oh yes, illustrations were such a big part of reading when I was young. As an Australian, I remember always the Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay - the illustrations were everything. And all the other books, such as Robin Hood. Everything was so wonderful once!
Thanks for watching and sharing that! My hope is that publishers will bring this kind of high-quality illustration back into print in children's books and other genres (and preferably not AI-generated art). Some publishers, such as Broken Binding, seem to be moving in a positive direction. The Magic Pudding is the book I've been recommended most often by Australians. I've never read it, and I need to remedy that. :)
@@thelibraryladder totally agree, AI art is soul-less, to the extent it's frightening., yes, we need more quality reproductions. I recently bought a rather expensive reprint of The Court Jester, Cornelia Baker, from India, happy it had the few quaint illustrations of the original. Not great literature but a charming read for an old lady! Am sure the Puddin' will run your way some time 😊 Thank you for your wonderful channel!
My grandmother was a school nurse, and close friends with the librarian. She would ask her for children's book recommendations. My siblings and I were very blessed with many illustrated books over the years, most of them Caldecott winners. Thank you Grandma and Mrs Rudolph!
Thank you to them, indeed! I had a great aunt who gave some of her childhood picture books to my mom who then shared them with me and my siblings when we were kids.
Working in a used book store, I see so many of these beautiful books come through. While they're not within my scope of collecting, I'm always amazed at their beauty.
Thank you for your video. As a fine artist, I was so inspired as a child to become an illustrator, art director, creative director then, owning my own Film and TV production company. My career was inspired sitting in the attic of our ranch house, filled with these magical old books. I would spend hours pouring over the fabulous illustrations as a young boy. One of my greatest hopes and goals was to one day to have my own oil paintings hanging next to one of my heros, Norman Rockwell at the C. Anthony Gallery, in Beaver Creek, Colorado. I finally got that opportunity in 2007. Personally, I find it a tremendous loss to society, that our great American artists are not revered more. That was time of such craftsmanship, quality, elegance and beauty. I have thought countless times how wonderful it would have been to be an illustrator and painter in those times. I wish I could have been one of the first oil painters to have moved to Santa Fe, and Taos New Mexico. Those painters like Maynard Dixon, Henry Sharp and The Taos Masters, were brilliant. Timeless beauty. Thanks again look forward to your next videos.
That's a wonderful story! I can remember the first time I visited the Brandywine Museum in Chadds Ford, PA, and was mesmerized by the paintings of Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth. It prompted the start of my efforts to collect copies of the books they illustrated (along with books featuring other artists). If Maynard Dixon had been a book illustrator, I'd certainly have searched for copies of his books. His western landscapes are magnificent!
Dear illustrator. How can I view your work? And. Were You ever blessed to review the series from the 1950s-60s THE FAMOUS ARTISTS INSTITUTE? Quite a Gateway for young illustrators at that time. Respectfully Yours Gregg Oreo Long Beach CA Etats Unis
I thank the algorithm for making me stumble into this video! 😭 I had been looking for illustrated classic books content all over the internet for a while, but couldnt find the perfect one. This is the best one yet! I legit shed tears of joy at the sight of those beautiful books! Thank you for making and bringing this video into this app. Cant wait to binge the rest of the videos on your channel.
Thanks! I have several videos that go into more depth on illustrated books, including two about reading classic books and one that’s a bookshelf tour I think you’ll find interesting. I plan to make more in the future.
It’s not quite what you described, as it focuses more on the illustrators and their work rather than the books themselves, but you may find Pete Beard’s YT channel to be right up your alley! He spotlights many accomplished illustrators from these periods; it’s a great channel with a similar vibe to this!
Thank you for sharing this collection! Please keep sharing children's book illustration, it inspires my art so much! I'm just finishing my first childrens book, written and illustrated by me, one more little drawing to go. I have many poems and stories to share, got to get them done! I stick to traditional methods and can't stand the flat blandness of what is called illustration nowadays. Many people are learning to illustrate with programs that could and do produce great things, BUT many have never learned the basics of drawing and painting.
Thanks! Classic illustrations are some of my favorites, and it's getting hard to find publishers willing to invest in artwork of that quality for most books. Inexpensive AI-generated illustrations might reverse that trend, but I have difficulty embracing that kind of art. I plan to feature more illustrated books in the future. There are many corners of my collection yet to be explored. I just need more hours in the day to focus on making the videos. :)
I have to admit, If a book didn't have pictures in them as a child, I wouldn't touch it. Not that I have trouble reading, but it makes the story of a book that much more exciting :) I grew up on Quentin Blake illustrations for Roald Dahl books, but it was super facinating to see other drawing of willy wonka etc. Shirley Hughes was a child hood favourite too. Again thank you for all this man, I'm really digging your content right now and cant wait to watch more. This was my favourite video :)
Thanks! This is my wife's favorite video that I've done so far, so you're in good company. :) Quentin Blake's illustrations are iconic. I wish Shirley Hughes had been published more widely here in the US. She's not nearly as well-known here as she is in the UK.
I have several of the books you show in this video, all hand me downs from my mother, aunt, and grandparents (the youngest of which was born in 1900). As wonderful as the artwork, and stories, of those classic books like 'The Brownies and the Goblins' the artist whose work has held my imagination for nearly 70 years is Adrienne Segur. Whenever a new baby is born into the family I'll gift the parents with a copy of 'The Golden Book of Fairy Tales' a magazine size hardcover book with outstanding illustrations in b&w and color that seem to glow or feel like an opening into another reality.
It was a joy to see your collection. Those books are beautiful. I wholeheartedly agree that reprints should be lavished with their matching illustrations. It would be nice for kids to get to experience those stories and images today. My father has a book of essays from a college press (Harvard or Oxford, I don't recall which exactly) which contains an illustration on its inner cover from Franklin Booth (a sailing ship in front of grand towers). There was no indication in the book of who had made that drawing, so it became a quest of mine for years to find who had done it. Tracking down Booth's name and learning about his generation of artists was my gateway to the classic illustrators (and what an introduction Booth was!). As for my own childhood Herge, Uderzo, Marcel Marlier, Carl Barks, Brett Helquist, Tony Diterlizzi, and Mary Grandpre were some of the illustrators I remember most fondly.
Thanks for sharing that story! Booth was a spectacular illustrator. His style reminds me of a unique blend of three of my favorites: Maxfield Parrish, Gustave Dore, and Virgil Finlay. I think I only have one book that he illustrated, and I'd love to find more. Some of my favorite illustrators from my childhood in the 1960s and 70s included Charles Geer, Edward Gorey, Harry Kane, William Pene du Bois, and Doris Burns.
As your newest subscriber I thank you for this video. I was a collector of illustrated books for many years and regrettably had to sell my collection when I left for retirement. I had almost the entire Scribner's Illustrated Classics editions, which I consider the beginning of the Golden Age for the USA with Maxfield Parrish and N.C. Wyeth leading the way. I had a very strong Edmund Dulac collection, and became infatuated with his work. I even had all his postage stamps in addition to my signed first editions and ephemera. In the 90's I started a project with his bibliographer, Ann Hughey, to locate and record his magazine covers for The American Weekly, the Hearst Sunday Supplement. To make a long story short, the entire collection of 106 covers is finally available as an eBook on Amazon, etc. I was not able to mount a print version, at least so far. I look forward to your other videos, especially on the Golden Age illustrators.
Thank you! I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your Scribner's Classics collection. I have nearly all of them, and I know how hard it is find good copies of many of them. I prefer to read those classic editions rather than newer reprints (especially the ones illustrated by Wyeth, my favorite). Your Dulac ebook looks gorgeous. What an admirable undertaking!
