Victorian Horizons: The Reception of the Picture Books of Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, and Kate Greenaway

by Anne Lundin

Overview

Lundin explores the contemporary response to the picture books of three pioneer Victorian illustrators of children's books: Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott, and Kate Greenaway. Over a century after their first printing, the picture books are striking—breathtaking in their line, color, and design.

The author frames "the horizons of expectation"—the context of assumptions and values—that shaped the way picture books were read and reviewed by their audience and examines their critical reception with a summary of their reputation over the last century. Finally, Lundin positions the three artists in relationship to each other and examines the historiography of the trio's canonization.

The role of librarians, booksellers, and publishers was critical in making these names prominent through the twentieth century. The book illustrates that reputations are made, not born, and many cultural mediators are at work in the marketplace of children's literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810837393
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/06/2001
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.48(w) x 8.86(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Anne Lundin is Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she teaches courses in children's literature, youth services, and storytelling.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 FOREWORD by Mitzi Myers Chapter 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Chapter 3 INTRODUCTION Chapter 4 CHAPTER 1 Victorian Horizons Chapter 5 CHAPTER 2 Walter Crane (1845-1915) Chapter 6 CHAPTER 3 Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886) Chapter 7 CHAPTER 4 Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) Chapter 8 CONCLUSIONS Chapter 9 APPENDIXES Appendix A: Periodical Reviewing of, or Commentary on, Children's Books, 1875-1900 Chapter 10 Appendix B: Obituaries and Memorials Chapter 11 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Chapter 12 INDEX Chapter 13 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Editorial Reviews

Lundin extensively researched over 70 periodicals to bring a fresh perspective and individualize the work of [Walter Crane, Caldecott, and Kate Greenaway]....This valuable resource on the development of the picture book should be included in the professional collection of all school and children's librarians....Highly recommended.

Library Talk

The subject's considered here are enhanced by Lundin's writing style, which delights in her enthusiasm for these works. After you have pulled a couple of chief picture books of Crane, Caldecott, and Greenaway from the shelves, this book serves as an excellent review-introduction to their careers, their reception, and the state of publishing for children at the end of the nineteenth century in Britain, as well as just how the images were produced. It is useful for establishing the context in which the picture books of the Victorian period throved, and it is also a discerning commentary on the roles and responsibilities of criticism in the twenty-first century...

Children's Literature

Anne Lundin's book will be of great use to scholars, teachers, librarians, and any reader interested in the careers of Crane, Caldecott, and Greenaway considered together with the color printing that did so much to make their texts popular.

Children's Literature Association Quarterly