HomeWaltercrane Home
Alphabets
Antiques
Book Illustrations
Chronology
Ephemera
Greeting Cards
Museums
Paintings
Wallpapers
Ordering
Currency Converter
Metric Converter

 

Catalogue

Decorative book heading, 1887
CATALOGUE OF BOOKS ILLUSTRATED OR
WRITTEN BY CRANE

The following list of books either written or illustrated by Crane was compiled from entries in the British Museum Readers' Catalogue, Gertrude Masse's A Bibliography of First Editions of Books Illustrated by Walter Crane, 123, the catalogues of prints and drawings of the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Art of Walter Crane, by C. F. Konody, 1902. The British Museum catalogue was the final authority in cases of discrepancy of dates. The present list does not claim to include every book illustrated by Crane, but includes all the titles to which the author refers.

1863

The New Forest, its History and Scenery by John R. Wise. 63 illustrations drawn by Walter Crane, engraved by W. J. Linton, Smith and Elder, London.

1864

Stories from Memel for the Young by Mrs. Agrees de Havilland (nee Molesworth). Six full-page woodcut illustrations by Walter Crane, William Hunt, London. Walter Crane designed between 40 and 50 toybooks for various publishers between x865 and 1886. Frederick Warne's toybooks, of which Crane designed six, were rapidly copied by George Routledge. The following is a list of Warne's Sixpenny toybooks and Routledge's Sixpenny and Shilling Toybooks, the latter printed by Edmund Evans and representing two-thirds of Crane's work for them. The Sixpenny Toybooks were small, paperbound books with eight pages of full-colour illustrations and text. The later Shilling Toybooks were slightly larger with eight full-page illustrations; the text was no longer incorporated but printed on separate sheets. These books always had a double-page illustration in the centre. The quality of colour showed a marked improvement in 1871 with King Luckieboy's Party and again in 1875 with the Shilling Toybooks.

1865-66 Sixpenny Toybooks published by Frederick Warne: Sing a Song of Sixpence, Farmyard Alphabet, Cock Robin, The Railroad Alphabet, The House that Jack Built, Dame Trot and her Comical Cat, and The Waddling Frog.

 

1867

Sixpenny Toybooks published by George Routledge: Chattering Jack, How Jessie was Lost, and 1, 2 Buckle My Shoe.

1867-68 Further Sixpenny Toybooks by Routledge: The Old Courtier, Multiplication Table in Verse, Grammar in Rhyme, and Annie and Jack in London.
1869

The Magic of Kindness or The Wondrous story of the Good Huan by the Brothers Mayhew. Eight full-page illustrations by Walter Crane, Cassell, London.

1870-74 Sixpenny Toybooks published by George Routledge: King Luckieboy's Party, This Little Pig Went to Market, The Fairy Ship, Old Mother Hubbard, My Mother, The Forty Thieves, The Absurd ABC, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Valentine and Orson, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, The Alphabet of Old Friends, Baby's Own Alphabet, The Frog Prince, The Hind in the Wood and The Sleeping Beauty.
1874 Walter Crane's New Toybook, Routledge, London. Walter Crane's Picturebook, Routledge, London. Both these books contained 64 pages of designs.
1874-76 Shilling Toybooks published by George Routledge: Goody Two Shoes, Beauty and the Beast, The Yellow Dwarf, Bluebeard, Princess Belle Etoile, and Aladdin.
1875 Mrs. Mundi at Home, The Terrestrial Ball, 24 illustrations by Walter Crane, Marcus Ward, London. Tell me a Story by Mrs. Molesworth, Macmillan, London.
1876 The Quiver of Love: A Collection of Valentines Ancient and Modern
Eight colour illustrations from drawings by Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway, Marcus Ward, London. Crane never considered these designs reproduced satisfactorily since they were copied on a stone and lost much of their original character in the lithographic process.
1877 The Baby's Opera, A Book of Old Rhymes with New Dresses. The Music by the Earliest Masters. Engraved and printed in colour by Edmund Evans, Routledge, London. Bound between stiff glazed boards, and unique among the five-shilling cloth-bound books with gold designs, this book's first edition of 10,000 was reprinted a second time. The Cuckoo Clock by Ennis Graham. Seven plates drawn by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London.

