Aesop's Fables
Thomas Bewick, 'The Ant and the Grasshopper', wood-engraved illustration, from 'Fables of Aesop and others', 1818. Printed by E. Walker for Thomas Bewick, Newcastle. National Art Library Pressmark: G.28.Y.1b
Aesop's Fables have been a perpetual resource for moralists and story-tellers and popular subjects for illustration aimed at both children and adults. They were among the first illustrated printed books to be produced; the earliest known example was produced in Bamberg, Germany, in 1461.
Aesop is really a compiler of the fables, which may originally have been passed down through oral tradition. Some have been found written on Egyptian papyri dating to between 800 and 1000 years before Aesop's time.
Aesop is said to have lived about 620–560 BC and to have been a slave on the Greek Island of Samos, later freed by his master Iadmon. He was then at the court of King Croesus in Athens. A number of places have been suggested as Aesop's place of birth, including Thrace (around southern Bulgaria, northern Greece and Turkey), Phyrgia (Turkey), Samos, Greece and Ethiopia. Maximus Planudes, Aesop's biographer, described him as black, and the name Aesop comes from the Greek word 'Aethiop' for Ethiopia.
The National Art Library has a large collection of illustrated Aesop's Fables dating from the 15th century to the present day. The following are a selection of fables taken from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by Richard Heighway (London: Macmillan & Co., 1894). Each fable is accompanied by a selection of images from the Library's collection.
The Ant and the Grasshopper
'In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"
"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."
"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.'
John Vernon Lord, 'The Ant and the Grasshopper'
John Vernon Lord
'The Ant and the Grasshopper'
1989
Illustration from wood-engravings
From Aesop's Fables, retold in verse by James Mitchie
Published by Jonathan Cape, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.HH.46.John Vernon Lord (born 1939) used the area around his home in Ditchling, Sussex, as setting for his Aesop's Fables illustrations. His pen and ink drawings are painstaking in their detail and resemble wood engravings. Lord used mapping and Rotring pens and sometimes a blunted ruler for parallel lines. Wax was sometimes added to the paper to resist the ink, giving a luminescence to some of the backgrounds. In an essay on 'Hatching', Lord wrote; "The editing and selection of gap-making is fundamental to drawing… A picture is made up of a balancing between the making, the removing, and the not-making of marks."
Lord has been a prolific illustrator for nearly fifty years as well as teaching illustration at Brighton Art College. His past work includes an album cover for Deep Purple's 'The Book of Taliesyn' in 1968 and book illustrations to 'The Giant Jam Sandwich' in 1972 and 'The Nonsense Verse' by Edward Lear in 1984, both published by Jonathan Cape. He still illustrates, working now with the Inky Parrott Press on Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'.
Helen Ward, 'A Time to Dance: in which a cricket learns about work the hard way' (The Ant and the Grasshopper)
Helen Ward
'A Time to Dance: in which a cricket learns about work the hard way' (The Ant and the Grasshopper)
2004
Ink, watercolour and gouache illustration
From 'Unwitting Wisdom: an Anthology of Aesop's animal fables'
Published by Templar, London.
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.MM.57Helen Ward is known for her vibrant and dynamic picture books featuring birds or animals. She paints in watercolour and gouache, sometimes removing colour to achieve more tonal variety, and uses a Rapidograph pen for detail. She designs the whole page layout in her picture books, which she says can take about six months to make. Sometimes drawing from life, she also makes use of wildlife films to observe movement.
A major influence was the Ashmolean's Impey collection of Indian 18th century natural history paintings, which impressed her for the "crispness of the execution, and the fact that the drawing, though objective, is not entirely realistic".
Ward studied at Brighton Art School in the 1980s with ambitions to become a natural history illustrator. On graduating, she was approached by publisher Templar and has made illustrated books for them ever since. Recent work includes a contribution to Templar's 'Ologies' series, a picture book 'Wonderful Life' about a rodent who studies wildlife on another planet, and 'Varmints', soon to be an animated film about noise pollution.
Agnes Miller Parker, 'Of the Ant and of the Sygale' (The Ant and the Grasshopper)
Agnes Miller Parker
'Of the Ant and of the Sygale' (The Ant and the Grasshopper)
About 1932
Wood-engraved illustration from 'The Fables of Esope: translated out of Frensshe in to Englysshe by William Caxton'
Published by Gregynog Press.
