Wa1ter Crane (1845
- 1915)
Crane was one of the most popular Victorian illustrators of children's books,
and one of the earliest exponents of the colored picture book, which he designed
in collaboration with Edmund Evans. Historically, the special significance
of the Crane-Evans collaboration was the production of a series of charming
books, each one a complete unit, designed from cover to cover, which could be
bought cheaply. In 1863, Crane did covers for 'yellow back' cheap novels
for Evans, and then, from about 1865, children's picture books, in the series of
"Toy Books" Evans was producing for the publishers Warne and Routledge.
The books usually measured 10 1/2" x 9" and were made up of six
pages of text and six of illustrations printed in color on one side of the page
(though usually there was very little reading matter). Toy books needed
huge print orders to keep their price low; George Routledge alleged that he
would only begin to make a profit on a title if he sold more than 50,000, and a
first print order of 10,000 was common. These series were immensely
successful, and they were still being issued in bound collections twenty-five
years after their first appearance. Although they were mass-produced, they still
maintained a high level of craftsmanship. In all Crane designed some
fifty of these books, which were the most popular children's books of the day.
Crane's style was a mixture of influences: he shared with the Pre-Raphaelites
affection for medieval design and subject matter as well as Renaissance art -
especially furniture and interior decoration. Crane was also influenced by
Japanese prints and endeavored to bring their definite block outlines and flat,
brilliant, as well as delicate colors to children's books. Crane devoted a
great deal of thought to the kind of designs that he believed would appeal to
children, and his particular style is consistent with these theories. He
wrote: "Children, like the ancient Egyptians, appear to see most
things in profile, and like definite statements in design. They prefer
well-defined forms and bright, frank color. They don't want to bother
about three dimensions. They can accept symbolic representations. They
themselves employ drawing... as a kind of picture-writing, and eagerly follow a
pictured story (Meyer, 88)." He believed that during the first years
of life, the child's imagination must be continually and freshly stimulated with
bright color, sensitive line, and symbolic imagery.
Not only the content, but also the very way in which the books were presented -
from covers to cover - were a matter of consequence to Crane. Nothing was
left to accident. Crane regarded each volume as a designed work, in which every
element - text, ornaments, and pictures - was subordinate to the whole concept.
He compared the picture book to architecture, to a house with a porch and
a welcome hallway, and from there taking his reader on a pleasant journey from
room to room and "weaving dreams in the changing lights and shadows to
forget life's rough way and the tempestuous world outside (Meyer, 89)."
He disliked the sketchy impressionistic style employed by Caldecott (see
below), preferring the completely outlined contour drawing, framed with figures,
and placed within an artfully defined setting. Because of this
overwhelming emphasis on static design, reviewers described him as the
"Academician of the Nursery." But Crane had a wonderful sense of
humor and Evans correctly identified him as the "father of the illustrated
children's book." Under the guidance of Edmund Evans, Crane raised
the public's awareness of the need for good design, craftsmanship, and standards
of taste in the Victorian children's book. The Toy Books were his lasting
contribution to children's literature, and through them the first breakthrough
of color into the cheap bookmarket was made.
This slide shows a
totally designed cover of one of the Toy Books, which also advertises other
books in the series, printed on yellow paper. Children are represented as
young birds, and Crane may be poking fun at himself as "the Academician of
the Nursery" (though nothing apparently irritated him more than hearing
people say this). Like the Japanese artists whose work he admired, Crane
adopted a rebus for his signature, a symbol of a crane. By this time (1875)
Crane had become famous and his name was an incentive to buy the book.
A page from Baby's Own Alphabet (1875) which shows how Crane sought a design of ordered spacings and graphic patterns to illustrate the alphabet.
The cover of another
Toy Book, Goody Two Shoes, (1874). The symbolic golden fruit on the tree
also advertise other books in the series.
A double page spread
from Goody Two Shoes which shows Crane's mixture of styles - Renaissance
costumes and thatch-roofed cottages in an eighteenth-century English village
setting. Because Margery Meanwell has befriended several animals (note
the birds on her shoulders) she is believed to be a witch. Crane's humor
is evident in his depiction of Gaffer Goosecap, a wiseacre sent to find out
evidence against her.
This illustration for the nursery rhyme, "This little pig," shows many of Crane's personal trademarks -strong outline and clear bright colors. The simplicity of line and flatness of form also give this design a unique quality, which Crane used in his later work. The frontal position of the piglets and distorted floor space again recall the Japanese method of pictorial space and design, which is consistent with his theories about the child reader.
Slide 96. Beauty
and the Beast was originally a Toy Book which Crane designed for Routledge and
is a classic montage of Crane's decorative interests - eighteenth-century
costumes, medieval tapestry, and William Norris foliage.
Almost all of Crane's
ideas about children as readers can be found in this beautiful illustration from
The Frog Prince. Humor is evident in the faces of the servants who are
watching the scene as the king in profile instructs his daughter to obey her
promise to the frog. The almost heraldic falcon sitting on the perch next
to him mirrors the kingís symbolic gesture. And the tablecloth tells in
"picture-writing" the nursery rhyme story of an unfortunate frog
devoured by a duck. The color in all these books is bright and deep, with
a fine detail and range of tone, which is due to Evans' techniques in color
woodblock printing.