1878

The Baby's Bouquet, A Fresh Bunch of Old Rhymes and Tunes
Tunes collected and arranged by Lucy Crane and colour decorations by Walter Crane. Printed by Edmund Evans, Marcus Ward, London. This volume was issued the next Christmas as a companion work to The Baby's Opera. Grandmother Dear: A Book for Boys and Girls by Mrs. Molesworth.
Illustrated with seven plates by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London.

1879

The Tapestry Room. A Child's Romance by Mrs. Molesworth.
Illustrated with seven plates by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London.

1880

The Necklace of Princess Fiorimunde and other Stories by Mary A. de Morgan. Illustrations and cover by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London.
Mary A. de Morgan was the sister of William de Morgan, noted potter and ceramic CATALOGUE OF BOOKS designer who had hitherto designed his sister's books.

1881 The First of May, A Fairy Masque by J. R. Wise.
56 pencil designs by Walter Crane, printed by Goupil and Company, H. Southeran, London. This lavish book, which took Crane three years to design, was his second collaboration with J. R. Wise (cf. The New Forest, 1863). The Adventure of Heir Baby by Mrs. Molesworth. Twelve illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London.

1882

Household Stories from the Collection of the Brothers Grimm
Translated by Lucy Crane. Eleven full-page plates and 108 head and tailpieces, Macmillan, London. Rosy by Mrs. Molesworth. Seven illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London. Routledge's Christmas Number Stories by Mrs. F. Locker, L. M. Alcott, R. M. Jephson and others, with illustrations by R. Caldecott, Kate Greenaway, Walter Crane and others, Routledge, London.