National Art Library Pressmark: 95.T.41This book reproduces the Aesop text of William Caxton (about 1422-1491), which he published in 1484. Probably from Tenterden in Kent, Caxton was the first printer in the English language. He published his first translation in 1474 in Bruges and set up a printing press at Westminster from 1476.
Gwendoline and Margaret Davies set up the Gregynog Press, or Gwasg Gregynog, in 1922 at their home, Gregynog Hall in Wales. They used traditional hot-metal typesetting and letterpress printing and illustrations by leading contemporary artists. Book illustrator Agnes Miller Parker (1895-1980) studied and later worked at Glasgow School of Art from 1911.
Joseph d'Ambrosio, silkscreen and block print illustration from 'The Ondt and the Gracehoper' by James Joyce
Joseph d'Ambrosio
1975
From 'The Ondt and the Gracehoper' by James Joyce
Silkscreen and block print illustration
Published by Joseph d'Ambrosio and printed by The Compulsive Printer, Chicago
National Art Library Pressmark: 803.AD.0001This retelling of 'The Ant and the Grasshopper' fable comes from the novel 'Finnegans Wake' by James Joyce, published in 1939. The novel is written in a peculiar language involving wordplay. It includes a poem made up by the character Shaun called 'The Ondt and the Gracehoper', (Book 3, Chapter 1, p.414-419) crammed with puns and names of philosophers and insects.
This image was silkscreen and block printed. Silkscreen is based on stencilling. Ink is pressed through a fabric screen, with areas blocked off by stencils or photo emulsion. Seen on Japanese textiles at 19th century World Fairs, it was first used for signage, by artists from the 1930s. It is best known through work by later artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.
Joseph d'Ambrosio, Silkscreen and block print illustration
Joseph d'Ambrosio
1975
Silkscreen and block print illustration
From 'The Ondt and the Gracehoper' by James Joyce
Published by Joseph d'Ambrosio and printed by The Compulsive Printer, Chicago
National Art Library Pressmark: 803.AD.0001This retelling of 'The Ant and the Grasshopper' fable comes from the novel 'Finnegans Wake' by James Joyce, published in 1939. The novel is written in a peculiar language involving wordplay. It includes a poem made up by the character Shaun called 'The Ondt and the Gracehoper', (Book 3, Chapter 1, p.414-419] crammed with puns and names of philosophers and insects.
This image was silkscreen and block printed. Silkscreen is based on stencilling. Ink is pressed through a fabric screen, with areas blocked off by stencils or photo emulsion. Seen on Japanese textiles at 19th century World Fairs, it was first used for signage, by artists from the 1930s. It is best known through work by later artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.
'The Ant & Grasshopper. Against Idleness', chromo-lithographed illustrations
'The Ant & Grasshopper. Against Idleness'
1847
Chromo-lithographed illustrations
From 'The child's illuminated fable-book'
Published by William Smith, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.V.25This ornate image is chromolithography at its most elaborate. An expensive process using a different stone to print each colour, chromolithography was first used just to print one or two overall colours. Later it was used for luxury colour-illustrated gift books from about 1840. The most ornate designs had dozens of bright colours, silver and gold. Cheaper methods replaced chromolithography after 1880.
Lithography, invented by Alois Senefelder in 1798, works on the principle that oil and water repel each other. A design is drawn onto smooth limestone using a greasy medium. The stone is wet and oily ink is applied with a roller. It sticks to the greasy lines but avoids the wet parts of the stone.
The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf'
'There was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep at the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so he thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some excitement. He rushed down towards the village calling out "Wolf, Wolf," and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerable time.
This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterwards he tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help. But shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out from the forest, and began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course cried out "Wolf, Wolf," still louder than before. But this time the villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to his help. So the Wolf made a good meal off the boy's flock, and when the boy complained, the wise man of the village said:
"A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth."'
