Gordon Browne

Gordon Frederick Browne (15 April 1858 – 27 May 1932) was an English artist and a prolific illustrator of children's books in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was a meticulous craftsman and went to a great deal of effort to ensure that his illustrations were accurate. He illustrated six or seven books a year in addition to a huge volume of magazine illustration.

Early life

He was born in Banstead, the younger son of notable book illustrator Hablot Knight Browne (who as "Phiz" illustrated books by Charles Dickens). He was privately educated and then studied art at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and South Kensington Schools. At Art School he insisted only drawing from life.

Work

Browne worked in watercolour and pen and ink. He was a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) and a founder member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA). Browne was an early member of the Society of Graphic Art and showed three works at their first exhibition in 1921.

Some sources say that Browne began accepting commissions when still a student as money was in short supply at home as his father had been unwell in 1867 and was partly incapacitated by illness. However, Kirkpatrick considers this unlikely as Browne was only 9 years of age in 1867, and that his earlies known illustrations only appeared in 1875.

Brown's first book illustrations was for ''The Day After the Holidays (1875)'', A school story by Ascott R Hope. This inaugurated numerous commissions for books and for contributions to periodicals. Among these was work for ''Aunt Judy's Magazine'' He then drew several Christmas cards and took a course in drawing on wood. James Cooper, his tutor, introduced him to Blackie's, the London publishers, for whom he began to illustrate juvenile books. The first book he illustrated for Blackie was ''Facing Death: The Hero of the Vaughan Pit'' (1882) by G. A. Henty.

From the 1880s, Browne was one of Britain's most prolific illustrators. Houfe says that "Browne illustrated a truly amazing quantity of boy's stories, tales and novels". His total volume of work was enormous. Kirkpatrick gives the estimate that Browne produce c. 3,660 images in his work. Browne also wrote himself. He exhibited his work extensively with over 200 works exhibited during his life (a few of these may have been repeated at different venues).

Book illustration

Browne illustrated six or seven books a year. His historical research for his illustrations was painstaking. He assembled a collection of armour, helmets, pistols, daggers, swords, uniforms, and even saddles. When working, he would refer to these constantly to ensure his depictions of historic dress and arms were accurate.

Browne took great care that he understood the text he was illustrating. He would read the text first, and then read it again to identify the details of the scene to be illustrated. Such was Browne's renown for his careful research that George Bernard Shaw, in a review of ''Stories of Old Renown'' by Ascot R. Hope said: ''Mr. Hope describes Guy of Warwick as unhorsed, and fighting the dragon with his sword after he has been thrown and has lost his spear. Mr. Gordon Browne's illustration shows Guy on horseback fighting with his sword. Which is right?''

Example of book illustration

Browne illustrated fourteen of G. A. Henty's novels, including the first seven published by Blackie and Son. One of these was "Facing Death: The Hero of the Vaughan Pit: A Tale of the Coal Mines." This was first published by Blackie in 1882 with six drawings by Gordon Browne. A second version of the first edition was published in the same year, but this time with eight illustrations as shown here.

File:01 Bulldog finds a friend-Illustration by Gordon Browne for Facing Death by G A Henty.jpg, Bulldog finds a friend
File:02 In the old shaft - will he be saved-Illustration by Gordon Browne for Facing Death by G A Henty.jpg, In the old shaft - will he be saved
File:03 Nelly's first lesson-Illustration by Gordon Browne for Facing Death by G A Henty.jpg, Nelly's first lesson
File:04 a life and death struggle-Illustration by Gordon Browne for Facing Death by G A Henty.jpg, A life and death struggle
File:05 Jack is victorious-Illustration by Gordon Browne for Facing Death by G A Henty.jpg, Jack is victorious
File:06 The new school mistress-Illustration by Gordon Browne for Facing Death by G A Henty.jpg, The new school mistress
File:07 After the first explosion - the search party-Illustration by Gordon Browne for Facing Death by G A Henty.jpg, After the first explosion - the search party
File:08 saved-Illustration by Gordon Browne for Facing Death by G A Henty.jpg, Saved