@@thelibraryladder Yes, it broke my heart to have to sell my book collections, but books don't travel well. I am becoming a fan of ebooks now that everyone is reprinting the illustrated classics. I think that is the future, I can't see cutting down more trees at this point. Perhaps for some of your future videos you would consider a sponsorship? I think your viewers would enjoy my Dulac eBooks as well. Thanks, Albert
Looking at books like these and copying them when I was small was what inspired my love for stories and making artworks that help tell them. I remember having big library books that had collections of stories, with different illustrator styles from all around the world.✨️ It was amazing. I think I'll start building up a collection of my own so that my future home will be a creative and inspiring place🤗
@@desertbloomke That’s what motivated me to start collecting vintage illustrated books. I love the artwork, and I wanted my kids to have the opportunity to be inspired by it. If you’re looking for ideas, I have a few more videos that feature these kinds of illustrated books - including one about reading classics, one about the Scribner’s series of illustrated classics, and a bookshelf tour of one of my children’s book bookcases.
Thank you for bringing my attention to this interesting topic. As a child I enjoyed illustrations but didn't give much thought to the artists. I will change that now. One illustrator I did notice was Garth Williams in the Little House books. I can't imagine those books without his drawings. I have seen some of Helen Sewell's work on the series but much prefer Mr. Williams' work probably because it's what I grew up with.
Thanks! I love the Garth Williams illustrations as well (I even have some of his original proofs from the Little House books, which I show in the bookshelf tour video I made last fall). If you haven’t already seen them, you might enjoy the two videos I made last summer about reading illustrated editions of classic literature. In all three videos, I showcase a lot of wonderful illustrators and their artwork.
By any given definition illustration is truly a beautiful genre of art. Shane it's frequently underrated. Harry Clark was always my favourite, but I also had a Maxfield Parish print on my bedroom wall for several years. "Stars" I think it was called. Composition, palette and subject matter was always spot on .
Thanks for sharing that! I agree with you. Clarke and Parrish are two of my favorites as well. I have a framed print of Parrish's 'Sinbad and His Seven Brothers.' However, I'm most partial to the artists from Howard Pyle's Brandywine School.
Thank you so so much!!! This means the world to me! I was looking the right inspiration for my next project and I am at a lost of words... Besides the project, I'll come back to your page frequently, I adore children literature and artistic illustration! Magnificent video! 🌟🔥☄
I’m so happy you enjoyed the video, Gladys! That’s why I made it-to draw attention to the wonderful illustrations from a hundred years ago that aren’t nearly as well known today. I have a similar video planned for July in which I’ll focus exclusively on the Scribner Illustrated Classics series, which featured extensive artwork by N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Mabel Lucie Attwell and many others. Thanks for watching!
Glad you enjoyed it! The artwork is gorgeous and adds so much to the enjoyment of the books. I plan to do more in-depth videos focusing on the works of some of my favorite illustrators.
@@thelibraryladder I look forward to seeing that. I’m currently writing and illustrating my picture book inspired by the Golden Age of illustration so I’m really interested in this topic. I’ll keep following you. Thanks for what you’re doing here.
@@ishasmemories That sounds like a fun project you're working on. Are there particular Golden Age illustrators to whom you're paying homage in your book?
@@thelibraryladder I particularly love the work of the illustrators Maria L. Kirk, however I'm not paying homage to her, just inspired by the style of several of the illustrators from that age and making my own style.
Over the past few days I’m going through you videos. I haven’t been disappointed yet. The illustrator that came to mind first was Sidney Sime. The second illustrator is Maurice Sendak who illustrated two stories of George MacDonald, which I have. Please keep making more videos. And preserving genre fiction. Thank you.
Thanks! Preserving classic genre fiction is the main reason I started this channel, and I have many more videos planned. If you haven't already seen it, I featured Sime in my most recent video (about Lord Dunsany). Sendak was another great illustrator (I have his edition of MacDonald's The Light Princess).
They were wonderful illustrators. I have a few books they illustrated for children, including Dodie Smith's The Hundred-and-One Dalmatians, and its sequel, as well as several retellings of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! If you're interested, I have two more videos that feature additional illustrated books. One focuses on the Scribner Illustrated Classics series and the other is a bookshelf tour of some of my vintage children's books. I uploaded both last summer.
Thank you for this video. Lovers of the golden age illustrations might enjoy Pete Beard’s channel where he digs into specific illustrators, their lives and works: www.youtube.com/@petebeard
Thanks! I hope to make more in-depth videos about some of my favorite illustrators, including Arthur Rackham, Anne Anderson, and members of the so-called Brandywine School.
Though it's much newer than these, Bernie Wrightson's illustrations for Frankenstein take the cake for me. It was seeing those that made me finally stop thinking of the creature as looking like Boris Karloff from the movies. Gustave Dore's Don Quixote is very fitting too.
Now THAT was an adventure worthy of one’s time! I can truthfully say that I have never before seen such a magnificent gathering of book art and illustration of this genre in one private collection. I must say, however that one both author and illustrator that my heart missed during your video has to be Hugh Lofting. His captivating adventures of Dr. Doolittle are one of my most absolute favorites from childhood…..and dare I say adulthood. I have a few of the first editions from his original publications. I’m sure that if I begged with sufficient ardor and vigor that you might take some of your precious time to make a video just about good old Puddleby-on-the-Marsh and it’s immensely talented author and illustrator. I feel confident that the entire set of first editions doth lurk somewhere among the dirth of volumes within “Scalam Bibliothecam.” I will beg forgiveness now for my extremely forward request. I will maintain faith and hope that it comes to fruition.
I love classic book illustrations, and I have several other videos featuring them. Highlights include my two videos about reading classics, and the bookshelf tour video I made about classic children's books (which includes one of my many Lofting volumes). I originally started this channel to focus primarily on children's books. It's the largest genre in my collection, and I'd been leading a book club for middle grade students at my kids' school for several years, so I was primed to talk about classic children's stories. Alas, TH-cam's algorithm didn't agree with my priorities, so I broadened my focus to cover other genres that I also enjoy. I still make occasional videos about children's books, and I intend to keep doing so. It disappoints me, though, that they consistently are the worst performing videos I make.
@@thelibraryladder I have not watched those episodes yet, however, I’m sure that every installment is a jewel. I completely understand being one’s own worst critic though. Regardless of your self appraisal, I look forward to watching each and every one. Thanks again and please keep up the creativity and sharing of your passion and knowledge! Thanks Again My Brother, Jeff
Please keep making videos about children's books! It's what gives me inspiration to keep working on my yet unfinished children's books! I teach myself from seeing this wonderful art.
Thanks for the compliment! I’m thinking about trying my hand at narrating some classic short stories and making them available to stream on my channel.
The first illustrator that comes to mind who defined the look of a book character and world is Joe Jusko on Tarzan. The little bookstore by my house as a kid had a collection of his work. It was always too expensive for me, and too filled with scantily clad jungle girls for me to ask for for Christmas. But whenever I’d read ERB, I pictured Jusko’s work.
A truly wonderful compendium and review concerning this incredible period of illustration-one that influenced so many other later established and emerging artists, and had a major impact on so many future pulp magazine and paperback book covers. Hopefully you will consider creating videos for the full set of illustrations within each of the volumes you briefly highlighted from what looks to be your own impressive library-a renowned collection of first and rare editions indeed. One caveat, however-my ears did cringe with every mention you made in your narration of the artist Kay Nielsen. Please note it's pronounced "kigh", as in the word "high"-not "cay", as in the word "ray.".
Thank you, Peter. I'm just an enthusiast and not an expert on illustration, and I appreciate the pronunciation correction. My primary goal is to promote awareness and appreciation of these books, authors and artists, and if I can learn things about them along the way, all the better. I do intend to produce videos focusing on specific illustrators and sets of illustrated books. My biggest constraints are: (a) I have a great many book interests and video ideas spanning multiple genres; (b) I'm striving to produce videos that fully take advantage of TH-cam's capabilities as a visual storytelling medium; (c) that level of production requires considerable time and effort (and I'm a one-person operation who is just a novice at all this); and (d) TH-cam's algorithm prefers channels that target narrow audience niches (at least until a channel reaches a critical mass audience size). That last point has led me to focus my videos since December primarily on the fantasy genre while I try to build an audience without confusing the YT algorithm. I'm now slowly starting to roll out videos in other genres, and illustrated books (and pulp mags and paperbacks) will be a priority soon, although not as soon as I'd like. Thanks for your interest!
