The Canadian illustrator Palmer Cox began drawing Brownies for a February 1883 issue of St. Nicholas magazine. By 1895 there was a Brownies theme song with illustrated sheet music and by 1900 the pixies were so popular that Kodak named its new camera after them.

Cox published seventeen books using these characters, beginning with The Brownies, Their Book, the same year as this drawing. He wrote and drew for St. Nicholas, Harper’s Young People, Ladies’ Home Journal, Scribner’s Monthly, and many others but it is his Brownies for which he is best remembered.

The Brownies in Successful Return Engagement by Rebecca Deming Moore. “Every once in a while a new race of beings is discovered by some intrepid explorer, into the realm of fancy. The scantily attired Kewpies, the rolypoly Happifats, the Goops, those horrible examples of infant depravity, have come, been seen, and conquered. Brownies, to be sure, had existed for ages, but not until Palmer Cox came along to act as their publicity agent were they widely introduced to a public of little folk.

Palmer Cox took some liberties with these little creatures who, according to tradition, obligingly did the farmer’s chores, if only a bowl of milk were left out for their consumption. He gave them nationality, to wit: the Chinaman, the Indian, the Irishman. He gave them occupation: the sailor, the policeman and so on. But he did not rob them of their original virtues. Palmer Cox’s Brownies have always been the maddest and merriest of small beings, but ever in the front ranks when some kind act needed doing.

If one were statistically inclined, it would be interesting to estimate just how many little fingers have felt their way over Palmer Cox’s pictures and how many little squeals have followed of “There’s the dude,” “I’ve found Uncle Sam,” etc. For there have been thirteen Palmer Cox Brownie books, all told, dating back to 1887 . . . Indeed, there be a few people who were not brought up on Palmer Cox’s Brownies.” — The Publishers Weekly 94, Pt.1 (F. Leypoldt, 1918).

Palmer Cox (1840-1924), The Brownies in the Toy Shop, January 1887. Pen drawing. Drawn for Saint Nicholas Magazine  XIV (January 1887). Also reproduced in Roger W. Cummins, Humorous but Wholesome: A History of Palmer Cox and the Brownies, N.Y., 1973, p. 238. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2006.02370.

See also: Palmer Cox (1840-1924), Squibs of California or Every-day life illustrated   (Hartford, Conn.: Mutual Publishing Company, 1874). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) Hamilton SS 605

Palmer Cox (1840-1924), How Columbus found America, in pen and pencil (N[ew] Y[ork]: Art Printing Establishment, [c1877]). Graphic Arts Collection (GAX) PN6161 .C674

Palmer Cox (1840-1924), The Brownies: Their Book (New-York: Century Co., c1887) Cotsen Children’s Library (CTSN) Eng 20 unprocessed item 6815855

The designers of the Cleveland Museum of Art study room have come up with an ingenious system for the viewing of two dimensional works, whether they are prints, drawings, paintings, manuscripts, photographs or other similar materials. The wall folds out when in use and can be adjusted to the height or width of the objects. Then, it miraculously folds back into a flat wall when not needed for a class or researcher’s visit. The wall is large enough for several dozen works of smaller size but flexible enough (and strong enough) to accommodate large, framed work of significant weight.

Congratulations to Jane Glaubinger, curator of prints and Heather Lemonedes, curator of drawings, on the success of their new study center.

Robert Dighton (1751-1814), Mother Goose of Oxford, July 1807. Etching. Graphic Arts, British Caricature collection

(c) British Museum

There is a line in the DNB’s biography of the artist Robert Dighton (1751–1814) that leaves the reader hanging. “In 1806 it was discovered that since 1798 Dighton had been regularly stealing prints from the British Museum.” It makes you wonder about his print of Rebecca Howse (1737-1818), who the students affectionately called Flora. She was a familiar figure to them on the streets of Oxford, blind but able to make a living selling flowers.

On May 12th 1807, the caricaturist James Gillray (1756-1815) published a portrait of Howse, selling her flowers (left). A little over a month later, Dighton came out with a similar print of Howse, seen above from the Graphic Arts Collection. Curiously, Dighton has rarely been held accountable for either his thefts or his pirated images.

This is elaborated on by Heatons, antique dealers in Tisbury, “In 1806 the British Museum discovered that Dighton had been stealing prints from their print room and selling them on the open market. An art dealer by the name of Samuel Woodburn had purchased a copy of Rembrandt’s “Coach Landscape” from Dighton for twelve guineas. Supposing it may be a copy, Woodburn took the print to the British Museum to compare it with their impression; upon which he discovered that their copy was missing. Upon investigation Dighton confessed that he befriended the museum officials by drawing portraits of them when he visited the museum. This relationship allowed him the freedom to steal prints from the print room and remove them from the museum in his portfolio. He then proceeded to supplement his artists’ income by selling the pilfered items to the art trade.” http://www.heatons-of-tisbury.co.uk/dighton2.html

Here are a few more Oxford figures by Dighton in the Graphic Arts Collection.

      

To read more about the artist, see:

S. House, ‘Some letters of Robert Dighton’, Print Quarterly, 19/1 (March 2002), 45–9

H. Hake, ‘Dighton caricatures’, Print Collector’s Quarterly, 13 (1926), 136–55, 237–47