Thomas Bewick, 'The Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf' (The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf'), wood-engraved illustration, from 'Fables of Aesop and others', 1818. Printed by E. Walker for Thomas Bewick, Newcastle. National Art Library Pressmark: G.28.Y.1b
Jeremiah Cliff (owner of the book in about 1711) 'A Boy and False Alarms' (The Boy Who Cried 'Wolf'), alongside 'An Eagle and a Daw' Hand-drawn illustration In a copy of 'Fables of Aesop and other eminent mythologists' by Roger L'Estrange, 1708 Printed for R. Sare in London National Art Library Pressmark: Safe 6.A.10
Arthur Rackham 'The Hare and the Tortoise' 1912 Illustration line block printed from drawing, from 'Aesop's fables', translated by V.S. Vernon Jones Published by Ballantyne & Co., London National Art Library Pressmark: 60.BB.31
The Hare and the Tortoise
'The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals.
"I have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I put forth my full speed. I challenge any one here to race with me."
The Tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."
"That is a good joke," said the Hare; "I could dance round you all the way."
"Keep your boasting till you've beaten," answered the Tortoise. "Shall we race?"
So a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the Tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when the Hare awoke from his nap, he saw the Tortoise just near the winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race.
Then said the Tortoise: "Plodding wins the race."'
Helen Ward, illustration printed from ink
Helen Ward
1998
Illustration printed from ink, watercolour and gouache drawing
From 'Hare and the Tortoise'
Published by Templar, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.HH.189Helen Ward is known for her vibrant and dynamic picture books featuring birds or animals. She paints in watercolour and gouache, sometimes removing colour to achieve more tonal variety, and uses a Rapidograph pen for detail. She designs the whole page layout in her picture books, which she says can take about six months to make. Sometimes drawing from life, she also makes use of wildlife films to observe movement.
A major influence was the Ashmolean's Impey collection of Indian 18th century natural history paintings, which impressed her for the 'crispness of the execution, and the fact that the drawing, though objective, is not entirely realistic'.
Ward studied at Brighton Art School in the 1980s with ambitions to become a natural history illustrator. On graduating, she was approached by publisher Templar and has made illustrated books for them ever since. Recent work includes a contribution to 'Templar's Ologies' series, a picture book 'Wonderful Life' about a rodent who studies wildlife on another planet, and 'Varmints', soon to be an animated film about noise pollution.
'The Hare & Tortoise. On the Value of the Present Moment', chromo-lithographed illustrations
'The Hare & Tortoise. On the Value of the Present Moment'
1847
Chromo-lithographed illustrations,
From 'The child's illuminated fable-book'
Published by William Smith, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.V.25This ornate image is chromolithography at its most elaborate. An expensive process using a different stone to print each colour, chromolithography was first used just to print one or two overall colours. Later it was used for luxury colour-illustrated gift books from about 1840. The most ornate designs had dozens of bright colours, silver and gold. Cheaper methods replaced chromolithography after 1880.
Lithography, invented by Alois Senefelder in 1798, works on the principle that oil and water repel each other. A design is drawn onto smooth limestone using a greasy medium. The stone is wet and oily ink is applied with a roller. It sticks to the greasy lines but avoids the wet parts of the stone.
John Vernon Lord, 'The Hare and the Tortoise'
John Vernon Lord
'The Hare and the Tortoise'
1989
Illustration from wood-engravings
From 'Aesop's Fables', retold in verse by James Mitchie
Published by Jonathan Cape, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.HH.46John Vernon Lord (born 1939) used the area around his home in Ditchling, Sussex, as setting for his Aesop's Fables illustrations. His pen and ink drawings are painstaking in their detail and resemble wood engravings. Lord used mapping and Rotring pens and sometimes a blunted ruler for parallel lines. Wax was sometimes added to the paper to resist the ink, giving a luminescence to some of the backgrounds. In an essay on 'Hatching', Lord wrote; "The editing and selection of gap-making is fundamental to drawing… A picture is made up of a balancing between the making, the removing, and the not-making of marks."
Lord has been a prolific illustrator for nearly fifty years as well as teaching illustration at Brighton Art College. His past work includes an album cover for Deep Purple's 'The Book of Taliesyn' in 1968 and book illustrations to 'The Giant Jam Sandwich' in 1972 and 'The Nonsense Verse' by Edward Lear in 1984, both published by Jonathan Cape. He still illustrates, working now with the Inky Parrott Press on Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'.