1883

Pan Pipes. A Book of Old Songs Newly arranged and with accompaniments by Theodore Marzials. Colour illustrations designed by Walter Crane, engraved and printed by Edmund Evans, Routledge, London. Us. An Old Fashioned Story by Mrs. Molesworth. Seven illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London.
1884 Christmas Tree Land by Mrs. Molesworth. Seven illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London. Thoughts in a Hammock by Walter Crane.
Six full-page illustrations reproduced in The English Illustrated Magazine, November 1884. The figure in a hammock at the top of page 86 is a portrait of the artist. The Golden Primer by Prof. J. M. D. Meiklejohn, Parts 1 and 2, 2 volumes. 32, full-page colour illustrations by Walter Crane, Blackwood, London.
1885 Folk and Fairy Tales by Mrs. Burton Harrison. 24 illustrations by Walter Crane, Ward and Downey, London. Slateandpencilvania: Being the Adventures of Dick on a Desert Island 'Decyphered' by Walter Crane, Marcus Ward, London. Little Queen Anne and Her Majesty's letters `Penned and Pictured' by Walter Crane, Marcus Ward, London. Pothooks and Perseverance, or the ABC Serpent `Penned and Pictured' by Walter Crane, Marcus Ward, London. These last three books were also reissued in 1886 as a reprint under one cover called A Romance of the Three R's.
1886 Baby's Own Aesop, Being the Fables Condensed in Rhyme Morals pictorially painted by Walter Crane, engraved and printed by Edmund Evans, Routledge, London. Baby's Own Aesop, The Baby's Opera and The Baby's Bouquet were reprinted under one title, Triplets, in 1894 by Routledge. The Sirens Three, a poem by Walter Crane. 41 pages of illustrations and decorative borders by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London.
Originally this work was published in The English Illustrated Magazine, April-September 1885, a periodical in which Crane published several poems. He also designed various covers for it.
1887 Four Winds Farm by Mrs. Molesworth. Seven illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London. Little Miss Peggy. Only a Nursery Story, by Mrs. Molesworth. Twelve illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London. Legends for Lionel in pen and pencil Text and colour illustrations by Walter Crane, Cassell, London. Book Headings A set of printer's headings designed for Messrs R. and R. Clark of Edinburgh. Echoes of Hellos: The Tale of Troy and The Story of Orestes, from Homer and Aeschylus. Introductory essays and sonnets by Professor George Warr. 82 red and black lithographed designs by Walter Crane, Marcus Ward, London. A companion volume was issued as a pianoforte arrangement to the music of the stage production, composed by Otto Goldschmidt, Malcolm Lawson, Walter Parratt and Prof. W. H. Monk.
1888 The Happy Prince and Other Tales, by Oscar Wilde. Three full-page illustrations by Walter Crane and decorative pieces by George J. A. Combhood, David Nutt, London. A Christmas Child: A Sketch of a Boy's Life by Mrs. Molesworth. Illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London. A Christmas Posy by Mrs. Molesworth. Eight illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London.
1889 Flora's Feast: A Masque of Flowers 'Penned and Pictured' by Walter Crane with 40 colour plates, Cassell, London. This book's popularity allowed Crane to follow it with other flower books such as Queen Summer, 1891 and A Floral fantasy, 1898 but Flora's Feast was the most successful.
The Rectory Children by Mrs. Molesworth. Seven illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London. Walter Crane's Painting Book A book of reprinted designs by Crane for children to colour, Routledge, London.
1890 The Children of the Castle by Mrs. Molesworth. Seven illustrations by Walter Crane, Macmillan, London. The Turtle Dove's Nest and other Nursery Rhymes Illustrations by Walter Crane and other artists, Routledge, London.
1891 Renascence: A Book of Verse by Walter Crane, with 39 line designs, reproduced by Walker and Leverett, Elkin Mathews, London. This book contained The Sirens Three with other poems, although not in facsimile. Queen Summer or The Tournament of the Rose `Penned and Portrayed' by Walter Crane with 40 colour plates, Cassell, London. The Triumph of Labour A woodcut by Crane reproduced by Henry Sheu and published by Badoureau and Jones. Crane described this work as 'the largest and most important single design of mine in woodcut', commemorating Labour Day. Copies were made in Germany and the design was reissued in the folio Cartoons for the Cause, 1896. William Morris believed this design was the best work Crane had yet done.
1892 The Claims of Decorative Art by Walter Crane. 17 headpieces reproduced in red on white, white on red, by Walter Crane, Lawrence and Bullen, London. The red and white colour scheme was similar to Crane's ceramic designs produced by Maw and Company. The book comprised essays for the revival of the arts of design and handicraft. German and Dutch editions were printed. A Wonderbook for Boys and Girls by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
60 designs including 19 full-page colour plates by Walter Crane, Osgood and McIlvaine, London. These designs were completed while Crane lived in a small cottage in Florida; hence the appearance of tropical flora and fauna in the drawings. The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Eight designs by Walter Crane, engraved and printed by Duncan C. Dallas, J. M. Dent, London.