Authors illustrated by Browne

The range of authors whose books were illustrates by Brown is extensive and the list, drawn from a range of sources includes:
*Grant Allen (18481899), a Canadian science writer and novelist.
*Hans Christian Andersen (18051875), a prolific Danish author best remembered for his fairy tales.
*Sir Edwin Arnold poet and journalist, who is most known for his work The Light of Asia.
*Helen Atteridge (18561931), author of children's fiction.
*R. M. Ballantyne (18251894), a prolific Scottish author of juvenile fiction and an accomplished water-colourist.
*Alice Banks, who wrote books for young children.
*R. D. Blackmore (18251900), an English novelist now best remembered for Lorna Doone.
* Catherine Christian (19011895), an English novelist, known for her children's books and re-telling of Arthurian legends.
*Harry Collingwood (18431922), a writer of boys' adventure fiction, usually in a nautical setting.
* Alice Corkran (18431916), an Irish author of children's fiction and an editor of children's magazines and annuals.
*E. E. Cowper (18591933), Edith Eliza Cowper, a prolific English author of juvenile fiction, much of which was published by the SPCK, who had eight children by Frank Cowper, yachtsman and author, from whom she separated shortly after the last of her children was born.
*Samuel Rutherford Crockett (18591914), a prolific Scottish novelist, who wrote more than 60 books.
* F. J. Harvey Darton (18781936), an author, publisher, and historian of children's literature.
* Countess d'Aulnoy (c. 16501705), a French writer best known for her fairy tales.
*Daniel Defoe (c. 16591731), who wrote ''Robinson Crusoe'' and '' A Journal of the Plague Year'' among other works.
*Miguel de Cervantes (c. 15471616), a Spanish writer best known for ''Don Quixote''.
*Evelyn Everett-Green (18561932), who moved from pious stores for children, through historical romances, to adult romances under a range of pseudonyms.
*Juliana Horatia Ewing (18411885), an English writer of children's stories, which show both an insight into childhood and a strong religious faith.
* B. L. Farjeon (18381903), a prolific English novelist, playwright, printer and journalist.
*Frederick Farrar (18311903), an Anglican cleric, schoolteacher, and author of essays and of boys' school stories.
*George Manville Fenn (18311909), a prolific author of fiction for young adults.
*Amy Le Feuvre (18611929), a prolific author of books for children with a Christian message.
*Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (17771843), a German writer of the Romantic style.
*Jean Froissart (c . 1337c. 1405), a French-speaking medieval author and court historian whose work embodied the chivalric revival.
*Thomas Guthrie (18031873), a Scottish religious preacher and philanthropist.
* George Halse (18261895), an English sculptor, novelist, and poet.
* Herbert Hayens (18611944), who wrote juvenile fiction and school-books
*G. A. Henty (18321902), a prolific writer of boy's adventure fiction, often set in a historical context, who had himself served in the military and been a war correspondent.
*Silas Hocking (18501935), a prolific Cornish novelist and a Methodist preacher.
*Edwin Hodder (18371904), a prolific author on many topics including travel, geography, history, and religion.
* Ascott R. Hope (18461927), a prolific author of children's books, especially school stories, and of Black's Guides.
*Frank Hudson, an English novelist who wrote on sporting topics and for children.
*Washington Irving (17831859), an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat who wrote ''Rip Van Winkle'' and other stories.
*Harry Jones (18231900), an Anglican cleric and author, magazine contributor and editor, and a chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria.
*Andrew Lang (18441912), the prolific Scottish author interested in folk and fairy tales.
*Lord Tennyson (18091892), the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign.
*Mary MacLeod (18591914), an editor and publisher's reader who summarised stories from Shakespeare and others for children.
*John Masefield (18781967), an English poet and writer, and UK Poet Laureate from 19301967.
*L. T. Meade (18441914), Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith, a prolific Irish writer of stories for girls.
* Mrs Molesworth (18391921), n English writer of children's stories, who also wrote adult novels under a pseudonym.
* Alice T. Morris (18511955), wrote illustrated books for young children, married book designer and graphic artist Talwin Morris.
*E. Nesbit (18581924), an English poet and novelist who wrote ''The Railway Children'' among other works.
*Barry Pain (18641928), an English  journalist, poet and writer.
*Charles Reade (18141884), an English novelist and dramatist,.
*Talbot Baines Reed (18521893),  an English writer of boys' fiction, especially school stories.
*William Clark Russell (18441911), an English writer, best known for his novels in nautical settings.
* George Edmund B. Saintsbury (18451933), an English writer, literary historian, scholar, critic and wine connoisseur.
*Walter Scott (17711832), the Scottish historical novelist, poet, and historian who wrote ''Ivanhoe''.
*William Shakespeare (15641616), the ''Bard of Avon''.
* R. L. Stevenson (18501894), the Scottish poet and novelist who wrote ''Treasure Island'' and other adventure fiction.
*Jonathan Swift (16671745), an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, pamphleteer, poet and cleric, best remembered for ''Gulliver's Travels''.
*Georgina M. Synge (18581911), who wrote books for young children, and on travel.
*William Makepeace Thackeray (18111863), a British novelist, author and illustrator born in India, best known for '' Vanity Fair''.
* Ethel Sybil Turner (18701958), an English-born Australian novelist and writer of children's fiction.
* Percy Westerman (18751959), a prolific author of boys' adventure fiction, many with military and naval themes.