I agree with you that Moore and Dulac are outstanding. My favorite illustrator of The Wind in the Willows is Ernest Shepard, and my favorite for The Arabian Nights is Rene Bull.
This may be random, but I've been trying for years to find a book I read in the 90s. I've contacted the library but this was before a digital record was kept so I haven't had any luck finding the book. It was a children's book that I could have sworn was called "The Girl and the Golden Goose." It was primarily the Cinderella story but with a goose that laid a golden egg. One of the characters in this illustrated book had a crespine. It would mean the world if you happen to know which book it is. I loved looking at the illustrations and I'm so disappointed that I have not been able to find it yet.
Hmmm. Nothing jumps to mind that fits your description. Do you know roughly how long ago the book was first published? Is it 100+ years old, 60-70 years old, or only 30-40 years old? Also, what age readers did it target (was it a short picture book aimed at early readers, or a longer chapter book for kids 8-12)? The illustrator L. Leslie Brooke authored a collection of fairy tales called "The Golden Goose Book" more than 100 years ago. Most of his illustrations are pen-and-ink drawings in the classic style of the late 1800s/early 1900s. Because the copyright has expired, the book has been reprinted many times and is still in print. But I don't think it has a Cinderella-like character.
While I have some awareness of many of these artists, my favourites tend to be in the succeeding generation, who were often author/illustrators such as Denys Watkins-Pitchford (writing as "BB" but illustrating under his own name), Tove Jansson (the Moomin Books) and Mervyn Peake who illustrated not only his own books, but beautiful editions of Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland etc. Harry Clarke I am aware of more from his stained glass works. Some of the greatest are from my home country of Australia, including May Gibbs' "Snugglepot and Cuddlepie", and Norman Lindsay's "The Magic Pudding" - both from 1918. Both tackled adaptations of Australian flora and fauna and mythic creatures living amongst them. Their books were full of glorious line drawings and beautiful colour images, often with incredible botanical detail.
Thanks for your comment introducing me to a couple of new artists! A frustration of mine is that US publishers largely stopped publishing illustrated books by non-US authors in the 1930s and 40s. Financial hardship and raw material constraints due to the Great Depression and WW2 were major factors. And by the 1950s, the publishers had enough US authors that they didn't feel the need to import titles from abroad. Thus, there are many UK and Australian authors and illustrators from the mid-century who are essentially unknown here in the US, including some of the ones you named. Only Peake and Jansson have very limited fan bases here.
@@thelibraryladder Australia has had the benefit of being supplied in almost equal amounts with books & other cultural exports from both the UK and US - I've often joked that we're a trans-Atlantic society but situated at the polar opposite location geographically. Having subsequently lived in both the UK and US I have found the large gaps in each others book ranges quite interesting. Major authors - new and old - in each domain are entirely missing in the other. When I lived in Seattle, I found an antique copy of "The Magic Pudding" in a local bookstore where the store owner was very happy to talk about his "favorite book". It also seemed that lack of awareness of famous British texts meant that lovely old first editions were often priced very very cheaply!
Thank you. I recommend the “Illustrated Classics” series published in the 1950s by D. C. Thompson of Dundee, with illustrations by Dudley D. Watkins. He did Oliver Twist, Kidnapped, Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island.
Thanks for the recommendation! I wasn't aware of that UK book series until now. Watkins' illustrations look terrific. The books remind me of the Classics Illustrated comic book series published in the US that I read as a kid (but more securely bound and printed on better quality paper than a comic book).
Even in those 50 years, infotainment was still by books. Radios were few and maybe unaffordable, telephones were for communications, wires and telexes were for commercial and press & media. So, people could take time to indulge at length and leisure with a good, illustrated book.
I've been collecting books since I was a child 1970s At the moment I'm collecting the strand magazines which contain multiple illustrators. My favourite Enid Blyton illustrator is Dorothy Wheeler. My dream book would be to have a copy of Henrique Alvim Corrêa’s Illustrations for The War of the Worlds (1906). Thanks for video.
Those are some great illustrations! I have about ten years of early issues of The Strand (bound in semi-annual volumes), mostly for their A.C. Doyle and Edith Nesbit stories.
I agree, these classic illustrations are timeless portals to our imaginations. Thank you for these beautiful videos! Do you have any Lorna Hill, Pamela Brown and Mabel Esther Allan Books?
Alas, I don't. It's unfortunate that many British children's authors weren't published or distributed widely in the US during the time period when those three were writing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@thelibraryladder thank you for the reply. I collect children's books as well as middle grade and ya books. I've been on the hunt for nice copies of those three author's works. Thank you for such a quality channel! I'm a new subscriber as a result.
From one collector to another, patience is the key (unless you're willing to pay premium prices). I've been slowly piecing my library together for decades, waiting for titles in the right condition and at the right price. I've found eBay's 'saved search' feature to be very useful in providing timely notifications when a hard-to-find book is listed for sale. Estate sales can also be great sources of bulk lots of books by a particular author. I actually started this channel intending to focus primarily on classic children's books. For the past several years, I've helped lead a book club for middle grade students at a nearby school, and I've been frustrated by how little knowledge the students (and sometimes the librarians) have of books published more than 10-15 years ago, let alone classics from many decades ago. I decided to spotlight those older books and authors here on TH-cam to rekindle interest in them. Shortly after launching the channel, though, I realized other book genres had a similar problem on YT of underrepresentation of older titles, so I decided to broaden my scope to include classic or overlooked books from other genres, too. I'll be making more videos about children's books in the future. I'm currently working on one about the Scribner's Illustrated Classics series that I hope to have finished in the coming month. Thanks for subscribing!
Isn't that amazing? You find his voice Golden. To my ear, its tone and forced pacing, its serpent like enunciation of syllables, eerily, remind me of a seductive pedophile child Molester. My visceral nervous system is very suspicious of what this man is, or what he's professing to be. I can only hope that Artificial intelligence is coughing out These words. He's as creepy as I've heard, and, if not creepy, at least: condescending. Respectfully submitted for your consideration Gregg Oreo Long Beach CA Etats Unis
In the 70s to almost 90s Magazines with beautiful illustrations. Like Reader's digest, the illustrated weekly of india etc.I think presently no publisher encouraging Artists/illustraters. So Sad. Thank you for the video.
Thank you! It seems as if books for children are the last significant opportunity for commercial artists to illustrate books or magazines, and even there, the opportunities are shrinking as AI-powered apps are starting to replace them. Such a loss!
now with modern printing and drawing technology artwork in the books should make a comeback. but sadly so far it didn't. to combat this problem i made my own book an illustrated one. its not that good to be honest. but i believe if more books have artworks in, maybe more people will reconsider making books with illustration. you featured very beautiful books by the way. i hope your collection increases and we get to see more beautiful books. cheers!
Thanks! I hope illustrated books make a comeback. I suspect that if they do, it will be because ebooks and AI-generated artwork have made them more affordable to produce, which will take away a lot of the charm and impact of the illustrations, in my opinion.
@@thelibraryladderJust knowing that it's been done by a human hits differently. I'm actually trying to get into book illustration. I'm currently building my portfolio.
Not a huge fan of "graphic design" style cover arts that seem to be norm nowadays. The look dull, sparkless, lacking a more profound sense of aesthetic value; they manifest the loss of appreciation for complexity and craftsmanship necessary to achieve beauty. I think if you are going to write a book, to create a work of art, another piece of fine art should be the face with which is presented to the world. Also, having more illustrations within the content makes for a far richer experience - this is the case for many genres, aside from fantasy and science fiction. Anyways, nice video. You gave me a ton of names to look for and add to my list of pretty things to look at.