1893 The Old Garden and Other Verses by Margaret Deland. Decorated throughout in colours by Walter Crane, Osgood and McIlvaine, London.
1894 Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare Eight illustrations by Walter Crane, engraved and printed by Duncan C. Dallas, J. M. Dent, London (650 copies only). The Story of the Glittering Plain or The Land of Living Men or The Acre of The Undying by William Morris. 23 illustrations by Walter Crane and decorative borders by Morris, engraved in wood by A. Leverett, Kelmscott Press. (The book was originally published without the Crane drawings, which Crane felt were not Gothic enough to suit Morris.) The History of Reynard the Fox: with some account of his family, friends and associates A free rendering into verse of the translation made in the days of King Edward the Fourth by W. Caxton from the Dutch prose version of the story ; with the addition of some particular matters not therein set down but very needful to be known', by F. S. Ellis. Photo-zincotype devices by Walter Crane, David Nutt, London (reissued in 1897). The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spencer. Edited by Thomas J. Wise, with full-page illustrations, tailpieces and initials by Walter Crane, George Allen, London. The book was originally issued in nineteen parts, with individual wrappers also designed by Crane. The Vision of Dante: A story for little children and a talk to their mothers by Elizabeth Harrison. Illustrated with three plates by Walter Crane, The Chicago Kindergarten College, Chicago, U.S.A.
1896 The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare. Eight designs by Walter Crane, engraved and printed by Duncan C. Dallas, J. M. Dent,
London. Of the Decorative Illustration of Books Old and New by Walter Crane, Bell, London. This book, designed entirely by Crane, is a survey of book illustration from the medieval to the contemporary. The final chapter deals with Crane's own theory of book design. Reprinted in 1973.
Cartoons for the Cause - A Souvenir of the International Socialist Workers and Trades Union Congress Twelve full-page plates reproduced from drawings by Walter Crane from the socialist periodicals justice, The Commonweal, and The Clarion, published between 1886 and 1896.
1898 The Bases of Design by Walter Crane, George Bell, London. A series of lectures addressed to the students of the Manchester Municipal School of Art during the period when Crane was Director of Design. The Shepheard's Calendar. `Twelve Aeglogues proportionable to the twelve months. Entitled to the noble and virtuous gentlemen most worthy of all titles, both of Learning and Chivalry: Maister Philip Sidney' by Edmund Spencer with twelve illustrations and devices by Crane, Harper, London
1899 A Floral fantasy in an Old English Garden by Walter Crane. 46 full-page colour plates printed by Edmund Evans, Harper and Brothers, London. (Plates 5 and 46 are drawn from Crane's own figure.) The Walter Crane Reader: First and Second Primers by Nellie Dale. Title page and two full-page illustrations, many small drawings in colour by Walter Crane, J. M. Dent, London.
1900 Line and Form by Walter Crane, George Bell, London. A student's guide to Crane's theories of decorative art, using his sketches and drawings for examples. Don Quixote of La Mancha Retold by Judge Parry with eleven full-page colour plates, and nineteen half-page black and white designs by Walter Crane, Blackie and Son, London.
1901 A Masque of Days from the Last Essays of Elia, by Charles Lamb. Newly dressed and decorated by Walter Crane, with 40 colour plates and script design, Cassell, London.
1903 Moot Points Friendly disputes on Art and Industry between Walter Crane and Lewis F. Day, with caricatures by Crane, B. T. Batsford, London.
1905 A Flower Wedding described by Two Wallflowers by Walter Crane. 40 full-page colour plates, Cassell, London.
1906 The Children's Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives told in simple language by E. J. Gould, with six full-page illustrations by Crane, Watts and Company, London. Flowers from Shakespeare's Garden, A Posy from the Plays
Illustrated in 40 colour plates by Walter Crane, Cassell, London.
1907 An Artist's Reminiscences by Walter Crane. 123 illustrations by the author, Methuen, London. The Dale Readers Book II by Nellie Dale. Four full-page pictures and several colour and black and white drawings by Walter Crane, George Philip, London.
1909 The Rosebud and Other Tales by Arthur Kelly. Twenty full-page colour illustrations by Walter Crane, T. Fisher Unwin, London.
1911 King Arthur's Knights: The Tales Retold for Boys and Girls by Henry Gilbert. Sixteen full-page colour plates by Walter Crane, T. C. and E. C. Jack, Edinburgh. William Morris to Whistler: Papers and Addresses on Art and Crafts and the Commonweal. Illustrations by Walter Crane, George Bell, London.
1912 Robin Hood and the Men of the Greenwood by Henry Gilbert. Sixteen full-page colour illustrations by Walter Crane, T. C. and E. C. Jack, Edinburgh.
1913 The Story of Greece told to Boys and Girls by Mary MacGregor. Nineteen colour plates by Walter Crane, T. C. and E. C. Jack, Edinburgh.
1915

The Knights of the Round Table by Henry Gilbert. Eight illustrations in colour by Walter Crane, T. C. and E. C. Jack, Edinburgh. Robin Hood and His Merry Men by Henry Gilbert. Eight illustrations in colour by Walter Crane, T. C. and E. C. Jack, Edinburgh.

Taken from ‘Walter Crane as Book Illustrator’ by Rodney K. Engen


email: John and Chrissie - theartsandcraftshome@gmail.com