The Illustrations and Art of Charles Heath Robinson - An Antique Books Guide

Charles Robinson is one of the most notable Golden Age illustrators - a group of book illustrators recognized for their talent and popularity between 1870 and 1930 (approx). He is one of three brothers, with the other two also being illustrators - the renowned William Heath Robinson and the lesser known Thomas Heath Robinson.

He is also perhaps the best line-artist, capable of producing beautiful art-nouveau line drawings of immense detail, along with bright and energetic colour illustrations too. This post aims to showcase just a fraction of his repertoire for you, in the hope that you too might come to appreciate the talent of this extraordinary illustrator. I shall display his renowned black and white illustrations for various fairy-tale stories along with the popular colour plates that have helped to make him a household name in children's book illustrations.

Blog article about the Golden Age Illustrators:

http://anantiquebooksguide.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/the-golden-age-illustrators-arthur.html

Blog article about C. Robinson's edition of Alice in Wonderland:

http://anantiquebooksguide.blogspot.com/2014/09/1907-alices-adventures-in-wonderland-by.html

First up is one volume in the 'The True Annals of Fairlyand' set - a stunning series that spanned several books of various design, all featuring the beautiful black and white and colour plates in first edition form.

These books either have gilt covers (as above) or highly decorative pictorial covers - later editions generally.

The title page and frontispiece are usually intricate and feature a colour plate in most first editions.

Illustrations throughout are then in black and white, showcasing C. Robinson's strength as a line-artist.

'The Suitors of Aprille' is a rarer title and more obscure but no less beautiful.

Here are the pictorial covers that are so sought after in early editions.

Note again the double-title page/ frontispiece combo and the intricate line-drawings.

'The Happy Prince' is a work by Oscar Wilde and features a beautiful colour plate as the frontispiece.

The covers are striking yet simple.

The illustrations is in typical art-nouveau fairy-tale style.

Another 'Annals of Fairyland' title, this time a slightly later edition yet featuring all of the beautiful illustrations.

The covers hide the beauty inside.

The title page is ornate and similar to the other titles above in that both pages are lavishly illustrated with monochrome line-drawings.

Many chapter pages feature full-page illustrations of incredible intricacy.

And now, Charles Robinson's finest work: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,

The first edition of this book is dripping with C. Robinson style and is perhaps the best illustrated edition of Alice in Wonderland, rivaling even Arthur Rackham's acclaimed edition.

The covers are gilded intricately.

The title page embraces the playing card theme that comes into the book near the end.

The colour plates are simple but bursting with vibrancy and suit the innocence of the tale perfectly.

The line-drawings are nexpectedly beautiful, with incredibly intricate scenes as usual.

Thanks, as ever, for reading and please share/ take a look at my other posts if you found this interesting.

Kay Nielsen - Fairy Tales and Illustrations - An Antique Books Guide

 

Kay Nielsen 
Danish Illustrator
1886-1957

Kay Nielsen is one of the world's greatest ever book illustrators.

Often ranked alongside Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac, Kay's artwork reflects the core principles of the Art-Nouveau movement and remains one of the finest examples of book illustration ever produced. The Golden Age of illustration, running from the 1880's to the early 1920's was a time when books became artworks and illustration was really transformed into an art form. Previously colour and black and white illustration could only be simple affairs with basic shading and creativity limited by the printing and engraving process.

With the invention of the new four-colour printing process, Kay Nielsen became one of the true illustration pioneers and produced an array of glorious dream-like colour illustrations for books ranging from Andersen's Fairy Tales' to the renowned 'East of the Sun and West of the Moon'. Characterized by haunting ethereal scenes with elegant costumes, exotic backdrops and fantastic creatures, his illustrations have gained such acclaim that a single illustration taken from one of his books can be sold and framed.

Now coveted amongst collectors, Kay Nielsen's few and sought-after books offer a glimpse into a time when days of work went into a single illustration and books took years to illustrated.  Perhaps because of the time care that went into the illustrations they still look beautiful today. Below I have selected two of Kay's best known books and I hope that this tribute illustrates the best of his work for you to appreciate. Each illustration could provide an essay's worth of analysis and description but I think that I will let the pictures themselves do the talking.

