COVE

Dr. Heinrich Hoffmann is most well known for his first book Der Struwwelpeter (1845), published in England under the same name but translated to Slovenly Peter for release in the United States. Dr. Hoffmann originally wrote the collection of stories as a Christmas present for his son; he felt there was a shortage of suitable books for young children which necessitated his own addition. His friends implored him to publish the book, which he did the following year. It was an immediate success and garnered public and critical approval. Eventually it would become the second...

Margaret Rebecca Dickinson (1821–1918) was a botanical artist residing in north-east England and the Scottish Borders. Her watercolor paintings, drawn from plants gathered around her homes and across the British Isles, are preserved in the archives of esteemed institutions like the Royal Horticultural Society and the Great North Museum: Hancock. Beyond their artistic charm, these paintings offer valuable insights into the historical shifts in land use within the region. Dickinson meticulously assembled a herbarium containing over 1000 specimens and created numerous drawings and watercolor...

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) is an important English poet, painter, illustrator, and translator. He spearheaded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848, an arts movement devoted to rich detail, color, and sensuality. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, known as the PRB, critiqued classical poses and composition associated with the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael (1483-1520). Early doctrines of the Pre-Raphaelites reveal an emphasis on Nature, authenticity, and Catholic religiosity, associated with English critic John Ruskin. However, Rossetti’s career encompassed many styles of...

George Du Maurier made his reputation as a "Sixties" illustrator. The term "Sixties" refers to an important school in the history of British book illustration that technically spans 1855–1875, but takes its name from the decade when much excellent work in the realistic school of illustration reigned supreme. During this period, many trained artists entered the lucrative field of book illustration. Sir John Everett Millais is considered the foremost "Sixties" illustrator, but Du Maurier along with others including William Holman Hunt, Frederick Walker, and Luke Fildes made their mark as "...

Kate (Catherine) Greenaway (1846-1901) was born in Hoxton, London, to a dressmaker mother and an illustrator father. Greenaway took after her parents early in life: she became a skilled seamstress by her mother's hand and displayed a love and talent for art from watching her father. She spent a relatively brief part of her childhood in Nottinghamshire after her father sent the family to live with some relatives while he worked on an engraving project, but the time had an immense impact on the still young Kate Greenaway. The location and landscape later became a staple in her illustrations...

Hugh Thomson was born in Corelaine, Ireland, on June 1st, 1860. He had little no training as an artist, and his family originally intended for him to be a clerical worker, even placing him under an apprenticeship at Gibbon and Son, a linen manufacturer. However, Thomson was not pleased with this job, and he took up another job at a print company called Marcus Ward and Co at the age of sixteen. He later moved to London, where he became an illustrator for English Illustration Magazine, where he rose in popularity. Eventually, he was comissioned to illustrate a variety of novels,...

Rudyard Kipling, whose full name at birth was actually Joseph Rudyard Kipling, was born on December 30, 1865 in Bombay, India to Alice Macdonald Kipling and John Lockwood Kipling. When he was six years old, he and his sister were left in a foster home in England where he was bullied and abused. Years later, he faced bullying again while at college but he acquired a love for literature that became his creative outlet. After college, he returned to India where he worked as a journalist and editor, writing about India and Anglo-Indian society. He published his first work, a volume of poetry...

Althea Gyles: Irish Poet, Book Designer, and Illustrator 

Althea Gyles (1868-1949) is an Anglo-Irish creative. She is best known for her close friendship and work done for Irish poet W.B. Yeats, having designed the first edition covers for his The Secret Rose (1897), Poems (1899), and The Wind Among the Reeds (1899). Literature and academia are lacking on the subject of Gyles with almost anything about her being connected back to the men in her life: Yeats’s puzzling friendship, her admiration of Oscar Wilde and her illustrations for his poem “Harlot House...