The Art & Illustration of Walter Crane

by Walter Crane, Jeff A. Menges (Editor)

Overview

A prominent figure in the Victorian art world, Walter Crane not only participated in the late nineteenth century's publishing revolution but also led the way toward the Golden Age of Illustration. Crane was instrumental in the transition from simple black-and-white illustrations for children's books to gallery-quality artwork. This original collection features more than one hundred of the influential artist's brilliant images. It constitutes a survey of his paintings as well as a visual history of the development of the first color illustrations.
Few artists of Crane's generation achieved careers as varied and successful as his. This compilation reflects the diversity of his subjects, from images for alphabet books, nursery rhymes, and fairy tales to scenes from stories of King Arthur and Robin Hood to illustrations inspired by the classics of Shakespeare, Hawthorne, and Spenser. Editor Jeff A. Menges provides an Introduction that places the artist and his works in historic context.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486135830
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	12/19/2012
Series:	Dover Fine Art, History of Art
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	41 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

A native of Liverpool, Walter Crane (1845-1915) was the son of a lithographer and painter who achieved early success with his color illustrations for children's books. His later art includes illustrations for the works of Shakespeare and Spencer as well as political cartoons.

Read an Excerpt

The Art & Illustration of Walter Crane

---

By Walter Crane, Jeff A. Menges

Dover Publications, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Dover Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-13583-0

---

CHAPTER 1

ADVENTURE IN THE NURSERY

Walter Crane concluded his apprenticeship with William James Linton in 1862; the following year he began his association with Edmund Evans. Evans was a printer who had developed his business by producing inexpensive novels, largely intended for railway travel. Crane originally was hired to prepare cover designs for these novels, but Evans quickly perceived that Crane's strength was in imaginative work, and he channeled the artist's efforts toward a new line of children's books. These slim volumes had a larger range of printed color than previous works; Crane quickly adapted his style to benefit this process, and the "toybook," as it came to be known, occupied his efforts for the next decade.

Crane produced dozens of inexpensive books for various publishers, on subjects ranging from fairy tales, English rhymes, and the Arabian Nights, to contemporary stories. After working exclusively with the publisher George Routledge—who refused to grant Crane a contract providing him royalties—Walter Crane and Edmund Evans, in 1876, once again began working for a variety of clients. Crane had built his reputation with children's books, and, after departing from the realm of the toybook, he moved on to more substantial volumes for children.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from The Art & Illustration of Walter Crane by Walter Crane, Jeff A. Menges. Copyright © 2010 Dover Publications, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

THE OLD GARDEN AND OTHER VERSES
Margaret Deland
Osgood McIlvaine & Co., London, 1893 Adventure in the NurseryTHE SIXPENCE TOY BOOKS
George Routledge and Sons, 1874
The Forty Thieves
Goody Two Shoes
Jack and the Beanstalk
My Mother
The Three Bears
THE BABY'S OPERA
Walter Crane
George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., London and New York, 1877 THE NECKLACE OF PRINCESS FIORIMONDE AND OTHER STORIES
Mary De Morgan
Macmillan and Co., London, 1880 HOUSEHOLD STORIES BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM
The Brothers Grimm
Longman's, Green, and Co., 1882 PAN PIPES: A BOOK OF OLD SONGS
Theo Marzials
George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., London and New York, 1883 BRIC-A-BRAC STORIES
Mrs. Burton Harrison
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1885 The Golden Primer and BeyondTHE GOLDEN PRIMER
Prof. J. M. D. Mieklejohn
Mieklejohn and Holden, 1885 POTHOOKS AND PERSEVERENCE: OR, THE ABC-SERPENT
Walter Crane
Marcus Ward and Co. Ltd., London, 1886 THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHER TALES
Oscar Wilde
Longmans, Green, and Co., London and New York, 1888 THE BOOK OF WEDDING DAYS
K. E. J. Reid, May Ross, and Mabel Bamfield
Longmans, Green, and Co., London and New York, 1889 FLORA'S FEAST: A MASQUE OF FLOWERS
Walter Crane
Cassell & Company, Ltd., London, Paris, New York &
Melbourne, 1889 QUEEN SUMMER: OR, THE TOURNEY OF THE LILY AND
THE ROSE
Walter Crane
Cassell & Company, Ltd., London, Paris, New York &
Melbourne, 1891 A WONDER BOOK FOR GIRLS AND BOYS
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., London, 1892 THE TEMPEST
William Shakespeare
J. M. Dent and Company, London, 1893 A BOOK OF CHRISTMAS VERSE
H. C. Beeching
Methuen and Company, London, 1895 THE FAERIE QUEENE
Edmund Spenser
George Allen, London, 1894–96 THE HISTORY OF REYNARD THE FOX
F. S. Ellis
David Nutt, London, 1897 THE SHEPHEARD'S CALENDER
Edmund Spenser
Harper & Brothers, London & New York, 1898 DON QUIXOTE OF THE MANCHA
retold by Judge Parry
John Lane, New York, 1900 A MASQUE OF DAYS
Elia
Cassell & Company, Ltd., London, Paris, New York &
Melbourne, 1901 FLOWERS FROM SHAKESPEARE'S GARDEN
Walter Crane
Cassell & Company, Ltd., London, Paris, New York &
Melbourne, 1906
The Later Years KING ARTHUR'S KNIGHTS
Henry Gilbert
T. C. and E. C. Jack, London and Edinburgh, 1911 ROBIN HOOD AND THE MEN OF THE GREENWOOD,
Henry Gilbert
T. C. and E. C. Jack, London and Edinburgh, 1912
Gallery Painting and Design