East of the Sun and West of the MoonIllustrated by Kay Nielsen
George H. Doran publishers
Circa 1914

Hans Christian's Fairy Tales
Illustrated by Kay Nielsen
Garden City Publishing Company
Circa 1920

The Golden Age Illustrators - Arthur Rackham and more (An Antique Books Guide)

The Golden Age Illustrators

Illustration has always enhanced book, especially for younger or wider audiences but between the 1880's and the 1920's a supreme level of illustration was put into all manner of children's stories from Alice in Wonderland to Peter Pan.

This era became known as the Golden Age due to the immense quality and sheer scale of children's book illustration and now represents one of the most collected era of antique books.

Below is a guide of the top ten most renowned illustrators from this era with examples of their work

1. Arthur Rackham

1867-1939

Main years of work: 1900-1920

Arthur Rackham is possibly the most famous book illustrator around.

His work is often designed with muted colours and appears to transcend the simple and often childish narratives of the stories he illustrated, harking back to Nordic designs and Asian inspirations.

Most famously he illustrated J.M Barrie's 'Peter Pan' and Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'.

Any book pre 1940 with his illustration is valuable, with signed copies selling for thousands.

2. Kay Nielsen

1886-1957

Main years of work: 1910-1930

Kay Nielsen is lesser known than Arthur Rackham, solely because he illustrated less popular books.

His most famous work was his illustration for Hans Andersen's fairy tales which appears to include art-deco design with an ethereal quality that puts his work on the same level as Rackham in terms of maturity.

Similar to Rackham, Nielsen's work s are very sought after.

3. Edmund Dulac

1882-1953

Main years of work: 1900-1930

Edmund Dulac is one of the top Golden Age artists and died whilst illustrating a book.

Best known for his illustrations in various Fairy Tales books and 'The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam' , his illustrations are often dream-like and show some influence from Arthur Rackham.
He championed the 'tipped in' method of illustration by which illustrations could be inserted into pages rather than being bound, making his work some of the most printable of the early 1900's.

4. Walter Crane

1845-1915

Main years of work:  1865-1900

Walter Crane's work is some of the most iconic of all the Golden Age illustrators due to its bold Arts and Crafts designs.
Preferring fantasy scenes rather than reality, Crane is best known for his nursery books which display a unique Asian/ Italian/ Greek blend of styles.
He also pioneered political art and social art (the re-introduction of art to everyday objects such as carpet) and is a revered name among book collectors.

5. Harry Rountree

1878-1950

Main years of work: 1900-1930

Harry Rountree is best known for his work in 'Alice in Wonderland' although he illustrated many books including those by Enid Blyton and he created honest and colourful illustrations that were more in keeping with the book than Rackham's or similar offerings by other illustrators.
His style was more traditional and akin to watercolour rather than the Asian woodblock design pioneered by his fellow Golden Age illustrators.

6. John Tenniel (Sir)

1820-1914

Main years of work: 1860-1880

Tenniel is another illustrator best known for his work in 'Alice in Wonderland' although he also worked on the well-known 'Punch' magazine series.
His illustrations were originally black and white and in the style of sketch-work.

7. Harry G. Theaker

1873-1954

Main years of work: 1920-1930

Theaker was a lesser-known illustrator but contributed to several children's books including 'The Water Babies'. His work cleverly played with space, making good use of basic shapes such as circles and squares and breaking their boundaries to create innovative illustration.

8. Margaret Tarrant

1888-1959

Main years of work: 1910-1930

Margaret Tarrant helped to single-handedly popularise fairies through her children's book illustration but is best known, as with many others of the Golden Age, for illustrating 'Alice in Wonderland'.
Her illustrations capture the energy and charm of the story with bold water-colour styled designs.

9. Charles Robinson

1870-1937

Main years of work: 1890-1910

This active painter was a popular choice for children's illustration, having illustrated 'The Secret Garden', 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Grimm's Fairy Tales' among other titles.
His work is similar to Rackham's but often less sober with a little more colour and more of the expected level of energy and style that one might expect from a children's book illustrator.

 10. Kate Greenway

1846-1901

Main years of work: 1880-1900

This list couldn't be written without including Kate Greenway.

Greenway was around before many of the top illustrators and so pioneered children's book illustration through her charming, pastel coloured drawings.

Most notable for her Birthday Book, Greenway created a benchmark that many strove to beat.

And there we have it!

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