Books By This Author

Pyle, Howard

For the 1950s Arizona governor, see John Howard Pyle.

Howard Pyle

Born	March 5, 1853(1853-03-05) Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Died	November 9, 1911(1911-11-09) (aged 58) Florence, Italy
Nationality	American
Influenced by	Winslow Homer
Influenced	N.C. Wyeth

"Sir Kay breaketh his sword at ye Tournament", one of Pyle's Arthurian illustrations.

Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and writer, primarily of books for young audiences. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.

In 1894 he began teaching illustration at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry (now Drexel University), and after 1900 he founded his own school of art and illustration called the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. The term the Brandywine School was later applied to the illustration artists and Wyeth family artists of the Brandywine region by Pitz (later called the Brandywine School).^[1] Some of his more famous students were Olive Rush, N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Elenore Abbott, Ellen Bernard Thompson Pyle, Allen Tupper True, Anna Whelan Betts, Ethel Franklin Betts, Harvey Dunn and Jessie Willcox Smith.

His 1883 classic The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood remains in print to this day, and his other books, frequently with medieval European settings, include a four-volume set on King Arthur that cemented his reputation.

He wrote an original novel, Otto of the Silver Hand, in 1888. He also illustrated historical and adventure stories for periodicals such as Harper's Weekly and St. Nicholas Magazine. His novel Men of Iron was made into a movie in 1954, The Black Shield of Falworth.

Pyle travelled to Florence, Italy to study mural painting in 1910, and died there in 1911 of sudden kidney infection (Bright's Disease).

[edit] Major works

In addition to numerous illustrations done for Harper's Weekly, other periodical publications, and various works of fiction aimed at children, Pyle wrote and illustrated a number of books himself.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood is Pyle's bringing together of many traditional Robin Hood legends and ballads, making them a cohesive whole. He toned them down, however, to make them suitable for his target children's audience. For instance, he modified the ballad "Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham", changing it from Robin killing fourteen foresters for not honoring a bet, to Robyn defending himself against a band of armed robbers. Furthermore, Pyle has Robin kill only one man—who shoots at him first. Tales where Robin steals all that an ambushed traveler carried, such as "Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford", are changed so that the victim keeps a third, and another third is dedicated to the poor.

The Battle of Bunker Hill, Howard Pyle, 1897. Showing the second British charge up Breed's hill; it is inaccurate by showing the march going over the fallen casualties of the first charge. In fact, the first charge was against a rail fence which would have been on the far right of the above scene

Pirates fight over treasure in a Howard Pyle illustration

Pyle did not have much more concern for historical accuracy than did the original balladeers, although he did alter the name of the queen-consort in "Robin Hood and Queen Katherine" to Queen Eleanor, which rendered it historically compatible with the king with whom Robin eventually makes his peace (King Richard the Lion-Hearted).

Indeed, none of the tales in the Robin Hood book were Pyle's own invention, with some dating back to the late Middle Ages. Rather, his achievement lay in linking them charmingly to form a unified, illustrated story. "The Adventure with the Curtal Friar", for example, ceased to be a stand-alone tale, but was woven into the book's overall narrative tapestry by Pyle in order to reintroduce Friar Tuck, because a co-operative priest was needed for the wedding of outlaw Allan a Dale to his sweetheart Ellen. Again, in the original "A Gest of Robyn Hode", the life of an anonymous wrestler, who had won a bout but was likely to be murdered because he was a stranger, is saved. Pyle adapted it so that the wrestler is given the identity of David of Doncaster—one of Robin's band in "Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow". Several characters that had appeared in only one ballad, such as David of Doncaster or Arthur a Bland, are thus more fully developed in Pyle's novelistic treatment of the tales.

Buccaneer of the Caribbean, from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates.

Pyle also wrote Otto of the Silver Hand, a story about the life of the son of a robber baron in the Dark Ages. In 1887 he wrote The Wonder Clock, a collection of twenty-four tales, one for each hour of the day. Each tale was prefaced by a whimsical verse telling of traditional household goings-on at that hour, illustrated by his sister Katharine. The tales themselves were written by Pyle based on traditional European folktales. A similar volume was Pepper and Salt, or Seasoning for Young Folk, which consisted of tales of traditional types for younger readers, also charmingly illustrated.

A number of pirate legends by Pyle, including some of his drawings, were collected as Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates, published in 1921, ten years after his death.

In 1903, Pyle published Rejected of Men: A Story of To-day, a re-imagining of the story of Jesus as if it had taken place in early twentieth-century America.

[edit] Critical response

Pyle was widely respected during his life and continues to be highly regarded by illustrators and fine artists. His contemporary Vincent van Gogh spoke of Pyle in a letter to his brother, saying that Pyle's work "...struck me dumb with admiration".^[2]

[edit] See also

Pyle's illustration of a marooned pirate

[edit] References

McDonald, Edward D.; Edward M. Hinton (1942). Drexel Institute of Technology 1891 - 1941. Haddon Craftsmen, Inc.. pp. 126–130. ISBN 1406763748.
Howard Pyle Online