Thomas Bewick, 'The Hare and the Tortoise'
Thomas Bewick
'The Hare and the Tortoise'
1818
Wood-engraved illustration
From 'Fables of Aesop and others'
Printed by E. Walker for Thomas Bewick, Newcastle
National Art Library Pressmark: G.28.Y.1bThomas Bewick (1753-1828) is famous for his wood-engraved illustrations. He used a method called 'white-line' engraving, a dark-to-light technique where the lines to remain white are cut out of the woodblock. Transfer drawings show that he followed just general outlines, creating the extraordinary detail directly on the block.
Boxwood cut across the end-grain is hard enough for engraving, allowing greater detail than woodcutting. Wood engraving was used since 1600 for simple ornaments in books but Bewick fully exploited it by lowering areas of the block, creating more depth of light and tone.
With his partner Ralph Beilby in Newcastle, Bewick published ambitious illustrated books of animals like 'General History of Quadrupeds' (1790) and 'History of British Birds' (1797-1804).
Walter Crane, 'The Hare and the Tortoise'
Walter Crane
'The Hare and the Tortoise'
About 1907
Illustration
Colour wood-engraved by Edmund Evans
From 'The baby's own Aesop: being the fables condensed in rhyme', adapted from William James Linton
Published by Frederick Warne, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.C.108This image comes from a toy-book designed by Walter Crane (1845-1915) and printed by Edmund Evans (1826-1905) using colour wood-engraving. Crane imitated the highly developed methods of Japanese colour woodblock printing, recently discovered by Europeans, which Evans reproduced.
Edmund Evans (1826-1905) is one of the best-known European colour wood-engravers of the 19th century. The care he took with colours attracted well-known illustrators like Crane to work with him, including Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott. He used a new invention, photography, to transfer illustrators' work onto the woodblocks, making reproduction easier than copying.
Marcus Gheeraerts, 'De Lieure & de la Tortuë' (The Hare and the Tortoise)
Marcus Gheeraerts
'De Lieure & de la Tortuë' (The Hare and the Tortoise)
1578
Etching and engraving
From 'Esbatement moral des animaux' by Peeter Heyns
Published by Philippe Galle in Antwerp
National Art Library Pressmark: 86.D.117This book, published by Phillip Galle, re-uses the etched plates made for another book. 'De warachtige fabulen der dieren', published by De Dene in 1567, was one of the earliest to show the fine effects possible with etched rather than engraved illustration.
In etching, an image is drawn on a metal plate through an acid-resistant wax coating using a special needle. The plate is heated to harden the remaining wax and then dipped into acid, which bites into the drawn lines making grooves.
Etcher and engraver Marcus Gheeraerts (about 1516 - about 1604) was from Bruges. His fable illustrations became famous and were often copied or imitated. His style also influenced later artists like Wenceslaus Hollar and Francis Barlow.
Helen Ward 'Pot Luck: in which a wolf's cunning is his own downfall' 2004 From ink, watercolour and gouache illustration From Unwitting Wisdom: an Anthology of Aesop's animal fables Published by Templar, London National Art Library Pressmark: 60.MM.57
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
'A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep.
The Lamb that belonged to the sheep, whose skin the Wolf was wearing, began to follow the Wolf in the Sheep's clothing; so, leading the Lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal off her, and for some time he succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying hearty meals. Appearances are deceptive.'
Helen Ward 'Pot Luck: in which a wolf's cunning is his own downfall' 2004 From ink, watercolour and gouache illustration From Unwitting Wisdom: an Anthology of Aesop's animal fables Published by Templar, London National Art Library Pressmark: 60.MM.57
Thomas Bewick, 'The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing', wood-engraved illustration from 'Fables of Aesop and others', 1818. Printed by E. Walker for Thomas Bewick, Newcastle. National Art Library Pressmark: G.28.Y.1b
John Vernon Lord, 'The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing', illustrated from wood-engravings, from 'Aesop's Fables, retold in verse by James Mitchie', 1989. Published by Jonathan Cape, London. National Art Library Pressmark: 60.HH.46
'Le Loup Sous la Peau d'une Brebis' (The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing), etching after Francis Barlow, from 'Fables d'Ésope', about 1790. Published by Henri Remoissenet, Paris. National Art Library Pressmark: 60.Z.272
Johannes Zainer, 'Von dem Rappen und Pfawen' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks), wood-cut illustration from 'Vita Aesopi fabulatoris', 1479. National Art Library Pressmark: 86.B.2
The Jackdaw and the Peacocks
'A Jay venturing into a yard where Peacocks used to walk, found there a number of feathers which had fallen from the Peacocks when they were moulting. He tied them all to his tail and strutted down towards the Peacocks.