Example of self-illustration

Browne wrote and illustrated several books for young children using the pen name ''A. Nobody''. The following shows an example of the simplified style he used for young children.

File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 001.jpg, Front Cover
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 002.jpg, Frontispiece
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 003.jpg, Title page
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 004.jpg, Page 1
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 005.jpg, Page 2
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 006.jpg, Page 3
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 007.jpg, Page 4
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 008.jpg, Page 5
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 009.jpg, Page 6
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 010.jpg, Page 7
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 011.jpg, Page 8
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 012.jpg, Page 9
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 013.jpg, Page 10
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 014.jpg, Page 11
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 015.jpg, Page 12
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 016.jpg, Page 13
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 017.jpg, Page 14
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 018.jpg, Page 15
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 019.jpg, Page 16
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 020.jpg, Page 17
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 021.jpg, Page 18
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 022.jpg, Page 19
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 023.jpg, Page 20
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 024.jpg, Page 21
File:Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body (1895) by Gordon Browne 025.jpg, Back Cover

Magazine Illustration

Browne illustrated for many magazines. The following list is based on page 79 of Kirkpatrick, the source is indicated where names have been drawn from other sources:
*Andy

Example of magazine illustration

The following example of magazine illustration shows the scale of work involved in illustrating even a single serial story. ''The Sorceress of the Strand'' by L T Meade and Robert Eustace appeared as a serial in the ''Strand Magazine'' volumes 24 and 25 in 19021903. It was copiously illustrated by Browne.

File:Strand mag vol24--p 387--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Do you want a match, sir?
File:Strand mag vol24--p 389--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, I am a beautifier
File:Strand mag vol24--p 391--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, This is my sanctum sanctorum
File:Strand mag vol24--p 393--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Why are you afraid of her
File:Strand mag vol24--p 394--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, She bowed, and the peculiar look she had before given me flashed over her face
File:Strand mag vol24--p 396--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, She jumped up from the table
File:Strand mag vol24--p 397--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, I counsel you, Mr. Selby, to guard your life
File:Strand mag vol24--p 399--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, I had lost to him nearly £200,000!
File:Strand mag vol24--p 400--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Vandeleur in an open fly dashed through
File:Strand mag vol24--p 505--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Lady Kennedy told me all about it
File:Strand mag vol24--p 507--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, It must be done
File:Strand mag vol24--p 508--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, She is preparing to convulse society
File:Strand mag vol24--p 511--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Forewarned is forearmed
File:Strand mag vol24--p 513--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, We quite understand each other, don't we, nurse?
File:Strand mag vol24--p 514--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Madame wrote something on her neck
File:Strand mag vol24--p 516--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, What is it, little one?
File:Strand mag vol24--p 518--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Rebecca Curt was standing in the middle of the room
File:Strand mag vol24--p 644--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, She treated her with a rare want of sympathy
File:Strand mag vol24--p 645--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, How kind of you to come
File:Strand mag vol24--p 646--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, He dashed headlong down
File:Strand mag vol24--p 648--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, You must not scold me
File:Strand mag vol24--p 650--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, You mean Madame Sara?
File:Strand mag vol24--p 652--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, A phlegmatic-looking man opened the door for us
File:Strand mag vol24--p 655--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, There in the moonlight...
File:Strand mag vol24--p 656--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Either you are the spectre, or it is supernatural
File:Strand mag vol24--p 657--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Beneath the window lay a dark, huddled heap
File:Strand mag vol25--p 068--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Professor Pozzi entered
File:Strand mag vol25--p 070--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, You exceed the limits of propriety
File:Strand mag vol25--p 072--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Ah! There are few women so kind
File:Strand mag vol25--p 073--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Who would want to take my life?
File:Strand mag vol25--p 075--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, I will revenge myself on Madame to the last drop of my blood
File:Strand mag vol25--p 077--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, I am sorry to hear of his illness
File:Strand mag vol25--p 078--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Are your operations for securing patent rights complete?
File:Strand mag vol25--p 080--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, He reeled and made a lunge forward
File:Strand mag vol25--p 198--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, It is a curious fact
File:Strand mag vol25--p 200--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Don't look at me
File:Strand mag vol25--p 202--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, I observed a man
File:Strand mag vol25--p 204--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, I do not know envy Ali Khan his billet
File:Strand mag vol25--p 205--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Heaven help me!
File:Strand mag vol25--p 207--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Look closely at it if you will
File:Strand mag vol25--p 208--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, A man with a mask over his face approached her
File:Strand mag vol25--p 210--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Two minutes later we were rushing through the night towards London
File:Strand mag vol25--p 280--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, Laura's old nurse thrust a note into his hand
File:Strand mag vol25--p 281--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, My friend, Sir Joseph Dixby
File:Strand mag vol25--p 282--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, You are certain you will not turn coward?
File:Strand mag vol25--p 283--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, She lashed the animal
File:Strand mag vol25--p 285--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, She sat still
File:Strand mag vol25--p 286--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, The smile faded from his face
File:Strand mag vol25--p 287--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, There is no help whatever in that direction
File:Strand mag vol25--p 289--Sorceress of the Strand.jpg, The great Madame Sara

