Howard Pyle

April 8, 2008

From: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Howard Pyle was born in Wilmington, Delaware on March 5, 1853. The Pyle home was in the country just outside of town next to a rich garden filled with flowers, fruit trees, vines, and a summerhouse. The images of his idyllic childhood would stay with Howard all his life.

Howard left for New York in October 1876. After nearly a year in New York, Howard began having doubts about his ability in his chosen career. He considered being an author instead. By early 1877, such thoughts vanished. He had met Charles Parsons, the art director at Harper and Brothers, the largest publisher in the country.

Howard later remarked, “I think it was not until I stood in the awful presence of the art director himself that I realized how this might be the turning point of my life.” Parsons published a sketch that Howard worked on for 6 weeks, as a double-page spread in Harper’s Weekly on March 9, 1878.

Posted in ink, pen