Thanks for your comment, Kay. Like you, I find the design of many books published these days to be uninspiring. Too many generic-looking covers that seem to have been produced using the same Photoshop templates (much like how many movie posters these days adopt similar designs). Specialty publishers such as Subterranean Press are keeping the tradition of illustrated books alive, and some of their volumes are truly stunning, but often they're prohibitively expensive for most readers and have limited availability due to small print runs. Outside of children's books, the economics of producing illustrated editions of new works today appears to be very challenging, despite the growing availability of freelance artists and illustrators. It pains me to say it, but I think it's unlikely that a Golden Age of illustration like the one 100 years ago will ever occur again. (I still hope, though!) Nevertheless, I'm grateful that we have the artwork from that earlier period. I think the illustrations by N.C. Wyeth, Mead Schaeffer, Anne Anderson and Jessie Willcox Smith for, respectively, The Black Arrow, The Count of Monte Cristo, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and the Mother Goose book, are practically perfect and provide my mind's eye view of those books.
Hello such an amazing informative video on an epic topic. Is there any resource online or in print you would recommend for studying the techniques used to create these illustrations by the artists?
Thank you so much for doing this video!! Do you have any idea who came up with this label of "Golden age of illustration"?? When do they started to name it like this??
Thanks! I don't know the origin of the "Golden Age" label, but it isn't new. It's been applied to that period in illustration history since the 1980s at least.
@thelibraryladder thank you! I have to write an essay about this period, and I can't find the source of this label, I mean, when the critics started to recognize it like this and why. Then I have to analyze it with Walter Benjamin 's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". Philosophy it's not my thing, so I'm really struggling with my brain.
It's a beautiful book, and Smith's illustrations are wonderful (as always). The 1919 edition published by David McKay that contains those illustrations is hard to find in nice condition. The cream-colored cloth that covers the boards and spine tends to discolor with age and handling, giving it a somewhat grubby appearance. With patience, though, it's possible to find a nice copy. They turn up occasionally on eBay, sometimes at reasonable prices (I think I paid around $40 for mine in near mint condition about 15 years ago on eBay).
I wish the tradition of illustrated books would return, or at least (re)attain greater prominence. Perhaps (gods willing), I could do my part by creating at least one; illustrating one of my stories in development? 🤔🙏🏽💫✨️
I feel the same way, although I suspect if it happens, it will be primarily AI-generated artwork in ebook format to keep production costs low. Some small, specialty presses are producing high-quality human-illustrated editions of modern classics, but their prices are far beyond mass market affordability.
@@thelibraryladderI hope I don't offend you, but I am working on such a project with a goal to resemble classic deluxe books from late XIX/early XX century where most of the illustrations are AI-generated. Yet, still I get very positive reviews on the design and many people, when holding a test copy in their hands, admit that they long for the old-school layouts, graphics and fonts. While AI is not the best choice, I am able to pursue my passion as a hobby, not as a full-time job, and hopefully get my hands on the first print batch in a month or two. 📚
It’s noticing that you don’t seem to mention L. Frank Baum much! Do you have something against him? Some of the illustrations of his books are beautiful. I’m thinking of the water-colored plates in THE SEA FAIRIES, and the colored in-text illustrations in OZMA OF OZ and JOHN DOUGH ANH THE CHERUB.
Thanks for noticing that omission. I have nothing against Baum, and I have about 15 or so of his books that were illustrated by W.W. Denslow, F.Y. Cory and John Neill (some of which have made brief appearances in a few of my other videos). :) This video is intended as a brief introduction to that period of book illustration history rather than a comprehensive overview. My hope is to generate interest in illustrated books of that era among viewers who might not have ever encountered them, and also to persuade publishers to bring back such artwork in new editions. Because of the length limit I imposed on the video, I omitted quite a few noteworthy artists, including many in my collection.
Color printing of paintings and photographs became possible in the 1890s when printers figured out how to use colored inks in the process of photoengraving. Black & white photoengraving had been developed a few decades earlier and used chemistry rather than woodcarving to transfer a picture onto a printing plate. Scientists/tinkerers had discovered that certain chemical compounds react to light in ways that make them attract or repel liquids such as inks, so photoengraving involved projecting a photographic image onto a plate coated with the reactive compound and then applying ink to the plate for printing. The ink would stick to the parts affected by exposure to light. To get shades of gray, a fine mesh screen was used to apply the ink in tiny dots (called halftones). Color printing extended this process to use three colored inks (cyan, magenta & yellow), each of which would have its own photoengraved plate of tiny halftone dots. Because the inks were semi-transparent, they could be layered on top of each other in different sized dots and with different spacing between the dots to create the illusion of a wide variety of colors. That illusion breaks down if you look very closely at the illustrations in books and see the different colored dots.
You have many publishing options, but choosing the best one(s) for your book will depend on several factors, including: the genre; the format (hardcover, softcover, ebook, audiobook); whether you want help with editing, cover design and marketing; how widely available you want it to be from a variety of retailers and in different parts of the world; how much you're willing to pay for publishing services; and how patient you're willing to be to see your book in print. Traditional publishers are highly selective about the books they publish, and it often requires patience and a strong commitment to build a network of relationships connected to the publishing industry to get your foot in that door. Attending well-respected writers workshops can help build those relationships. Traditional publishers are full-service operations, in that they'll take your manuscript and do everything needed to publish it. However, authors typically give up a lot of editorial and financial control to the publisher in these arrangements. There also are hundreds of small, independent publishing houses that typically specialize in particular genres or types of books. Most are full-service operations, but they don't typically assert as much control as the large, traditional publishers. They provide marketing support, but not as much as the larger presses. Here are a couple of lists of small presses: blog.reedsy.com/publishers/new-york-city/ writingtipsoasis.com/indie-publishers-accepting-submissions/. Alternatively, you can go the self-publishing route, which is the fastest way to get published. There are many options to choose from as summarized in the two articles linked below: selfpublishing.com/self-publishing-companies/ blog.reedsy.com/best-self-publishing-companies/ I hope this is helpful.
@@thelibraryladder I writing a cosmic horror story, it has drawings too, around 50 so far. I got social media and I’m going to start promoting it next week.
@@thelibraryladder and the thing is, with most books being immediately set to audiobook it makes me wonder if it’s even worth it considering the drawings tell so much of the story too. I’m going to have to find one that does both
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oh yes, illustrations were such a big part of reading when I was young. As an Australian, I remember always the Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay - the illustrations were everything. And all the other books, such as Robin Hood. Everything was so wonderful once!
Thanks for watching and sharing that! My hope is that publishers will bring this kind of high-quality illustration back into print in children's books and other genres (and preferably not AI-generated art). Some publishers, such as Broken Binding, seem to be moving in a positive direction.
The Magic Pudding is the book I've been recommended most often by Australians. I've never read it, and I need to remedy that. :)
@@thelibraryladder totally agree, AI art is soul-less, to the extent it's frightening., yes, we need more quality reproductions.
I recently bought a rather expensive reprint of The Court Jester, Cornelia Baker, from India, happy it had the few quaint illustrations of the original. Not great literature but a charming read for an old lady!
Am sure the Puddin' will run your way some time 😊
Thank you for your wonderful channel!
My grandmother was a school nurse, and close friends with the librarian. She would ask her for children's book recommendations. My siblings and I were very blessed with many illustrated books over the years, most of them Caldecott winners. Thank you Grandma and Mrs Rudolph!
Thank you to them, indeed! I had a great aunt who gave some of her childhood picture books to my mom who then shared them with me and my siblings when we were kids.
Working in a used book store, I see so many of these beautiful books come through. While they're not within my scope of collecting, I'm always amazed at their beauty.
In an alternate universe, I imagine myself operating a bookshop for classic old books. The opportunity to enjoy the inventory is enticing.
