Randolph Caldecott Lord of the Nursery

Randolph Caldecott (1846 - 1886) was an English artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honor. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were promptly and generously recognized by the Royal Academy. Caldecott greatly influenced illustration of children's books during the nineteenth century. Two books illustrated by him, priced at a shilling each, were published every Christmas for eight years. Caldecott also illustrated novels and accounts of foreign travel, made humorous drawings depicting hunting and fashionable life, drew cartoons and he made sketches of the Houses of Parliament inside and out, and exhibited sculptures and paintings in oil and watercolor in the Royal Academy and galleries. Rodney Engen charts Caldecott's life from his humble beginnings in a small village and his early life as a bank clerk through the recognition his talent brought. In this volume, Rodney Engen has brought together for the first time a comprehensive selection of Caldecott's work, including not only his best known illustrations but also his less familiar oil paintings and sculpture together with a complete catalogue of Caldecott's oeuvre. Mr. Engen is an authority on illustrators of the Victorian era. The book includes over 100 illustrations, 9 in full color.