Felix Octavius Carr ("F. O. C.") Darley (June 23, 1822 – March 27, 1888) was an American illustrator, known for his illustrations in works by well-known 19th-century authors, including James Fenimore Cooper,

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

Mary Mapes Dodge Mary Elizabeth Mapes Dodge (January 26, 1831 – August 21, 1905) was an American children's author and editor, best known for her novel ''Hans Brinker''. She was the recognized leader in juvenile literature for almost a third of the nineteenth ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

George Lippard George Lippard (April 10, 1822February 9, 1854) was a 19th-century American novelist, journalist, playwright, social activist, and labor organizer. He was a popular author in antebellum America. A friend of Edgar Allan Poe, Lippard advocated a s ...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...

, Donald Grant Mitchell,

Clement Clarke Moore Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Moore was Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature ...

Francis Parkman Francis Parkman Jr. (September 16, 1823 – November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of '' The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life'' and his monumental seven-volume '' France and England in North Am ...

, Harriet Beecher Stowe and

Nathaniel Parker Willis Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American author, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...

Biography

Darley was born on June 23, 1822, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Darley was a self-taught and prolific artist who started out as a staff artist for a

publishing company, where he was given a wide variety of assignments. He later moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, and his work began to appear in magazines such as ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

'' and in books by various publishers. Darley made 500 drawings for

Benson John Lossing Benson John Lossing (February 12, 1813 – June 3, 1891) was a prolific and popular American historian, known best for his illustrated books on the American Revolution and American Civil War and features in '' Harper's Magazine''. He was a ...

's ''History of the United States''. Among his

lithographic Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

illustrations are those for

's "

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a gothic story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled ''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' Written while Irving was living abroad in Birm ...

", and some scenes in Indian life. The swing and vigor of his style, his facility, and versatility and the high average merit of his numerous works, make him one of the most noteworthy of American illustrators. Darley signed a contract with

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

on January 31, 1843, to create original illustrations for his upcoming literary journal ''

The Stylus ''The Stylus'', originally intended to be named ''The Penn'', was a would-be periodical owned and edited by Edgar Allan Poe. It had long been a dream of Poe to establish an American journal with very high standards in order to elevate the literatu ...

''. The contract, which was through July 1, 1844, requested at least three illustrations per month, "on wood or paper as required," but no more than five, for $7 per illustration. ''The Stylus'' was never actually produced but Darley provided illustrations for the final installments of the first serial publication of Poe's award-winning tale "

The Gold-Bug "The Gold-Bug" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. The plot follows William Legrand, who was bitten by a gold-colored bug. His servant Jupiter fears that Legrand is going insane and goes to Legrand's friend, an ...

" later that year. In 1848, Darley provided the drawings for the first fully illustrated edition of Irving's "

Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...

",Burstein, Andrew. ''The Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving''. New York: Basic Books, 2007: 337. which was printed and distributed by the

American Art-Union The American Art-Union (1839–1851) was a subscription-based organization whose goal was to enlighten and educate an American public to a national art, while providing a support system for the viewing and sales of art “executed by artists in th ...

.Callow, James T. ''Kindred Spirits: Knickerbocker Writers and American Artists, 1807–1855''. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1967: 184. That same year, Darley also illustrated an edition of Irving's ''

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. ''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'', commonly referred to as ''The Sketch Book'', is a collection of 34 essays and short stories written by the American author Washington Irving. It was published serially throughout 1819 and 1820. The co ...

'' and then his '' Wolfert's Roost'' in 1855. In 1851, Darley was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

as an honorary member. In 1852, he was appointed a full academician at the academy. Darley married Genny G. Colburn in 1859. Over his career, he produced nearly 350 drawings for James Fenimore Cooper, later collected in a several-volume edition of Cooper's novels printed from 1859 to 1861. In 1868, following a visit to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, he published ''Sketches Abroad with Pen and Pencil''. His water color paintings of incidents in American history are full of spirit and include bank-note

vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

s. Darley died in 1888 at his home in

Claymont, Delaware Claymont is a census-designated place (CDP) in New Castle County, Delaware. The estimated 2017 population of the 19703 ZIP code, which Claymont encompasses, was 15,292. History The community now known as Claymont started on the banks of Naamans ...

, and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

. His Victorian mansion, located in Claymont, is now known as the

Darley House The Darley House, located in Claymont, New Castle County, Delaware, at 3701 Philadelphia Pike, at the intersection of Philadelphia Pike and Darley Road, is the former home of world-renowned illustrator Felix Octavius Carr Darley (1821–1888). ...

and was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974.

Illustrations

File:Diedrich Knickerbocker.jpg, Frontispiece for

's ''

A History of New York __NOTOC__ ''A History of New York'', subtitled ''From the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty'', is an 1809 literary parody on the history of New York City by Washington Irving. Originally published under the pseudonym Diedrich ...

'' Image:F. O. C. Darley illustration - A Visit From Saint Nicholas - 1862 - Project Gutenberg eText 17382.jpg, Darley illustration from an 1862 print of ''

A Visit From St. Nicholas ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...

'' by

Image:Ichabods chase.jpg, Illustration for

's "

" File:On The Trail F.O.C Darley.jpg, ''On The Trail'', now housed at

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

File:F.O.C. Darley and Alexander Hay Ritchie - Sherman's March to the Sea.jpg, ''Sherman's March to the Sea'', now housed at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

References

Notes
Attribution *

External links

* *
Illustrations by FOC Darley, American Illustrator 1821-1888A Visit from St. Nicholas
by

, in an 1862 edition illustrated by F. O. C. Darley, from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

The Winterthur Library
Overview of an archival collection on F. O. C. Darley.
Society of Illustrators Felix Octavius Carr Darley''A Visit from Saint Nicholas''
From the Collections at the

Artwork by F. O. C. Darley
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darley, F. O. C. 1822 births 1888 deaths 19th-century American male artists 19th-century American painters American illustrators American male painters American printmakers Artists from Philadelphia Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery People from Claymont, Delaware