Thank you for your video. As a fine artist, I was so inspired as a child to become an illustrator, art director, creative director then, owning my own Film and TV production company. My career was inspired sitting in the attic of our ranch house, filled with these magical old books. I would spend hours pouring over the fabulous illustrations as a young boy. One of my greatest hopes and goals was to one day to have my own oil paintings hanging next to one of my heros, Norman Rockwell at the C. Anthony Gallery, in Beaver Creek, Colorado. I finally got that opportunity in 2007. Personally, I find it a tremendous loss to society, that our great American artists are not revered more. That was time of such craftsmanship, quality, elegance and beauty. I have thought countless times how wonderful it would have been to be an illustrator and painter in those times. I wish I could have been one of the first oil painters to have moved to Santa Fe, and Taos New Mexico. Those painters like Maynard Dixon, Henry Sharp and The Taos Masters, were brilliant. Timeless beauty. Thanks again look forward to your next videos.
That's a wonderful story! I can remember the first time I visited the Brandywine Museum in Chadds Ford, PA, and was mesmerized by the paintings of Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth. It prompted the start of my efforts to collect copies of the books they illustrated (along with books featuring other artists).
If Maynard Dixon had been a book illustrator, I'd certainly have searched for copies of his books. His western landscapes are magnificent!
What a huge achievement, congratulations!
Dear illustrator. How can I view your work? And. Were You ever blessed to review the series from the 1950s-60s THE FAMOUS ARTISTS INSTITUTE? Quite a Gateway for young illustrators at that time. Respectfully Yours Gregg Oreo Long Beach CA Etats Unis
I thank the algorithm for making me stumble into this video! 😭 I had been looking for illustrated classic books content all over the internet for a while, but couldnt find the perfect one. This is the best one yet! I legit shed tears of joy at the sight of those beautiful books! Thank you for making and bringing this video into this app. Cant wait to binge the rest of the videos on your channel.
Thanks! I have several videos that go into more depth on illustrated books, including two about reading classic books and one that’s a bookshelf tour I think you’ll find interesting. I plan to make more in the future.
It’s not quite what you described, as it focuses more on the illustrators and their work rather than the books themselves, but you may find Pete Beard’s YT channel to be right up your alley! He spotlights many accomplished illustrators from these periods; it’s a great channel with a similar vibe to this!
I would add Beatrix Potter with ‘Peter Rabbit’ and the rest of her collection, absolutely iconic.
Thank you for sharing this collection! Please keep sharing children's book illustration, it inspires my art so much! I'm just finishing my first childrens book, written and illustrated by me, one more little drawing to go. I have many poems and stories to share, got to get them done! I stick to traditional methods and can't stand the flat blandness of what is called illustration nowadays. Many people are learning to illustrate with programs that could and do produce great things, BUT many have never learned the basics of drawing and painting.
Thanks! Classic illustrations are some of my favorites, and it's getting hard to find publishers willing to invest in artwork of that quality for most books. Inexpensive AI-generated illustrations might reverse that trend, but I have difficulty embracing that kind of art.
I plan to feature more illustrated books in the future. There are many corners of my collection yet to be explored. I just need more hours in the day to focus on making the videos. :)
I have to admit, If a book didn't have pictures in them as a child, I wouldn't touch it. Not that I have trouble reading, but it makes the story of a book that much more exciting :)
I grew up on Quentin Blake illustrations for Roald Dahl books, but it was super facinating to see other drawing of willy wonka etc. Shirley Hughes was a child hood favourite too.
Again thank you for all this man, I'm really digging your content right now and cant wait to watch more. This was my favourite video :)
Thanks! This is my wife's favorite video that I've done so far, so you're in good company. :)
Quentin Blake's illustrations are iconic. I wish Shirley Hughes had been published more widely here in the US. She's not nearly as well-known here as she is in the UK.
I have several of the books you show in this video, all hand me downs from my mother, aunt, and grandparents (the youngest of which was born in 1900). As wonderful as the artwork, and stories, of those classic books like 'The Brownies and the Goblins' the artist whose work has held my imagination for nearly 70 years is Adrienne Segur. Whenever a new baby is born into the family I'll gift the parents with a copy of 'The Golden Book of Fairy Tales' a magazine size hardcover book with outstanding illustrations in b&w and color that seem to glow or feel like an opening into another reality.
That's wonderful! I have quite a few illustrated fairy tale anthologies, but not the Golden Book one. I'm going to see if I can find a copy. Thanks!
It was a joy to see your collection. Those books are beautiful. I wholeheartedly agree that reprints should be lavished with their matching illustrations. It would be nice for kids to get to experience those stories and images today.
My father has a book of essays from a college press (Harvard or Oxford, I don't recall which exactly) which contains an illustration on its inner cover from Franklin Booth (a sailing ship in front of grand towers). There was no indication in the book of who had made that drawing, so it became a quest of mine for years to find who had done it.
Tracking down Booth's name and learning about his generation of artists was my gateway to the classic illustrators (and what an introduction Booth was!).
As for my own childhood Herge, Uderzo, Marcel Marlier, Carl Barks, Brett Helquist, Tony Diterlizzi, and Mary Grandpre were some of the illustrators I remember most fondly.
Thanks for sharing that story! Booth was a spectacular illustrator. His style reminds me of a unique blend of three of my favorites: Maxfield Parrish, Gustave Dore, and Virgil Finlay. I think I only have one book that he illustrated, and I'd love to find more.
Some of my favorite illustrators from my childhood in the 1960s and 70s included Charles Geer, Edward Gorey, Harry Kane, William Pene du Bois, and Doris Burns.
As your newest subscriber I thank you for this video. I was a collector of illustrated books for many years and regrettably had to sell my collection when I left for retirement. I had almost the entire Scribner's Illustrated Classics editions, which I consider the beginning of the Golden Age for the USA with Maxfield Parrish and N.C. Wyeth leading the way. I had a very strong Edmund Dulac collection, and became infatuated with his work. I even had all his postage stamps in addition to my signed first editions and ephemera. In the 90's I started a project with his bibliographer, Ann Hughey, to locate and record his magazine covers for The American Weekly, the Hearst Sunday Supplement. To make a long story short, the entire collection of 106 covers is finally available as an eBook on Amazon, etc. I was not able to mount a print version, at least so far.
I look forward to your other videos, especially on the Golden Age illustrators.
Thank you! I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your Scribner's Classics collection. I have nearly all of them, and I know how hard it is find good copies of many of them. I prefer to read those classic editions rather than newer reprints (especially the ones illustrated by Wyeth, my favorite).
Your Dulac ebook looks gorgeous. What an admirable undertaking!
@@thelibraryladder Yes, it broke my heart to have to sell my book collections, but books don't travel well. I am becoming a fan of ebooks now that everyone is reprinting the illustrated classics. I think that is the future, I can't see cutting down more trees at this point. Perhaps for some of your future videos you would consider a sponsorship? I think your viewers would enjoy my Dulac eBooks as well. Thanks, Albert
Looking at books like these and copying them when I was small was what inspired my love for stories and making artworks that help tell them. I remember having big library books that had collections of stories, with different illustrator styles from all around the world.✨️ It was amazing.
I think I'll start building up a collection of my own so that my future home will be a creative and inspiring place🤗
@@desertbloomke That’s what motivated me to start collecting vintage illustrated books. I love the artwork, and I wanted my kids to have the opportunity to be inspired by it.
If you’re looking for ideas, I have a few more videos that feature these kinds of illustrated books - including one about reading classics, one about the Scribner’s series of illustrated classics, and a bookshelf tour of one of my children’s book bookcases.
@@thelibraryladder Amazing! I'll definitely watch them. I've been thinking more and more about classic stories nowadays.✨️
That Mead Schaeffer Count of Monte Cristo is one of the most imposing paintings ever! Thanks for giving me a list of artists to go and Google, now!
That Schaeffer cover painting is, for me, the definitive image of the Count of Monte Cristo. It's practically perfect.
Thank you for bringing my attention to this interesting topic. As a child I enjoyed illustrations but didn't give much thought to the artists. I will change that now. One illustrator I did notice was Garth Williams in the Little House books. I can't imagine those books without his drawings. I have seen some of Helen Sewell's work on the series but much prefer Mr. Williams' work probably because it's what I grew up with.
