William Francis "Frank" Ver Beck (June 1, 1858-July 13, 1933) was an American illustrator known for his comedic drawings of animals.

He was born in Richland Township, Belmont County, Ohio

Richland Township, Belmont County, Ohio

Richland Township is one of the sixteen townships of Belmont County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 13,571 people in the township, 8,514 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.-Geography:...

 as the son of a shoemaker. He studied art and woodcarving under Mansfield, Ohio

Mansfield, Ohio

Mansfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Richland County. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau, approximately southwest of Cleveland and northeast of Columbus....

 artist Robert R. "Railroad" Smith and worked as a wood engraver.

In 1881 or 1882, Ver Beck moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. There he studied art and became a freelance illustrator for magazines including Scribner's, Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...

, and Collier's.

In 1894 in Munsey's Magazine

Munsey's Magazine

Munsey's Weekly, later known as Munsey's Magazine was a thirty-six page quarto magazine founded by Frank A. Munsey in 1889. Munsey aimed at "a magazine of the people and for the people, with pictures and art and good cheer and human interest throughout". John Kendrick Bangs was the editor. The...

, Harold Payne wrote:

For quaintness of conceit and weirdness of treatment William Francis Ver Beck has no parallel. His specialty is in making animals, and particularly reptiles, to represent human beings in comical situations. He invests crocodile

Crocodile

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...

s, turtle

Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

s, lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

s, frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

s, and other amphibiae with human attributes, places them in all sorts of ludicrous positions, and carries them through endless laughable experiences. He even descends to the vegetable kingdom for his subjects, and invests cabbage

Cabbage

Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...

s, carrot

Carrot

The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...

s, and beet

Beet

The beet is a plant in the Chenopodiaceae family which is now included in Amaranthaceae family. It is best known in its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is the purple root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet...

s with the power of lingual communication. Indeed, Ver Beck might well be designated as the artistic Aesop

Aesop

Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...

 of the time.

Ver Beck was one of author Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...

's first friends in New York City. One winter evening Crane and British artist Phil May borrowed a tiger

Tiger

The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

 skin belonging to Ver Beck and were arrested walking huddled under the skin on Broadway

Broadway (New York City)

Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...

 in the early morning hours. They were released but the policeman kept the tiger skin. Also in New York City, in 1895 Ver Beck witnessed the shooting of Solomon Mann by David Hannigan and testified in Hannigan's trial.

Shortly before 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...

, he moved to England. In 1913 he was working in St Ives, Cornwall

St Ives, Cornwall

St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial...

 with his wife, the American-born artist and author Hanna Rion.(1875—1924) Their relationship ended and she remarried in 1921. He died at the age of 75 in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

.