Death

Browne died on 27 May 1932 at his home at 4784 Upper Richmond Road in Richmond, Surrey. The cause of death was heart failure. His effects totalled £426 17s 9d.

Assessments of Gordon Browne

Despite his talent, Browne never achieved the critical acclaim accorded to some of his contemporaries. ''Enormously painstaking and highly talented, he failed to equal the fame of his father only because his work appeared too widely and in cheap editions, so that he never became associated with a single significant author.'' Peppin and Micklethwait agree that his failure to achieve the famed of his father was due partly to him never becoming the lead illustrator for any author of note, and also because much of his vast output was published in very cheap editions. However, they concluded that ''on the grounds of energy, competence, reliability, and sheer volume he must be rated among the most important illustrators of his time.''

Doyle concludes that: ''Gordon Browne's work over the years was so varied and full, so skilled, and of such a consistently high standard that praise would seem invidious. He was equally at home with character-drawing, action scenes or placid landscapes. His animals were as convincing as his people and his children were realistic and vigorous.''

Houfe is less complimentary, and states that: ''He was clearly an artist who pleased editors and in this way there is a sameness about his work which dulls it: characters look very much alike whether they are Besant's or Henty's'' Kirkpatrick reports that James Thorp, in ''English Illustration: The Nineties'' (1935) says that: ''if he failed to achieve greatness it was due to the monotonous sameness of many of his illustrations, particularly in facial character...''

Sketchley said that: ''... on the whole, the stores illustrated by Gordon Browne are adequately illustrated.'' and goes on to say that he illustrates more from reality than from the imagination, and that his ''ideas of fairyland... are no less brisk and picturesque than are his ideas of everyday and of romance.'' Nevertheless, she concluded that his style ''It is a healthy style, the ideals of beauty and of strength are never coarse, wanton or listless, the humour is friendly, and if the pathos occasionally verges on sentimentality, the writer, perhaps, rather than the artist is responsible.''

Dalby wrote ''Gordon Browne was one of the greatest illustrators of the Golden Age, both in terms of quality and quantity. His sheer prolificity, averaging six books a year for nearly half a century, may have undervalued his reputation, but there is no doubt his innumerable vivid and painstakingly accurate drawings were always successful and much liked by generations of children addicted to the perennially popular classics he illustrated. Many late Victorian writers, from Mrs Ewing to Henty and Fenn, were delighted to have their stories illustrated by this most felicitous of artists.''

Notes

References

* Carpenter, H. and M. Prichard. 1984. ''The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature'', Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York.
* Dalby, Richard. 1991. ''The Golden Age of Children's Book Illustration'', Gallery Books, New York. 0-8317-3910-X.

External links

Biography of Browne
(University of Delaware library)
Work by Browne
( V & A)
*
*
''Nonsense for somebody, anybody or everybody, particularly the baby-body''
(Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature)
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Gordon
1858 births
1932 deaths
English children's book illustrators
British children's book illustrators
English watercolourists
English illustrators
19th-century English painters
English male painters
20th-century English painters
Alumni of the Heatherley School of Fine Art
Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
Magazine illustrators
20th-century English male artists
19th-century English male artists