Thanks! I love the Garth Williams illustrations as well (I even have some of his original proofs from the Little House books, which I show in the bookshelf tour video I made last fall). If you haven’t already seen them, you might enjoy the two videos I made last summer about reading illustrated editions of classic literature. In all three videos, I showcase a lot of wonderful illustrators and their artwork.
My head is swimming with these illustrations
By any given definition illustration is truly a beautiful genre of art. Shane it's frequently underrated. Harry Clark was always my favourite, but I also had a Maxfield Parish print on my bedroom wall for several years. "Stars" I think it was called. Composition, palette and subject matter was always spot on .
Thanks for sharing that! I agree with you. Clarke and Parrish are two of my favorites as well. I have a framed print of Parrish's 'Sinbad and His Seven Brothers.' However, I'm most partial to the artists from Howard Pyle's Brandywine School.
Thank you so so much!!! This means the world to me! I was looking the right inspiration for my next project and I am at a lost of words...
Besides the project, I'll come back to your page frequently, I adore children literature and artistic illustration!
Magnificent video! 🌟🔥☄
I’m so happy you enjoyed the video, Gladys! That’s why I made it-to draw attention to the wonderful illustrations from a hundred years ago that aren’t nearly as well known today.
I have a similar video planned for July in which I’ll focus exclusively on the Scribner Illustrated Classics series, which featured extensive artwork by N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Mabel Lucie Attwell and many others.
Thanks for watching!
@@thelibraryladder Wow!!! That's most that I can hope for!!! Thank you so so much!! 🤗
Thank you so much for presenting this beautiful collection of books and illustrators from the greatest age of illustration.
Glad you enjoyed it! The artwork is gorgeous and adds so much to the enjoyment of the books. I plan to do more in-depth videos focusing on the works of some of my favorite illustrators.
@@thelibraryladder I look forward to seeing that. I’m currently writing and illustrating my picture book inspired by the Golden Age of illustration so I’m really interested in this topic. I’ll keep following you. Thanks for what you’re doing here.
@@ishasmemories That sounds like a fun project you're working on. Are there particular Golden Age illustrators to whom you're paying homage in your book?
@@thelibraryladder I particularly love the work of the illustrators Maria L. Kirk, however I'm not paying homage to her, just inspired by the style of several of the illustrators from that age and making my own style.
Maria Kirk's artwork is wonderful. I'd love to see your book when it's finished. Feel free to post a link.
That was so good - i`m trying to work my way through your vids and that was a real highlight for me - thank you
You're so welcome! I'm very glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
So glad this popped up thank you. I will investigate some of these artists. Sometimes buy children's books for the art. 😊
The artwork is a real 'draw' for me too when looking for children's books. :D
Over the past few days I’m going through you videos. I haven’t been disappointed yet. The illustrator that came to mind first was Sidney Sime. The second illustrator is Maurice Sendak who illustrated two stories of George MacDonald, which I have.
Please keep making more videos. And preserving genre fiction. Thank you.
Thanks! Preserving classic genre fiction is the main reason I started this channel, and I have many more videos planned. If you haven't already seen it, I featured Sime in my most recent video (about Lord Dunsany). Sendak was another great illustrator (I have his edition of MacDonald's The Light Princess).
Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone were and still are my favourite children's illustrators, they are the reason I got into art and illustration.
They were wonderful illustrators. I have a few books they illustrated for children, including Dodie Smith's The Hundred-and-One Dalmatians, and its sequel, as well as several retellings of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.
There is so much sumptuous art here! You have also given me some names to research. Thanks!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! If you're interested, I have two more videos that feature additional illustrated books. One focuses on the Scribner Illustrated Classics series and the other is a bookshelf tour of some of my vintage children's books. I uploaded both last summer.
@@thelibraryladder I am catching up on your videos so I will add them to the list.
Thank you for this video. Lovers of the golden age illustrations might enjoy Pete Beard’s channel where he digs into specific illustrators, their lives and works: www.youtube.com/@petebeard
Great informative video. Loved learning more about these great editions and artists. Look forward to any in depth look at particular artists.
Thanks! I hope to make more in-depth videos about some of my favorite illustrators, including Arthur Rackham, Anne Anderson, and members of the so-called Brandywine School.
Though it's much newer than these, Bernie Wrightson's illustrations for Frankenstein take the cake for me. It was seeing those that made me finally stop thinking of the creature as looking like Boris Karloff from the movies.
Gustave Dore's Don Quixote is very fitting too.
I haven’t seen those Frankenstein illustrations. Thanks for mentioning them. I’ve long been a fan of Dore.
Now THAT was an adventure worthy of one’s time! I can truthfully say that I have never before seen such a magnificent gathering of book art and illustration of this genre in one private collection. I must say, however that one both author and illustrator that my heart missed during your video has to be Hugh Lofting. His captivating adventures of Dr. Doolittle are one of my most absolute favorites from childhood…..and dare I say adulthood. I have a few of the first editions from his original publications. I’m sure that if I begged with sufficient ardor and vigor that you might take some of your precious time to make a video just about good old Puddleby-on-the-Marsh and it’s immensely talented author and illustrator. I feel confident that the entire set of first editions doth lurk somewhere among the dirth of volumes within “Scalam Bibliothecam.” I will beg forgiveness now for my extremely forward request. I will maintain faith and hope that it comes to fruition.
I love classic book illustrations, and I have several other videos featuring them. Highlights include my two videos about reading classics, and the bookshelf tour video I made about classic children's books (which includes one of my many Lofting volumes).
I originally started this channel to focus primarily on children's books. It's the largest genre in my collection, and I'd been leading a book club for middle grade students at my kids' school for several years, so I was primed to talk about classic children's stories. Alas, TH-cam's algorithm didn't agree with my priorities, so I broadened my focus to cover other genres that I also enjoy. I still make occasional videos about children's books, and I intend to keep doing so. It disappoints me, though, that they consistently are the worst performing videos I make.
@@thelibraryladder I have not watched those episodes yet, however, I’m sure that every installment is a jewel. I completely understand being one’s own worst critic though. Regardless of your self appraisal, I look forward to watching each and every one. Thanks again and please keep up the creativity and sharing of your passion and knowledge!
Thanks Again My Brother,
Jeff
Please keep making videos about children's books! It's what gives me inspiration to keep working on my yet unfinished children's books! I teach myself from seeing this wonderful art.
I’ve just discovered your channel. Watching through them all now. Has anyone ever told you that you could probably make money narrating audiobooks?
Thanks for the compliment! I’m thinking about trying my hand at narrating some classic short stories and making them available to stream on my channel.
The first illustrator that comes to mind who defined the look of a book character and world is Joe Jusko on Tarzan. The little bookstore by my house as a kid had a collection of his work. It was always too expensive for me, and too filled with scantily clad jungle girls for me to ask for for Christmas. But whenever I’d read ERB, I pictured Jusko’s work.
Jusko's artwork rivaled Frazetta's for Tarzan's musculature and Jane's pulchritude. :D
A truly wonderful compendium and review concerning this incredible period of illustration-one that influenced so many other later established and emerging artists, and had a major impact on so many future pulp magazine and paperback book covers.
Hopefully you will consider creating videos for the full set of illustrations within each of the volumes you briefly highlighted from what looks to be your own impressive library-a renowned collection of first and rare editions indeed.
One caveat, however-my ears did cringe with every mention you made in your narration of the artist Kay Nielsen.
Please note it's pronounced "kigh", as in the word "high"-not "cay", as in the word "ray.".
Thank you, Peter. I'm just an enthusiast and not an expert on illustration, and I appreciate the pronunciation correction. My primary goal is to promote awareness and appreciation of these books, authors and artists, and if I can learn things about them along the way, all the better.