When he came near them they soon discovered the cheat, and striding up to him pecked at him and plucked away his borrowed plumes. So the Jay could do no better than go back to the other Jays, who had watched his behaviour from a distance; but they were equally annoyed with him, and told him:
"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds."'
John Vernon Lord, 'The Vain Jackdaw' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
John Vernon Lord
'The Vain Jackdaw' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
1989
Illustration from wood-engravings
From 'Aesop's Fables', retold in verse by James Mitchie
Published by Jonathan Cape, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.HH.46John Vernon Lord (born 1939) used the area around his home in Ditchling, Sussex, as setting for his Aesop's Fables illustrations. His pen and ink drawings are painstaking in their detail and resemble wood engravings. Lord used mapping and Rotring pens and sometimes a blunted ruler for parallel lines. Wax was sometimes added to the paper to resist the ink, giving a luminescence to some of the backgrounds. In an essay on 'Hatching', Lord wrote; "The editing and selection of gap-making is fundamental to drawing… A picture is made up of a balancing between the making, the removing, and the not-making of marks."
Lord has been a prolific illustrator for nearly fifty years as well as teaching illustration at Brighton Art College. His past work includes an album cover for Deep Purple's 'The Book of Taliesyn' in 1968 and book illustrations to 'The Giant Jam Sandwich' in 1972 and 'The Nonsense Verse' by Edward Lear in 1984, both published by Jonathan Cape. He still illustrates, working now with the Inky Parrott Press on Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'.
Helen Ward, 'All Dressed Up: in which a jackdaw "borrows" some feathers' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
Helen Ward
'All Dressed Up: in which a jackdaw "borrows" some feathers' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
2004
Ink, watercolour and gouache illustration
From 'Unwitting Wisdom: an Anthology of Aesop's animal fables'
Published by Templar, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.MM.57Helen Ward is known for her vibrant and dynamic picture books featuring birds or animals. She paints in watercolour and gouache, sometimes removing colour to achieve more tonal variety, and uses a Rapidograph pen for detail. She designs the whole page layout in her picture books, which she says can take about six months to make. Sometimes drawing from life, she also makes use of wildlife films to observe movement.
A major influence was the Ashmolean's Impey collection of Indian 18th century natural history paintings, which impressed her for the "crispness of the execution, and the fact that the drawing, though objective, is not entirely realistic".
Ward studied at Brighton Art School in the 1980s with ambitions to become a natural history illustrator. On graduating, she was approached by publisher Templar and has made illustrated books for them ever since. Recent work includes a contribution to Templar's 'Ologies' series, a picture book 'Wonderful Life' about a rodent who studies wildlife on another planet, and 'Varmints', soon to be an animated film about noise pollution.
Thomas Bewick, 'The Vain Jack-daw' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
Thomas Bewick
'The Vain Jack-daw' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
1818
Wood-engraved illustration
From 'Fables of Aesop and others'
Printed by E. Walker for Thomas Bewick, Newcastle
National Art Library Pressmark: G.28.Y.1bThomas Bewick (1753-1828) is famous for his wood-engraved illustrations. He used a method called 'white-line' engraving, a dark-to-light technique where the lines to remain white are cut out of the woodblock. Transfer drawings show that he followed just general outlines, creating the extraordinary detail directly on the block.
Boxwood cut across the end-grain is hard enough for engraving, allowing greater detail than woodcutting. Wood engraving was used since 1600 for simple ornaments in books but Bewick fully exploited it by lowering areas of the block, creating more depth of light and tone.
With his partner Ralph Beilby in Newcastle, Bewick published ambitious illustrated books of animals like 'General History of Quadrupeds' (1790) and 'History of British Birds' (1797-1804).
André Hellé, 'Le Geai Pare des Plumes du Paon' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
André Hellé
'Le Geai Pare des Plumes du Paon' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
1922
Line block printed and pochoir illustration
From 'Fables de La Fontaine' by Jean de La Fontaine
Published by Berger-Levrault.
