Winslow Homer and the illustrated book

by David Tatham

This volume examines the illustrations of American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910). Homer's paintings and illustrations have both received much attention, but the author focuses his attention on Winslow's book illustrations alone. Although the author does not deny that Winslow's illustrations are uneven in quality, he points out many fine qualities of the best ones and argues that Homer's approach to painting was greatly influenced by his work as an illustrator. Chapters on Homer's illustrations for juvenile fiction, fiction, poetry, history, etc. illustrate this point. This work further discusses Homer's art in relation to the publishers' demands, reading fashions among the book-buying public, and the technology of printing.