I do intend to produce videos focusing on specific illustrators and sets of illustrated books. My biggest constraints are: (a) I have a great many book interests and video ideas spanning multiple genres; (b) I'm striving to produce videos that fully take advantage of TH-cam's capabilities as a visual storytelling medium; (c) that level of production requires considerable time and effort (and I'm a one-person operation who is just a novice at all this); and (d) TH-cam's algorithm prefers channels that target narrow audience niches (at least until a channel reaches a critical mass audience size).
That last point has led me to focus my videos since December primarily on the fantasy genre while I try to build an audience without confusing the YT algorithm. I'm now slowly starting to roll out videos in other genres, and illustrated books (and pulp mags and paperbacks) will be a priority soon, although not as soon as I'd like. Thanks for your interest!
Dulac's "Arabian Nights" is one of my favorites. Also Inga Moore's illustrations for "The Wind in the Willows."
I agree with you that Moore and Dulac are outstanding. My favorite illustrator of The Wind in the Willows is Ernest Shepard, and my favorite for The Arabian Nights is Rene Bull.
Two book illustrations that stood out to me as a young person were The White Stag by Kate Seredy & Rumer Godden's Candy Floss / The Fairy Doll.
I never encountered the Godden book, but I remember The White Stag vividly. Thanks for sharing!
Inspiring video, thank you!
This may be random, but I've been trying for years to find a book I read in the 90s. I've contacted the library but this was before a digital record was kept so I haven't had any luck finding the book. It was a children's book that I could have sworn was called "The Girl and the Golden Goose." It was primarily the Cinderella story but with a goose that laid a golden egg. One of the characters in this illustrated book had a crespine. It would mean the world if you happen to know which book it is. I loved looking at the illustrations and I'm so disappointed that I have not been able to find it yet.
Hmmm. Nothing jumps to mind that fits your description. Do you know roughly how long ago the book was first published? Is it 100+ years old, 60-70 years old, or only 30-40 years old? Also, what age readers did it target (was it a short picture book aimed at early readers, or a longer chapter book for kids 8-12)?
The illustrator L. Leslie Brooke authored a collection of fairy tales called "The Golden Goose Book" more than 100 years ago. Most of his illustrations are pen-and-ink drawings in the classic style of the late 1800s/early 1900s. Because the copyright has expired, the book has been reprinted many times and is still in print. But I don't think it has a Cinderella-like character.
Thanks much 🙏 ☺️
While I have some awareness of many of these artists, my favourites tend to be in the succeeding generation, who were often author/illustrators such as Denys Watkins-Pitchford (writing as "BB" but illustrating under his own name), Tove Jansson (the Moomin Books) and Mervyn Peake who illustrated not only his own books, but beautiful editions of Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland etc.
Harry Clarke I am aware of more from his stained glass works.
Some of the greatest are from my home country of Australia, including May Gibbs' "Snugglepot and Cuddlepie", and Norman Lindsay's "The Magic Pudding" - both from 1918. Both tackled adaptations of Australian flora and fauna and mythic creatures living amongst them. Their books were full of glorious line drawings and beautiful colour images, often with incredible botanical detail.
Thanks for your comment introducing me to a couple of new artists! A frustration of mine is that US publishers largely stopped publishing illustrated books by non-US authors in the 1930s and 40s. Financial hardship and raw material constraints due to the Great Depression and WW2 were major factors. And by the 1950s, the publishers had enough US authors that they didn't feel the need to import titles from abroad. Thus, there are many UK and Australian authors and illustrators from the mid-century who are essentially unknown here in the US, including some of the ones you named. Only Peake and Jansson have very limited fan bases here.
@@thelibraryladder Australia has had the benefit of being supplied in almost equal amounts with books & other cultural exports from both the UK and US - I've often joked that we're a trans-Atlantic society but situated at the polar opposite location geographically. Having subsequently lived in both the UK and US I have found the large gaps in each others book ranges quite interesting. Major authors - new and old - in each domain are entirely missing in the other.
When I lived in Seattle, I found an antique copy of "The Magic Pudding" in a local bookstore where the store owner was very happy to talk about his "favorite book". It also seemed that lack of awareness of famous British texts meant that lovely old first editions were often priced very very cheaply!
Thank you. I recommend the “Illustrated Classics” series published in the 1950s by D. C. Thompson of Dundee, with illustrations by Dudley D. Watkins. He did Oliver Twist, Kidnapped, Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island.
Thanks for the recommendation! I wasn't aware of that UK book series until now. Watkins' illustrations look terrific. The books remind me of the Classics Illustrated comic book series published in the US that I read as a kid (but more securely bound and printed on better quality paper than a comic book).
Even in those 50 years, infotainment was still by books.
Radios were few and maybe unaffordable, telephones were for communications, wires and telexes were for commercial and press & media.
So, people could take time to indulge at length and leisure with a good, illustrated book.
I've been collecting books since I was a child 1970s At the moment I'm collecting the strand magazines which contain multiple illustrators. My favourite Enid Blyton illustrator is Dorothy Wheeler. My dream book would be to have a copy of Henrique Alvim Corrêa’s Illustrations for The War of the Worlds (1906).
Thanks for video.
Those are some great illustrations! I have about ten years of early issues of The Strand (bound in semi-annual volumes), mostly for their A.C. Doyle and Edith Nesbit stories.
I agree, these classic illustrations are timeless portals to our imaginations. Thank you for these beautiful videos! Do you have any Lorna Hill, Pamela Brown and Mabel Esther Allan Books?
Alas, I don't. It's unfortunate that many British children's authors weren't published or distributed widely in the US during the time period when those three were writing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@thelibraryladder thank you for the reply. I collect children's books as well as middle grade and ya books. I've been on the hunt for nice copies of those three author's works. Thank you for such a quality channel! I'm a new subscriber as a result.
From one collector to another, patience is the key (unless you're willing to pay premium prices). I've been slowly piecing my library together for decades, waiting for titles in the right condition and at the right price. I've found eBay's 'saved search' feature to be very useful in providing timely notifications when a hard-to-find book is listed for sale. Estate sales can also be great sources of bulk lots of books by a particular author.
I actually started this channel intending to focus primarily on classic children's books. For the past several years, I've helped lead a book club for middle grade students at a nearby school, and I've been frustrated by how little knowledge the students (and sometimes the librarians) have of books published more than 10-15 years ago, let alone classics from many decades ago. I decided to spotlight those older books and authors here on TH-cam to rekindle interest in them.
Shortly after launching the channel, though, I realized other book genres had a similar problem on YT of underrepresentation of older titles, so I decided to broaden my scope to include classic or overlooked books from other genres, too. I'll be making more videos about children's books in the future. I'm currently working on one about the Scribner's Illustrated Classics series that I hope to have finished in the coming month.
Thanks for subscribing!
@@thelibraryladder I can't wait to see the next Children's book video! Looking forward to the treasures and the education. Thank you!
Your voice is golden
Isn't that amazing? You find his voice Golden. To my ear, its tone and forced pacing, its serpent like enunciation of syllables, eerily, remind me of a seductive pedophile child Molester. My visceral nervous system is very suspicious of what this man is, or what he's professing to be. I can only hope that Artificial intelligence is coughing out These words. He's as creepy as I've heard, and, if not creepy, at least: condescending. Respectfully submitted for your consideration Gregg Oreo Long Beach CA Etats Unis
Great content , great voice
In the 70s to almost 90s Magazines with beautiful illustrations. Like Reader's digest, the illustrated weekly of india etc.I think presently no publisher encouraging Artists/illustraters. So Sad. Thank you for the video.
Thank you! It seems as if books for children are the last significant opportunity for commercial artists to illustrate books or magazines, and even there, the opportunities are shrinking as AI-powered apps are starting to replace them. Such a loss!
now with modern printing and drawing technology artwork in the books should make a comeback. but sadly so far it didn't. to combat this problem i made my own book an illustrated one. its not that good to be honest. but i believe if more books have artworks in, maybe more people will reconsider making books with illustration. you featured very beautiful books by the way. i hope your collection increases and we get to see more beautiful books. cheers!