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.AA.214The illustrations in this book have been hand-coloured using 'pochoir'. This ancient technique uses cut-out stencils to add colour to either drawn or printed line. The colours are applied one at a time using brushes of various sizes. Watercolour paints are used but a more opaque form in the early 20th century produced a thicker, richer layer of flat colour.
The book here is of fables by French writer Jean de La Fontaine (d. 1695). His fables included 240 poems and stories, which he derived from Greek mythology and familiar animal fables from Aesop. They were translated and imitated for the next two hundred years.
Walter Crane and Edmund Evans, 'The Vain Jackdaw' (The Jackdaw and the Peacock)
Walter Crane (illustration) and Edmund Evans (colour wood engraving)
'The Vain Jackdaw' (The Jackdaw and the Peacock)
About 1907
From 'The baby's own Aesop: being the fables condensed in rhyme', adapted from William James Linton
Published by Frederick Warne, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.C.108This image comes from a toy-book designed by Walter Crane (1845-1915) and printed by Edmund Evans (1826-1905) using colour wood-engraving. Crane imitated the highly developed methods of Japanese colour woodblock printing, recently discovered by Europeans, which Evans reproduced.
Edmund Evans (1826-1905) is one of the best-known European colour wood-engravers of the 19th century. The care he took with colours attracted well-known illustrators like Crane to work with him, including Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott. He used a new invention, photography, to transfer illustrators' work onto the woodblocks, making reproduction easier than copying.
'Of the Jay and Peacocks' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks), etching from The fables of Aesop paraphras'd in verse by John Ogilby
'Of the Jay and Peacocks' (The Jackdaw and the Peacocks)
1665
Etching
From The fables of Aesop paraphras'd in verse by John Ogilby
Printed by Thomas Roycroft for John Ogilby in London
National Art Library Pressmark: CLE.W.10Although his reputation lies mainly in his topographical and architectural etchings, Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) is considered the first artist working in England to view book illustration as an independent art form, and this effect can be seen in his Aesop illustrations, which show a fresh approach to interpreting the story. Publisher John Ogilby (1600-1676) employed Hollar to provide new illustrations for his second edition of The Fables of Aesop , published in 1665.
Václav (Wenceslaus or Wenzel) Hollar was an etcher-engraver from Prague who worked for booksellers in London from 1652. Along with Francis Barlow, he was one of the pre-eminent etchers working in Britain in the 17th century. An enormous number of Hollar's plates - around 2700 - survive.
Agnes Miller Parker, 'Of the Frogges and of Jupyter' (The Frogs Desiring a King), wood-engraved illustration, from 'The Fables of Esope: translated out of Frensshe in to Englysshe' by William Caxton, Published by Gregynog Press, about 1932. National Art Library Pressmark: 95.T.41
The Frogs Desiring a King
'The Frogs were living as happy as could be in a marshy swamp that just suited them; they went splashing about caring for nobody and nobody troubling with them. But some of them thought that this was not right, that they should have a king and a proper constitution, so they determined to send up a petition to Jove to give them what they wanted.
"Mighty Jove," they cried, "send unto us a king that will rule over us and keep us in order." Jove laughed at their croaking, and threw down into the swamp a huge Log, which came down - kerplash! - into the swamp.The Frogs were frightened out of their lives by the commotion made in their midst, and all rushed to the bank to look at the horrible monster; but after a time, seeing that it did not move, one or two of the boldest of them ventured out towards the Log, and even dared to touch it; still it did not move. Then the greatest hero of the Frogs jumped upon the Log and commenced dancing up and down upon it, thereupon all the Frogs came and did the same; and for some time the Frogs went about their business every day without taking the slightest notice of their new King Log lying in their midst. But this did not suit them, so they sent another petition to Jove, and said to him,
"We want a real king; one that will really rule over us."
Now this made Jove angry, so he sent among them a big Stork that soon set to work gobbling them all up. Then the Frogs repented when too late. Better no rule than cruel rule.'
