Created by Ben Swenson on Sat, 05/24/2025 - 19:05
Description:
The Rubáiyát of Doc Sifers was illustrated by C.M. Relyea and published by The Century Co. The Century Co. began as Scribner and Company, a subsidiary of Charles Scribner’s Sons, in 1870. It wasn’t until after it was bought by a man named Roswell Smith that it became The Century Co. The Century Co., until its demise in 1960 when it was bought by Meredith Corporation, published a variety of books and a monthly magazine named, Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Its trademark was a crest with a book on it, surrounded by the sun (at least that is what it looks like to me). This symbol can be found on the back of the Rubáiyát of Doc Sifers, gilded and lying in the center of the back cover, unassuming and waiting (Figure 1). It is also located on the inside cover (Figure 2).
C.M. Relyea is someone I have mentioned before, and alongside him the story of how James Whitcomb Riley made him travel to Indiana before illustrating the Rubáiyát of Doc Sifers, so that he did not caricaturize his characters in any way. He was born in New York in 1863 and learned how to illustrate at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia under the mentorship of Thomas Eakins and F.V. DuMond (Leonard 1229). It seems that he worked for Charles Scribner or for one of his subsidiaries, with his art being published alongside stories in a magazine named St. Nicholas. In a popularity poll of all the artists that contributed to the magazine, he came last, (Gannon 71). He worked on many books that were published by The Century Co. and the many other subsidiaries of Charles Scribner and his family. He was also not the first choice to illustrate the Rubáiyát of Doc Sifers (Riley must have heard about the poll). He chose a different man named Will Vawter, “because he painted his Hoosier characters as the poet saw them,” (Allen 241). But ultimately The Century Co. chose Reylea instead.
Allen, E. J. V. (1999). James Whitcomb riley: A life. Indiana University Press.
Gannon, S. R., Rahn, S., & Thompson, R. A. (2004). St. Nicholas and mary mapes dodge:
The legacy of a children’s magazine editor, 1873-1905. McFarland.
Leonard, J. W., & Marquis, A. N. (1903). Who’s who in America. A.N. Marquis.