Thanks! I hope illustrated books make a comeback. I suspect that if they do, it will be because ebooks and AI-generated artwork have made them more affordable to produce, which will take away a lot of the charm and impact of the illustrations, in my opinion.
totally. those hand painted painting gives book a different feeling.@@thelibraryladder
@@thelibraryladderJust knowing that it's been done by a human hits differently.
I'm actually trying to get into book illustration. I'm currently building my portfolio.
Not a huge fan of "graphic design" style cover arts that seem to be norm nowadays. The look dull, sparkless, lacking a more profound sense of aesthetic value; they manifest the loss of appreciation for complexity and craftsmanship necessary to achieve beauty. I think if you are going to write a book, to create a work of art, another piece of fine art should be the face with which is presented to the world. Also, having more illustrations within the content makes for a far richer experience - this is the case for many genres, aside from fantasy and science fiction.
Anyways, nice video. You gave me a ton of names to look for and add to my list of pretty things to look at.
Thanks for your comment, Kay. Like you, I find the design of many books published these days to be uninspiring. Too many generic-looking covers that seem to have been produced using the same Photoshop templates (much like how many movie posters these days adopt similar designs).
Specialty publishers such as Subterranean Press are keeping the tradition of illustrated books alive, and some of their volumes are truly stunning, but often they're prohibitively expensive for most readers and have limited availability due to small print runs.
Outside of children's books, the economics of producing illustrated editions of new works today appears to be very challenging, despite the growing availability of freelance artists and illustrators. It pains me to say it, but I think it's unlikely that a Golden Age of illustration like the one 100 years ago will ever occur again. (I still hope, though!)
Nevertheless, I'm grateful that we have the artwork from that earlier period. I think the illustrations by N.C. Wyeth, Mead Schaeffer, Anne Anderson and Jessie Willcox Smith for, respectively, The Black Arrow, The Count of Monte Cristo, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and the Mother Goose book, are practically perfect and provide my mind's eye view of those books.
Hello such an amazing informative video on an epic topic. Is there any resource online or in print you would recommend for studying the techniques used to create these illustrations by the artists?
I would love to know this also!
Wow! The voice!
Thank you so much for doing this video!! Do you have any idea who came up with this label of "Golden age of illustration"?? When do they started to name it like this??
Thanks! I don't know the origin of the "Golden Age" label, but it isn't new. It's been applied to that period in illustration history since the 1980s at least.
@thelibraryladder thank you! I have to write an essay about this period, and I can't find the source of this label, I mean, when the critics started to recognize it like this and why. Then I have to analyze it with Walter Benjamin 's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". Philosophy it's not my thing, so I'm really struggling with my brain.
I’d love to have a copy of At the Back of the North Wind illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith.
It's a beautiful book, and Smith's illustrations are wonderful (as always). The 1919 edition published by David McKay that contains those illustrations is hard to find in nice condition. The cream-colored cloth that covers the boards and spine tends to discolor with age and handling, giving it a somewhat grubby appearance. With patience, though, it's possible to find a nice copy. They turn up occasionally on eBay, sometimes at reasonable prices (I think I paid around $40 for mine in near mint condition about 15 years ago on eBay).
I wish the tradition of illustrated books would return, or at least (re)attain greater prominence.
Perhaps (gods willing), I could do my part by creating at least one; illustrating one of my stories in development? 🤔🙏🏽💫✨️
I feel the same way, although I suspect if it happens, it will be primarily AI-generated artwork in ebook format to keep production costs low. Some small, specialty presses are producing high-quality human-illustrated editions of modern classics, but their prices are far beyond mass market affordability.
@@thelibraryladderI hope I don't offend you, but I am working on such a project with a goal to resemble classic deluxe books from late XIX/early XX century where most of the illustrations are AI-generated. Yet, still I get very positive reviews on the design and many people, when holding a test copy in their hands, admit that they long for the old-school layouts, graphics and fonts. While AI is not the best choice, I am able to pursue my passion as a hobby, not as a full-time job, and hopefully get my hands on the first print batch in a month or two. 📚
Dear lord, I didn't know that. 😮
It’s noticing that you don’t seem to mention L. Frank Baum much! Do you have something against him? Some of the illustrations of his books are beautiful. I’m thinking of the water-colored plates in THE SEA FAIRIES, and the colored in-text illustrations in OZMA OF OZ and JOHN DOUGH ANH THE CHERUB.
Thanks for noticing that omission. I have nothing against Baum, and I have about 15 or so of his books that were illustrated by W.W. Denslow, F.Y. Cory and John Neill (some of which have made brief appearances in a few of my other videos). :)
This video is intended as a brief introduction to that period of book illustration history rather than a comprehensive overview. My hope is to generate interest in illustrated books of that era among viewers who might not have ever encountered them, and also to persuade publishers to bring back such artwork in new editions. Because of the length limit I imposed on the video, I omitted quite a few noteworthy artists, including many in my collection.
how did they publish the illustrations with colors? i am so curious about the printing press process
Color printing of paintings and photographs became possible in the 1890s when printers figured out how to use colored inks in the process of photoengraving. Black & white photoengraving had been developed a few decades earlier and used chemistry rather than woodcarving to transfer a picture onto a printing plate. Scientists/tinkerers had discovered that certain chemical compounds react to light in ways that make them attract or repel liquids such as inks, so photoengraving involved projecting a photographic image onto a plate coated with the reactive compound and then applying ink to the plate for printing. The ink would stick to the parts affected by exposure to light. To get shades of gray, a fine mesh screen was used to apply the ink in tiny dots (called halftones).
Color printing extended this process to use three colored inks (cyan, magenta & yellow), each of which would have its own photoengraved plate of tiny halftone dots. Because the inks were semi-transparent, they could be layered on top of each other in different sized dots and with different spacing between the dots to create the illusion of a wide variety of colors. That illusion breaks down if you look very closely at the illustrations in books and see the different colored dots.
@@thelibraryladder wow thank you for your time for sharing this knowledge, it will also be helpful if you can make a video of this.
🌹
I love your voice
Im working on a book but i don’t know how or where to publish it
You have many publishing options, but choosing the best one(s) for your book will depend on several factors, including: the genre; the format (hardcover, softcover, ebook, audiobook); whether you want help with editing, cover design and marketing; how widely available you want it to be from a variety of retailers and in different parts of the world; how much you're willing to pay for publishing services; and how patient you're willing to be to see your book in print.
Traditional publishers are highly selective about the books they publish, and it often requires patience and a strong commitment to build a network of relationships connected to the publishing industry to get your foot in that door. Attending well-respected writers workshops can help build those relationships. Traditional publishers are full-service operations, in that they'll take your manuscript and do everything needed to publish it. However, authors typically give up a lot of editorial and financial control to the publisher in these arrangements.
There also are hundreds of small, independent publishing houses that typically specialize in particular genres or types of books. Most are full-service operations, but they don't typically assert as much control as the large, traditional publishers. They provide marketing support, but not as much as the larger presses. Here are a couple of lists of small presses:
blog.reedsy.com/publishers/new-york-city/
writingtipsoasis.com/indie-publishers-accepting-submissions/.
Alternatively, you can go the self-publishing route, which is the fastest way to get published. There are many options to choose from as summarized in the two articles linked below:
selfpublishing.com/self-publishing-companies/
blog.reedsy.com/best-self-publishing-companies/
I hope this is helpful.
@@thelibraryladder I writing a cosmic horror story, it has drawings too, around 50 so far. I got social media and I’m going to start promoting it next week.
@@thelibraryladder and the thing is, with most books being immediately set to audiobook it makes me wonder if it’s even worth it considering the drawings tell so much of the story too. I’m going to have to find one that does both
Let's be blunt. It costs too much to hire artists to illustrate children's books, and sadly I don't think it's coming back.
I think some publishers might shift to AI-generated illustrations (if they haven't already), which will introduce a new set of issues.
@@thelibraryladder Yeah, I wouldn't buy them. Children's books, esp. picture books, have illustrators now, but very little compares to the Golden Age.