John Vernon Lord, 'The Frogs Asking for a King'
John Vernon Lord
'The Frogs Asking for a King'
1989
Illustration from wood-engravings
From 'Aesop's Fables', retold in verse by James Mitchie
Published by Jonathan Cape, London
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.HH.46John Vernon Lord (born 1939) used the area around his home in Ditchling, Sussex, as setting for his Aesop's Fables illustrations. His pen and ink drawings are painstaking in their detail and resemble wood engravings. Lord used mapping and Rotring pens and sometimes a blunted ruler for parallel lines. Wax was sometimes added to the paper to resist the ink, giving a luminescence to some of the backgrounds. In an essay on 'Hatching', Lord wrote; "The editing and selection of gap-making is fundamental to drawing… A picture is made up of a balancing between the making, the removing, and the not-making of marks."
Lord has been a prolific illustrator for nearly fifty years as well as teaching illustration at Brighton Art College. His past work includes an album cover for Deep Purple's 'The Book of Taliesyn' in 1968 and book illustrations to 'The Giant Jam Sandwich' in 1972 and 'The Nonsense Verse' by Edward Lear in 1984, both published by Jonathan Cape. He still illustrates, working now with the Inky Parrott Press on Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'.
Randolph Caldecott, 'The Frogs Desiring a King'
Randolph Caldecott
'The Frogs Desiring a King'
Illustrations
1883
Engravings by J.D. Cooper
From 'Some of Aesop's fables with modern instances'
Published by Macmillan, London.
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.G.5This book combines artist Randolph Caldecott's (1846-1886) love of animals with his ability to pick out the humorous side of human behaviour. Caldecott was an internationally famous children's book illustrator. Children looked forward to his books of nursery rhymes, which came out every Christmas between 1878 and 1884. They were published in colour by Edmund Evans.
By 1884 Randolph Caldecott's rhymes had sold a staggering total of 867,000 between them and made him famous. Caldecott also drew many hunting scenes and wrote witty captions to accompany his drawings of the people and places he visited.
Jan van Vianen, centre-left
Jan van Vianen
Centre-left, 'Ranae Regem Petierunt' (The Frogs Desiring a King)
1701
Etching and engraving
From 'Phaedri Augusti liberti Fabularum Aesopiarum' by David van Hoogstraten
Published by Francisci Halmae, Amsterdam
National Art Library Pressmark: G.28.Z.13Phaedrus (about 15 BC - about AD 50) is thought to have been a Macedonian slave freed by the Roman emperor Augustus. The writer Avianus says that he wrote five books of fables, verse forms of those referred to as 'Aesop's' fables. Phaedrus added anecdotes drawn from daily life and history.
Prose fables derived from Phaedrus were very popular in the Middle Ages. Of several versions, one called the 'Romulus' is the largest. Apparently dating to the 10th century but based on an even earlier version, it was the source of almost all medieval Latin fables in prose and verse. A 12th century verse version was popular even into the Renaissance.
Walter Crane, 'King Log & King Stork' (The Frogs Desiring a King)
Walter Crane
'King Log & King Stork' (The Frogs Desiring a King)
Illustration
About 1907
Colour wood-engraved by Edmund Evans
From 'The baby's own Aesop: being the fables condensed in rhyme', adapted from William James Linton.
Published by Frederick Warne, London.
National Art Library Pressmark: 60.C.108This image comes from a toy-book designed by Walter Crane (1845-1915) and printed by Edmund Evans (1826-1905) using colour wood-engraving. Crane imitated the highly developed methods of Japanese colour woodblock printing, recently discovered by Europeans, which Evans reproduced.
Edmund Evans (1826-1905) is one of the best-known European colour wood-engravers of the 19th century. The care he took with colours attracted well-known illustrators like Crane to work with him, including Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott. He used a new invention, photography, to transfer illustrators' work onto the woodblocks, making reproduction easier than copying.
Johannes Zainer, 'Von Den Fröschen' (The Frogs Desiring a King)
Johannes Zainer
'Von Den Fröschen' (The Frogs Desiring a King)
1479
Wood-cut illustration from 'Vita Aesopi fabulatoris'
Published by Anton Sorg in Augsburg
National Art Library Pressmark: 86.B.2Publisher Anton Sorg copied these woodcut illustrations from an earlier fable book published in Ulm by Johann Zainer in 1476. Anton Sorg was a major printer in Augsburg at that time.
Zainer's book was one of the earliest printed illustrated Aesops. He paid block-cutters to make the woodcuts. The illustrations were so successful that other printers like Sorg copied them. Copies were made either by cutting new woodblocks, as in Sorg's book, or by pasting a printed image onto a new woodblock and cutting around the lines - this would make the copy a mirror-image of the original.
