Artistic liberties : American literary realism and graphic illustration, 1880-1905

247 Pages·2014·3.293 MB·English

by  Dr. Adam Sonstegard Ph.D

Artistic Liberties
studies in american literary realism and naturalism
series editor
Gary scharnhorst
editorial board
donna campbell
John crowley
robert e. Fleming
alan Gribben
eric Haralson
denise d. Knight
Joseph mcelrath
George monteiro
Brenda murphy
James nagel
alice Hall Petry
donald Pizer
tom Quirk
Jeanne campbell reesman
Ken roemer
Artistic Liberties
ameri can literary realism and
Graphic illustration, 1880–1905
adam sonstegard
the university of alab ama Press
Tuscaloosa
copyright © 2014
The university of ala bama Press
tuscaloosa, ala bama 35487- 0380
all rights reserved
manufactured in the united states of america
typeface: minion and Gill sans
cover art: edward Windsor Kemble’s illustration of tom sawyer and his gang from
mark twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
cover design: mary elizabeth Watson
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of ameri can
national standard for information sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed library
materials, ansi Z39.48-1 984.
library of congress cataloging-in-Publication data
sonstegard, adam, 1971–
artistic liberties : american literary realism and graphic illustration, 1880–1905 /
adam sonstegard.
pages cm. — (studies in american literary realism and naturalism)
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-0-8173-1805-5 (hardback) — isBn 978-0-8173-8697-9 (e book)
1. american fiction—illustrations. 2. illustration of books—united states—
History—19th century. 3. Publishers and publishing—united states—History—19th
century 4. united states—ethnic relations—History—19th century. 5. united states—
race relations—History—19th century. 6. stereotypes (social psychology) in art. 7.
stereotypes (social psychology) in literature. i. title.
nc975.s66 2014
741.6'40973—dc23
2013026632
Contents
list of illustrations vii
acknowledgments xiii
introduction: reading rivalries in illustrated literary realism 1
1. Kemble and twain: sketching “truths” within the minstrel
masquerade 29
2. Kemble and stowe: taking liberties with slave imagery 58
3. loeb and twain: returning to the illustrated scene of the crime 86
4. newell and crane: Keeping close to a Personal Honesty of Vision 108
5. Kemble and dunbar: manipulating the masks of Folks from dixie 134
6. Wenzell and Wharton: marketing The House of Mirth’s designs 159
coda. Owen, skeete, and Hopkins: countering the caricatures of
literary realism 190
notes 199
Works cited 213
index 223

Illustrations
i.1. W. a. rogers’s frontispiece to A Hazard of New Fortunes, Harper’s book
edition, 1880 3
i.2. du maurier’s rendering of catherine of Wash ing ton Square in Cornhill
Magazine in 1880 6
i.3. du maurier’s rendering of catherine of Washi ngt on Square in Cornhill
Magazine in 1880 7
i.4. du maurier’s rendering of dr. sloper of Wash ing ton Square in Cornhill
Magazine in 1880 8
i.5. du maurier’s rendering of dr. sloper of Wash ing ton Square in Cornhill
Magazine in 1880 8
i.6. morris townsend of Wash ing ton Square at leisure in dr. sloper’s study,
as depicted by du maurier in 1880 9
i.7. a Washi ng ton “colored functionary” in an 1894 Century Magazine
article 27
1.1. Kemble’s illustration for the first chapter of twain’s novel, with the “the”
added to the title 30
1.2. Kemble’s rendering of Huck for the frontispiece of twain’s novel 32
1.3. Kemble’s image of miss Watson shows the stiff postures of the
authoritative adults in Huck’s hometown 36
1.4. Kemble’s raftsman, with his chest pumped out to show his job
“amounted to something” 36
1.5. Kemble renders tom sawyer and his gang 38
1.6. Huck fruitlessly rubs a genie’s lamp in an image from Kemble 38
viii illustrations
1.7. Huck’s Pap, as envisioned by Kemble 39
1.8. emmeline Grangerfield’s kitschy art, as Huck and Kemble see it 41
1.9. The King as a pirate 42
1.10. The duke as Hamlet 43
1.11. Huck and Jim together in Kemble’s rendering of Jim discovering the
dead man in a frame-h ouse 46
1.12. Kemble’s illustration of Jim helping Huck into a calico gown. 47
1.13. Jim is consigned to the audience as a rapscallion claims “by rights i
am a duke” 48
1.14. Huck, Jim, and tom stand back and take a collective bow 49
1.15. Kemble’s rendering of Jim in a different posture 52
1.16. Kemble’s rendering of Jim and the doctor 53
2.1. Kemble’s image of af ri can ameri cans bamboula dancing in new
Orleans’s Jackson square 59
2.2. Kemble’s depiction of one of the “types” in de Graffenreid’s article 64
2.3. another of Kemble’s images accompanying de Graffenreid’s article 65
2.4. Frost’s romanticized image of “Georgia crackers,” contrasting with
Kemble’s depictions 66
2.5. One of Frost’s images accompanying Brackett’s “The aryan mark” 66
2.6. One of Frost’s images accompanying Brackett’s “The aryan mark” 67
2.7. Kemble’s rendering of eliza’s celebrated escape across the ice floes on
the Ohio river 72
2.8. Kemble’s frontispiece for the 1892 edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin 73
2.9. Kemble’s photogravure frontispiece of uncle tom himself 74
2.10. tom rescues eva from murky river waters 75
2.11. a grieving tom supports an expiring eva 76
2.12. slaves submit to prospective dealers’ demeaning inspections 77
2.13. The “raggedest black wretch” on the plantation 78
2.14. Kemble’s individualized portrait of a seemingly interchangeable
slave woman 78
2.15. another of Kemble’s individualized portraits of a seemingly
interchangeable slave woman 79
illustrations ix
2.16. a stereotypical butler figu re who appears all too oft en 79
2.17. One of Kemble’s renderings of white “crackers,” contrasting with
those rendered for de Graffenreid’s article 80
2.18. another of Kemble’s renderings of white “crackers,” contrasting with
those rendered for de Graffenreid’s article 80
2.19. One of Kemble’s renderings of white “crackers,” contrasting with
those rendered for de Graffenreid’s article 81
3.1. twain, as depicted on the magazine pages that commenced Pudd’nhead
Wilson’s serialization in Century 87
3.2. loeb’s image of roxana and the children 91
3.3. loeb’s image of roxana confronting an adult tom 93
3.4. loeb’s image of Judge driscoll judging tom as “a coward in my
family!” 94
3.5. loeb’s image of a cross-d ressed roxana 95
3.6. loeb’s image of Puddn’head, providing the “proof” that brings about
the novel’s denouement 96
4.1. newell casts doubt on Johnson’s claim never to have washed a
buggy 112
4.2. Barbershop patrons gaze in amazement as Johnson struts by 113
4.3. Johnson, Bella, and her chaperone enjoy an evening together 114
4.4. Fire- brigade volunteers demonstrate newell’s depth of field 115
4.5. The underappreciated John shipley 116
4.6. Johnson rescues Jim in newell’s only image to depict the pivotal fire 117
4.7. The Judge, who inhabits a higher physical and social space than
alek Williams 121
4.8. mrs. Farragut, making a spectacle of herself as she flees from
Johnson 122
4.9. almost every member of a family watches in terror as “The door
swung Portentously Open” 123
4.10. newell’s illustration, rendered as a showcase for Jimmie 124
4.11. newell’s image attempting to depict an absence, “what nobody talks
of—much” 126