saw a pitcher with water, it was too deep to be reached. He tried to break it, he tried to overthrow it but without success. Then he started throwing small pebbles inside and inch by inch the water level elevated high enough to be able to drink.

Moral: Little by little does the trick.

The Frogs Asking for a King

Story: The Frog wanted to lead better lives and asked Jupiter for a king. He was amused and sent him a log. At first, frogs were afraid of the log. When they realized it does nothing, they wanted another, more active ruler.

Jupiter then sent him a stork who started eating the frogs. Dissatisfied again frogs wanted a change again. But Jupiter told them they should be punished for being discontented in the first place.

Moral: People are never satisfied.

The Fox and the Grapes

Story: A hungry fox came into the vineyard and tried to eat some grapes. He couldn't reach them, so he concluded they must be sour anyway.

Moral: It's easy to dislike what you can't have.

The Wolf and the Lamb

Story: The Wolf saw the Lamb near the brook and tries to find a reason to start a fight. The Lamb denies all his accusations but Wolf eats the Lamb anyway.

Moral: A tyrant doesn't need an excuse for his behavior.

The Fox and the Crow

Story: The Crow got a piece of cheese and tries to eat it in the safety of a high tree. There the Fox spot it and starts giving compliments to Crow's beauty and elegance, suggesting how the voice is probably nice too. The Crow started singing, the cheese felt down where the Fox grabbed it adding there should be said something about the brains as well.

Moral: Never trust flatterers.

That's it. End of Aesop's fables. Well, there are many more attributed to this legendary author, but it's very likely he didn't write any of these educative materials. If you would like to learn about pretty mysterious Aesop and his tales, please visit:

https://hubpages.com/education/aesop-fables-2

I'll try to prepare some additional info about Charles Robinson, so stay tuned.

Have a great time exploring vintage books and the stories behind the stories in them!