Wenceslaus Hollar, 'Of the Frogs Desiring a King'
Wenceslaus Hollar
'Of the Frogs Desiring a King'
1665
Etching from 'The fables of Aesop paraphras'd in verse' by John Ogilby
Printed by Thomas Roycroft for John Ogilby in London
National Art Library Pressmark: CLE.W.10Although his reputation lies mainly in his topographical and architectural etchings, Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677) is considered the first artist working in England to view book illustration as an independent art form, and this effect can be seen in his Aesop illustrations, which show a fresh approach to interpreting the story. Publisher John Ogilby (1600-1676) employed Hollar to provide new illustrations for his second edition of The Fables of Aesop , published in 1665.
Václav (Wenceslaus or Wenzel) Hollar was an etcher-engraver from Prague who worked for booksellers in London from 1652. Along with Francis Barlow, he was one of the pre-eminent etchers working in Britain in the 17th century. An enormous number of Hollar's plates - around 2700 - survive.
Jeremiah Cliff, owner of the book in about 1711
Jeremiah Cliff, owner of the book in about 1711
'The Frogs Chuse a King' (The Frogs Desiring a King)
Hand-drawn illustrations
In a copy of 'Fables of Aesop and other eminent mythologists' by Roger L'Estrange, 1708
Printed for R. Sare in London
National Art Library Pressmark: Safe 6.A.10What makes this early 18th century English edition of Aesop's Fables special is the complete series of illustrations painted on the margins throughout by its first owner, Jeremiah Cliff, within a few years of the publication date.
Jeremiah Cliff has recently been identified as an apothecary living in the town of Tenterden, in Kent. Apothecaries performed the functions of modern-day pharmacists, but also traded in other goods including artists' pigments, which might suggest why Cliff took up painting as a hobby.
Though amateur in style, his images are full of detail and humour, as well as observations of daily life. He has a feel for page design, and the placement of his figures within the tiny spaces available is careful and often witty. He also uses compositional motifs found in published fable illustrations, and his marginal notes cross-refer to another edition of the Fables: clearly he was a cultivated person, perhaps with a large library of his own.
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
'Now you must know that a Town Mouse once upon a time went on a visit to his cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this cousin, but he loved his town friend and made him heartily welcome. Beans and bacon, cheese and bread, were all he had to offer, but he offered them freely. The Town Mouse rather turned up his long nose at this country fare, and said:
"I cannot understand, Cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as this, but of course you cannot expect anything better in the country; come you with me and I will show you how to live. When you have been in town a week you will wonder how you could ever have stood a country life."No sooner said than done: the two mice set off for the town and arrived at the Town Mouse's residence late at night.
"You will want some refreshment after our long journey," said the polite Town Mouse, and took his friend into the grand dining-room. There they found the remains of a fine feast, and soon the two mice were eating up jellies and cakes and all that was nice. Suddenly they heard growling and barking.
"What is that?" said the Country Mouse.
"It is only the dogs of the house," answered the other.
"Only!" said the Country Mouse. "I do not like that music at my dinner." Just at that moment the door flew open, in came two huge mastiffs, and the two mice had to scamper down and run off.
"Good-bye, Cousin," said the Country Mouse,
"What! going so soon?" said the other.
"Yes," he replied; "Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear."'
Wenceslaus Hollar, 'Of the Court Mouse, and Country Mouse' (The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse), etching from 'The fables of Aesop paraphras'd in verse by John Ogilby', 1665. Printed by Thomas Roycroft for John Ogilby in London. National Art Library Pressmark: CLE.W.10
Jeremiah Cliff (owner of the book in about 1711), 'A City Mouse and a Country Mouse', hand-drawn illustration in a copy of 'Fables of Aesop and other eminent mythologists' by Roger L'Estrange, 1708. Printed for R. Sare in London. National Art Library Pressmark: Safe 6.A.10
British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age
31 March–12 August 2012
Showcasing over 300 British design objects, this exhibition celebrates the best of British post-war art and design from the 1948 ‘Austerity Games' to the summer of 2012.
More detailsShop online
Threads of Feeling: The London Foundling Hospital's Textile Tokens 1740-1770
Threads of Feeling: The London Foundling Hospital's Textile Tokens 1740-1770
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