Charles Folkard
Encyclopedia
Charles James Folkard was an English illustrator. He worked as a conjurer before becoming a prolific illustrator of children’s books. In 1915, he created Teddy Tail
, a popular cartoon character who ran in the Daily Mail
newspapers for decades. Folkard is well known for his work on The Arabian Nights, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Aesop’s Fables, and Pinocchio.
, south London
in 1878. He worked for a period of time as a conjuror after attending a show at the Egyptian Hall
in London. His artistic talent became evident when began designing his own programmes for his magic shows. He contributed humorous drawings to Little Folks and the Tatler
, and received his breakthrough in 1910 when he entered the gift book market with The Swiss Family Robinson. His drawings of island flora and fauna reveal a mastery of technique.
In 1911, he created seventy-seven drawings and eight watercolour plates for Carlo Collodi
's Pinocchio
, a volume which remained the definitive edition and in print for decades. The Children's Shakespeare and Grimm's Fairy Tales were published the same year and represent his first work for the publishing firm of A. & C. Black. The partnership lasted 27 years. His next works for the firm were Aesop's Fables (1912), The Arabian Nights (1913), and Ottoman Wonder Tales (1915), a work that evokes the style of Perisan manuscripts.
Folkard's The Adventures of Teddy Tail was the first British daily newspaper cartoon strip and became instantly popular when it premiered in the Daily Mail
on 5 April 1915. The mouse character was named after his three-year-old son Ted. The exploits of Teddy Tail and Dr. Beetle, the Penny Princess, Golliwog, Snail, and Teddy's other friends were reproduced in a series of books between 1915 and 1926: Teddy Tail in Nursery Rhyme Land (1915), Teddy Tail in Fairyland (1916), Teddy Tail's Alphabet (1921), and Teddy Tail's Adventures in the A B Sea (1926). The success of the character inspired other newspapers to create similar characters such as Pip and Squeak, and Rupert.
After World War I
, Folkard continued to produce arrays of books for the firm of A. & C. Black including Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes (1919), British Fairy and Folk Tales (1920), Songs from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (1921), The Magic Egg (1922), and the Polish tale, The Troubles of a Gnome. His masterpiece The Land of Nursery Rhyme (1932) was praised for its watercolour and gouache depictions of Old King Cole, The Queen of Hearts, and other nursery rhyme favourites.
In his later years, he produced several volumes for the Children's Illustrated Classics series published by Dent including Roger Lancelyn Green's anthology The Book of Nonsense, by Many Authors (1956). The volume included his imaginative study A Nonsense Miscellany, a seaside scene that incorporated Baron Munchausen, Struwwelpeter
, and a variety of characters from the works of Lewis Carroll
and Edward Lear
.
Folkard was still actively illustrating 10 days before his death in February 1963.
Teddy Tail
Teddy Tail was a cartoon mouse featured in The Daily Mail from 5 April 1915 and was the first daily cartoon strip in a British newspaper, The character survived until the 1960s with several artists drawing him for Newspaper strips and the varied Annuals...
, a popular cartoon character who ran in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
newspapers for decades. Folkard is well known for his work on The Arabian Nights, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Aesop’s Fables, and Pinocchio.
Biography
Folkard was born in LewishamLewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, south London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1878. He worked for a period of time as a conjuror after attending a show at the Egyptian Hall
Egyptian Hall
For the Glasgow building see The Egyptian Halls.The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, was an Exhibition hall built in the ancient Egyptian style in 1812, to the designs of Peter Frederick Robinson.-History:...
in London. His artistic talent became evident when began designing his own programmes for his magic shows. He contributed humorous drawings to Little Folks and the Tatler
Tatler
Tatler has been the name of several British journals and magazines, each of which has viewed itself as the successor of the original literary and society journal founded by Richard Steele in 1709. The current incarnation, founded in 1901, is a glossy magazine published by Condé Nast Publications...
, and received his breakthrough in 1910 when he entered the gift book market with The Swiss Family Robinson. His drawings of island flora and fauna reveal a mastery of technique.
In 1911, he created seventy-seven drawings and eight watercolour plates for Carlo Collodi
Carlo Collodi
Carlo Lorenzini , better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi, was an Italian children's writer known for the world-renowned fairy tale novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio.-Biography:...
's Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
, a volume which remained the definitive edition and in print for decades. The Children's Shakespeare and Grimm's Fairy Tales were published the same year and represent his first work for the publishing firm of A. & C. Black. The partnership lasted 27 years. His next works for the firm were Aesop's Fables (1912), The Arabian Nights (1913), and Ottoman Wonder Tales (1915), a work that evokes the style of Perisan manuscripts.
Folkard's The Adventures of Teddy Tail was the first British daily newspaper cartoon strip and became instantly popular when it premiered in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
on 5 April 1915. The mouse character was named after his three-year-old son Ted. The exploits of Teddy Tail and Dr. Beetle, the Penny Princess, Golliwog, Snail, and Teddy's other friends were reproduced in a series of books between 1915 and 1926: Teddy Tail in Nursery Rhyme Land (1915), Teddy Tail in Fairyland (1916), Teddy Tail's Alphabet (1921), and Teddy Tail's Adventures in the A B Sea (1926). The success of the character inspired other newspapers to create similar characters such as Pip and Squeak, and Rupert.
After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Folkard continued to produce arrays of books for the firm of A. & C. Black including Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes (1919), British Fairy and Folk Tales (1920), Songs from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (1921), The Magic Egg (1922), and the Polish tale, The Troubles of a Gnome. His masterpiece The Land of Nursery Rhyme (1932) was praised for its watercolour and gouache depictions of Old King Cole, The Queen of Hearts, and other nursery rhyme favourites.
In his later years, he produced several volumes for the Children's Illustrated Classics series published by Dent including Roger Lancelyn Green's anthology The Book of Nonsense, by Many Authors (1956). The volume included his imaginative study A Nonsense Miscellany, a seaside scene that incorporated Baron Munchausen, Struwwelpeter
Struwwelpeter
Der Struwwelpeter is a popular German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the...
, and a variety of characters from the works of Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
and Edward Lear
Edward Lear
Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
.
Folkard was still actively illustrating 10 days before his death in February 1963.