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| Howard Pyle, Book of Pirates (1902) |
Howard Pyle was born in Delaware in 1853. He studied at the Arts Student League in New York and the Pennsylvania Academy.
Pyle contributed to a number of magazines including Harper's Monthly and Scribner's Magazine. He also illustrated books such as The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883) and the Book of Pirates (1902).
Pyle has been described as the "father of American illustration" because of the enormous influence his work had on other artists. Pyle taught at the Arts Students League of New York, the Drexel Institute, and his own art schools at Chadd's Ford and Wilmington. His students included Maxfield Parrish, N. C. Wyeth and Frank Schoonover. Howard Pyle died in 1911.
I still have many of the books my parents gave me. The Book of Pirates is the only one that both my parents inscribed to me. There were many other books that covered history, manners (I, uh, cough, followed it) and other sensible subjects and I remember the content. Of books such as the Book of Pirates by and illustrated by Pyle I not only remember the contents, but the book itself. Maxfield Parrish, N. C. Wyeth (father of Andrew Wyeth) and others may have written some books, but they were mainly illustrators who shaped how young people saw the world. What a great and good thing.
