Although the first collection of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's folk tales was published in
1812 the first illustrated edition appeared in 1819, featuring a series of formal engravings
by their younger brother Ludwig. Somewhat surprisingly, examples of his illustrations
are rather thin on the ground.
4 years later in 1823 the first British edition was published, illustrated by the cartoonist
George Cruikshank, better known for his satirical drawings. This was a far more characterful
and lively affair, which capitalised on the dark humour inherent in many of the stories,
and the frequently grotesque characters involved. And although these images were also engraved
for reproduction they possessed a spontaneity not generally seen at this time in book illustration.
In 1853 Edward Wehnert published his interpretation of the tales, and his was an altogether more
representational visualisation more in line with what other mid - Victorian children's
illustrators were by now producing.
Although the immensely talented and celebrated Gustave Doré actually illustrated what was
titled les Contes de Perrault, many of these were just unacknowledged re-writes of existing
Grimm's tales. And Dorés drawings, which were remarkably skilfully engraved by others,
memorably evoked the inherent menace of the originals.
Ten years later in 1872 an edition with drawings by Ludwig Richter was published in Germany
and Britain. And although pretty much forgotten now these drawings were particularly successful
in evoking the medieval origins of the tales. As such they successfully refer back to the
Northern European Renaissance engravings of Bruegel and although technically not as complex
as Dore's images, they possess an authority and particularly human, occasionally comedic
engagement.
Although British arts and crafts exponent Walter Crane had created a limited number
of highly accomplished colour woodblock prints to illustrate a couple of the stories as early
as 1879, when he actually published his version of the collected tales in 1882 it was illustrated
in black and white only in a deliberate stylistic re-creation of medieval woodcut techniques.
But in 1889 Alexander Zick produced another collection, which was printed using the complicated
and expensive chromolithographic colour printing method. and additionally thanks to the invention
of the photo-engraving process by illustrator Daniel Vierge a few years earlier his line
drawings did not need to undergo the engraving process.
These technological advances combined with Zick's undoubted prowess as an accomplished
narrative illustrator made this collection a particularly engrossing and historically
significant series which was predictive of much of what followed in the coming century.
5 Years later in 1894 British illustrator Gordon Browne also took creative advantage
of photolithographic printing with a series of finely rendered pen and ink drwaings. they
were monochrome only, but they were nevertheless possessed of a dynamic and expressive sketchy
line quality which benefitted greatly from bypassing the engraving process,
Only a few years later full colour offset lithography was invented and although it was
prohibitively expensive. an increasing number of illustrated books were published featuring
colour illustration produced this way.
Among them was the now obscure Noel Pocock's 1900 edition of the tales, which featured
representational figure work created in watercolour washes, and the new technology enabled them
to be faithfully reproduced directly from his painted original artwork.
But for a while at least monochrome continued to be more commonly used, if only because
it was far cheaper. And quite a few illustrators such as Robert Anning Bell, who had made their
reputation with monochrome seemed quite happy to continue as before.
The remarkably expressive and attractive series published in 1904 by H. L. Schindler, about
whom I can find no information, but who I'm pretty sure was German, clearly showed that
in the right hands pure black and white still had its appeal. The series of detailed crosshatched
images he created was a memorable graphic evocation of the medieval gothic origins of
many of these tales, and despite Schindler's current. obscurity this edition stands out
as one of the most atmospheric.
In 1904 another edition, this time by Helen Stratton, was published n Britain.the book
featured some accomplished line only full page illustrations, and others which were
printed in colour. In this case I can't tell for sure whether they were hand coloured with
washes or had the various colours added at print. But whichever it was this was one of
the earliest examples to use this approach, similar to what was being produced in comic
strips of the time.
Heinrich Vogeler published an edition in 1907 using a very precise pen technique, and in
his case the colour was definitely applied as washes, and his illustrations also incorporated
highly decorative borders using other elements and characters from te given narrative.
Among the most significant and enduring visual interpretations of the Grimm's tales was created
by the master of folk fantasy illustration, Arthur Rackham. first published in 1909, it
was another which resonated with the inherent gothic menace of quite a few of the Grimm's
tales.
Rackham, more than any of his contemporaries was exploiting the potential of full colour
and created images which relied on tonal washes applied over pen line work of remarkable complexity
and expressive definition. All the images he produced for this volume were appropriately
dark, shadowy and sinister, using a deliberately earthy palette and highly accomplished tonal
renders. And like many other books for children published in this time frame his colour illustrations
were also accompanied by a larger number of line only images throughout the book. Unsurprisingly
this iconic edition of the tales is deservedly still in print more than a century later.
Unfortunately for Leonard Leslie Brooke, his watercolour and line drawn edition was published
in the same year, and despite the fact that it was also a highly attractive, witty and
imaginative visualisation of the tales it was rather overwhelmed by the dominance of
the Rackham version, and has remained in its shadow ever since.
This was the real heyday of children's book illustration in Britain and because no royalties
were paid to the Grimms many others published their interpretations for an eager public.
Among them was Millicent Sowerby, whose own 1909 version also used what was undoubtedly
the most popular technique of pen line with watercolour washes. Her images were quite
formally composed, using brighter washes iff colour and they deliberately played down the
more menacing aspects of the tales
Charles Folkard's line and watercolour edition of 1911 was another which followed the lead
established by Rackham in both style and choice of medium, but his version was considerably
more intensely coloured and although playfully grotesque, much less menacing.
As with a worrying number of the books featured Various dates are given for its publication
but I'm going with 1912 for the version illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell, the British children's
illustrator whose reputation was based entirely on her facility for cute characters.
And despite the undoubtedly agreeable nature of her line and watercolour illustrations
hers was arguably the least representative of the actual tales illustrated to date. By
this point the view that contemporary children should not be presented with challenging imagery
was pretty much universal.
The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 didn't completely stop publication of picture
books but understandably there weren't many being published during the conflict. Among
the few significant Grimms volumes published was another somewhat sanitised edition by
American Ethel Franklin Betts in 1917, which nevertheless featured a series of charming
illustrations which were painted with gouache and unusually for the period dispensed with
the expected black line. And in the same year another American edition
by British born illustrator Louis Rhead was published, which contained spectacularly well
rendered and evocative pen and ink monochromes.
in 1918 Johnny Gruelle, who would later go on to become famous as the creator of Raggedy
Ann, produced an equally attractive series of illustrations using pen and bright tonal
watercolour which enjoyed success in the USA, and stylistically Gruelle's images anticipated
what might be termed the Disney-fication of these and other tales from the folk tradition.
Harry G Theaker published his series of watercolours in 1920, and although they were an attractive
collection of essentially vignetted character studies they lacked the scenic atmospheric
qualities of other versions. In the same year American Elenore Abbott also produced some
enchanting watercolours which may have been disproportionately romantic in tone were nevertheless
visually absorbing and pleasing to the eye.
Only a year later Jennie Harbour created a version which was a fairly radical stylistic
departure which nevertheless enjoyed popular success. Her monochrome work for this edition
invoked the spirit of Aubrey Beardsly in composition and execution, and her colour work, although
lacking descriptive background elements, was also unconventionally coloured and darkly
romantic.
And its with this distinctively modernist version, a century after the first illustrated
edition, that we come to the end of this first of two parts. I hope I see you again when
the second is uploaded.